Throughout her life, Queen Victoria had a significant amount of tragedy and upset.
She would lose her husband at a very young age and she would never be the same after
the death of Prince Albert.
Victoria spent the rest of her life wearing black after Albert’s death at the age of
42, and she would be in mourning her whole life.
She wished her husband would be there by her side throughout her long reign, but this was
not the case.
It was inside of Windsor Castle that Prince Albert took his last breath, and he throughout
his life had suffered greatly from ill health.
Doctors at the time stated that it was typhoid fever that killed the Prince Consort, but
he was a not very well man, even when he married Queen Victoria.
Join us today as we look at the death of Queen Victoria’s husband and as always to support
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Throughout his life Prince Albert was not very well.
His death at a young age could have been caused by the fact his body was slowly worn down,
and he did at the time had a serious gastric issue that medicine could not treat.
But he was a man who worked incredibly hard throughout his time as the consort, and he
would work long into the evening helping Victoria govern and rule.
Life with the Queen would cause Albert even more stress, and she believed that he was
a hypochondriac who would regularly complain of being ill, but his bouts of poor health
would get him down.
As a child, Albert suffered from many colds which would linger and would affect his lungs
and his speech, and a German doctor would say how whilst doing exercise he did get tired
very quickly and often looked on the verge of collapse.
But this specific doctor also documented Albert’s stomach issues and when he was a teenager
he said that Albert was not physically strong, and that his tiredness was rather chronic.
When Albert came to visit Queen Victoria for the first time in 1836, he could not stay
awake and he actually fell asleep at the dinner table whilst they were eating and the guests
were not enamoured by the fact he could not stay awake whilst holding a conversation.
He would as a child also have problems with toothache, inflamed gums and sore throats,
and he also suffered with bouts of dizziness and he would faint.
He also got rather seasick, and doctors were worried that his ability to combat illness
and disease was so poor that any measly illness that was going around in the 19th century
would finish him off.
His doctor said that, ‘If Albert ever falls sick of a low fever, then you will lose him.’
These words were ominous as the Prince from a young age also moaned about his ability
to walk, and how he suffered with rheumatism.
His life with Victoria would not help his problems, as the Queen was a woman who was
impervious to the cold and she was known for this.
Her royal palaces even in winter were often freezing cold, and she was a lot hardier than
her husband was.
Victoria would demand a constant stream of fresh air to come into the palaces, meaning
that it was often very draughty, and this was not good for Albert’s health.
He complained about this, and was forced to sit in the cold rooms of the large palaces
and he would be awake early in the morning wrapped in a rug to try and keep warm.
He did not like the cold and this was no good for his health, and he often walked around
the palaces in a large coat and also he wore a wig for his balding hair as he wanted to
keep his head warm.
But he continued to experience stomach problems and Victoria would notice this and Albert
claimed he had been born with chronic stomach problems.
He believed this would eventually kill him, but he would eat his meals really quickly
and rush his food, meaning he bloated often, and would have indigestion.
In his 30s he did grow larger, and he became more depressed but his life was devoted entirely
to his wife who was the Queen.
He said he could do nothing for himself, and he did enjoy time at Balmoral but he would
not relax away from work, and he never voiced his true feelings of frustration.
But he also hid how poorly he was, as he did not want his wife to see him in this way,
and Victoria was not the best in dealing with his poor health.
Victoria would dismiss lots of his bouts of illness, and Albert would also get a lot of
the Queen’s sharper side when she suffered with Post natal depression.
Alberta was a man who worried about his family, and the stress of government did not help
and he also had bouts of insomnia and he would also in 1953 contract measles.
He caught this from one of his children and for some time was a very ill.
This may have caused inflammation of the brain, but across Britain at the time there was some
hostility towards the Consort.
Britain was involved in the Crimean War, and many across the nation believed he was a Russian
spy which added more stress to his life, as Albert was more than aware of these accusations.
But he continued to contract serious illnesses which were brought on by the amount of work
he was doing.
He claimed that ‘I never remember having so much to work as I have had lately,’ and
he was worn out by the business he had to do.
Victoria just told him to get on with it, but Albert said he was different to his wife
and he was much more placid.
In the 1850s he was still suffering with stomach cramps and as 1861 came around he was very
depressed and down.
He contemplated that his death was coming, but he believed that he had typhoid fever
and that his symptoms.
Today it’s possible that Albert would have been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, and
there was some suggestion at the time that he was suffering from tuberculosis which had
caused problems with his stomach.
Chron’s symptoms can be made worse through stress and in 1861 Albert was at his wits
end.
Victoria’s mother had died, and Victoria was grief stricken, and there were many pieces
of gossip about his son the Heir’s antics involving many women.
His cousin also died which added to his problems, and at the time Crohn’s was not well known,
and there were no treatments of ailments to make this better.
But it would be in December 1861 when things went very wrong.
William Jenner on the 9th December would diagnose him with typhoid Fever as SAlbert was very
ill, but within 5 days the Prince Consort would be dead.
He was inside of the Blue Room at Windsor Castle when he died, and alongside him were
his wife Queen Victoria and 5 of their children.
He was at the time just 42, and in his final moments his fever got very intense, and his
hands and face went darker.
The doctors also said there were spots on his abdomen, and his final days were incredibly
tough and Albert suffered greatly.
He would be sick a lot and was very delirious, and in the days before his death he got very
breathless.
Queen Victoria was told he would get past this, but every day she saw her beloved husband
getting weaker and complaining more.
Many had said for some time that the Prince did not look well, and that he was very unwell.
He would continue to work up until it was impossible for him to do so, but the public
sentiment following his death changed and there was a huge amount of sympathy for the
monarchy with Albert\s death.
Victoria would never be the same and would spend the rest of her life in mourning for
her husband, and the rooms that he frequented inside the palaces were left as they were.
Victoria would also make sure hot water was taken to his rooms every morning and that
towels were changed as if he was still alive.
Prince Albert’s funeral would take place on the 23rd December 1861 inside of St George’s
Chapel.
Following this he was left inside of the royal vault for some time until the royal mausoleum
at Frogmore was made and finished.
Then his remains were moved, and Victoria would be interred with him later on.
She would create a number of memorials and monuments to her husband including the concert
hall, the Royal Albert Hall.
After the dearth of Queen Victoria’s husband the Queen was never the same.
He was in poor health a lot of his life, and he was key to the running of the country.
He was a charitable man, who wanted to change education across the country but he was the
consort for the woman who at the time would become the longest reigning British monarch.
He was well suited to this job, but his health did suffer with him dying very early at the
age of 42.
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