ALBERT, Faluccfs (ALBERT) AUGUSTUS-CHARLES-EMMANUEL, Prince of Saxe-Coburg Gotha. consort of Victoria, queen of Great Britain, b. Aug. 26, 1819, was the second son of the late duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, by his first marriage with Louisa, daughter of the duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. The prince, after a careful domestic education, along with his elder brother, the reigning duke, attended the university of Bonn, where, in addition to the sciences connected with state-craft, he devoted himself with ardor to the study of natural history and chemistry, and displayed great taste for the fine arts, especially painting and music. Several compositions of his obtained publicity, and an opera was afterwards performed in London, said to have been composed by him. Gifted with a handsome figure, lie attained expertness in all knightly exercises. It was this accomplished prince that the young queen of Great Britain selected as her partner for life. The marriage was celebrated in London on the 10th of Feb. 1840. On his marriage, prince Albert received the title of royal highness, was naturalized as a subject of Great Britain, and obtained the rank of field-marshal, the knighthood of the order of the bath, and the command of a regiment of hussars. As the union proved, in the highest degree, a happy one, the prince was loaded with honors and distinctions both by the queen and the nation. The title of consort of her most gracious majesty was formally conferred in
1842, and that of prince consort, in 1857, made him a prince of the united kingdom. He was also made a member of the privy council, governor and constable of Windsor Castle, colonel of the grenadier guards, acting grand master of the order of the bath, chancellor of the university of Cambridge, master of the Trinity house, etc. Notwithstanding his high and favored position, the prince, with rare prudence and tact, abstained from meddling with state affairs, and thus escaped the jealousy and detraction of parties. When the Whig ministry of 1840 proposed for him the income of £50,000, as consort of queen Victoria, the tortes, in conjunction with the radicals, succeeded in limiting the sum to £30,000. This appears to have been the only instance of any manifestation of of party feeling with reference to the prince. On the other hand, he opened for himself an influential sphere of action, in the encouragement and promotion of science and art, appearing as the patron of many useful associations and public undertakings. The exhibition of 1851 owed much to the prince. He d. 14th Dec., 1861. Vols. i. to iv. of his Dfe by Theodore Martin appeared between '74 and '79.