The Marriage of Queen Victoria of Great Britain
The Royal Union with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Sep 17, 2009
The marriage of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was not only a love match but a partnership that only grew stronger as the years went by. Queen Victoria came to rely more and more on her intelligent, hard-working husband, and Albert took on more duties and became a sort of uncrowned king of England. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had nine children and a happy family life. When Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria mourned him for the rest of her life.
The Engagement and Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
Although the marriage between Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861) was a love match, it was also heavily encouraged by her mother and uncle. Queen Victoria succeeded her uncle King William IV at the young age of eighteen, and did not particularly want to get married because she liked her independence. But her maternal uncle Leopold, who had just been elected King of the Belgians, was very determined that she marry one of her cousins, sons of the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had first met as teenagers in England, and she actually did not particularly like him, thinking him too serious. But a few years later he returned and within a few days Queen Victoria had fallen passionately in love with her handsome cousin. She quickly proposed, and although Prince Albert did not have quite as strong feelings for her he liked her and consented to the marriage.
On February 10, 1840, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were married in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor in a beautiful white wedding. Although the families were happy with the wedding, there was a small popular controversy over the suitability of Prince Albert. Although he came from a sufficiently royal family, he was a foreigner and was therefore distrusted in xenophobic England where it was feared he would have too much control over his wife. Because of this controversy Queen Victoria prudently waited to bestow the official title of “Prince Consort” on Albert for another eighteen years.
The Married Life of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had one of the happiest royal marriages history has ever known. They were very well-suited, with Prince Albert being a very devoted husband and father to their large family of four sons and five daughters. He was particularly involved in their education, and hoped that through the marriages of his daughters in particular he could spread his liberal ideas of constitutional monarchy throughout Europe.
Although prudently not giving Prince Albert any official tasks at first, Queen Victoria came to rely on his intelligence, prudence, and good judgment more and more, giving him more and more duties and readily taking his advice. He eventually became a sort of co-ruler with her, and was even given access to her official government papers. One of Prince Albert’s greatest achievements was planning the Great Exhibition of 1851, the first international fair, housed in the famous Crystal Palace.
The Widowed Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria worried that her beloved Prince Albert was working too hard, as he sometimes worked harder than she did as he took on more work to help her and Great Britain. He had a weak constitution, and finally died of typhoid at the young age of forty-two after a mere twenty-one years of marriage. Queen Victoria was devastated that the partner she relied upon and loved so much was dead, and she mourned him for the rest of her life, never again wearing anything but black and even keeping his room as a shrine to her beloved husband.
After Prince Albert’s death, Queen Victoria retreated from her duties, particularly the ones Albert had taken on. It took her a while before she could take on the business of ruling a kingdom again. In her mourning, she was comforted by her children. She even insisted that her younger daughters always remain with her, even after they married, serving her as she thought was their duty.
The Legacy of the Marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
The most lasting legacy of this marriage is their descendants. Their descendants have sat on thrones throughout Europe, and today most European royal families are related to each other in some way through these descendants.
The family life of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert also changed the way British people viewed the royal family. It was very important to both Victoria and Albert that their family be known for its values and devotion to duty, and they wanted their family to be an example to the nation and to their children of how a royal family should behave.
Source:
Packard, Jerrold M. Victoria’s Daughters. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.
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