Digging Up Queen Victoria's Husband

Welcome to Her Remarkable History. Remember, to support our channel, please subscribe. Digging up Queen Victoria's Husband, Exhuming Prince Albert One of the longest reigning monarchs in history was Queen Victoria, the British monarch who would oversee a huge amount of change inside of her country. But Victoria lived a very tragic life and she would suffer a significant amount of loss. Her husband, Prince Albert, would die at a very young age, despite the fact he was a very sick man. Albert died at the age of 42, and for the rest of her life, Queen Victoria would wear black, and she would be mourning for her husband. But following his death, Albert had a large funeral, yet his remains were left inside of the Royal Vault, under the floor of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. At some point, after being pretty much left in the Royal Vault for a decade, the job then came to move the body of Prince Albert to his final resting place. But what is the story of this? Prince Albert's doctors, when he came to Britain, warned that a low fever would bring about his death. For much of his life, he was weak and suffered with many problems, including chronic stomach issues, and he was not very well at all. What was also shocking was that Victoria had little sympathy for her husband's issues and illnesses, and Albert would regularly sit in the palaces in the freezing cold, as his wife was very impervious to the cold. But Prince Albert was a good man, and he would try to reform education in Britain, and he would advocate for the worldwide abolition of slavery. But he was a man who ran the household of the Queen, and he was a very busy man. He was a man who was also incredibly stressed at times, but he did care about his children, and he was a good father. Victoria would depend on her husband more and more as the years went on, but some people were suspicious of Albert in their country. By August of 1859, Albert was ill yet again with stomach cramps, and over the next 18 months he got very sick and went downhill. His doctors would warn about his illness, and Albert was said to have lost the will to live. Whilst on a trip to Coburg in October of 1860, he would be involved in a carriage accident, as his wagon galloped towards a railway crossing. Albert jumped out to save his life, and one of his horses was killed in the collision, and Albert was badly shaken, but he had only had cuts and bruises. His children and his siblings believed that he did not have long left on earth. In the March of 1861, Queen Victoria's mother died, and Victoria was heartbroken, and he took on more work as well as he tried to deal with his stomach issues. His final public event was the opening of the Royal Horticultural Gardens in the June of 1861, and he would visit Ireland, but he would then return to Windsor by the November. Albert was told of gossip spreading about the Gentleman's Clubs of London, that his son, the Prince of Wales and heir, was having a number of affairs, but Albert was ill, and he would go and meet with his son to hopefully bring an end to this. But it was clear that Victoria's consort was very poorly. Further issues emerged across Britain, but Albert was now at the end of 1861 and was gravely ill. On the 9th of December, he was diagnosed by the Royal Doctor of Typhoid Fever, but five days later, at 10.50 p.m., inside of the Blue Room in Windsor Castle, Prince Albert died. He was surrounded by his wife, the Queen, and five of their children, and he was just 42 years old. Modern historians consider that he may have had Crohn's disease, or further issues involving his stomach, but after his death, the Queen was heartbroken. She would never recover from it, and she would be in a deep state of mourning for the rest of her life. All of Albert's rooms inside of his houses and royal residences were kept the same as if he were alive, and Victoria ordered hot water to be taken to the bedroom every morning, and also towels to be changed daily. Victoria herself withdrew from public life slightly, and she wanted to grieve in private, surrounded by her family. But Albert's funeral took place on the 23rd of December, 1861. It took place inside of St. George's Chapel, and many members of the royal family had been interred here. It was said that, by the express desire of His Royal Highness, the funeral was of the plainest and most private character. But in the chapel, to do honour to his obsequies, we assembled all the chiefest men of the state, and throughout England. By every sign of sorrow and mourning, the nation manifested its sense of the loss it has sustained. Itself wore an aspect of the most profound gloom. Every shop was closed, and every blind was drawn down. The streets were silent, and almost deserted, and all who appeared abroad were dressed in the deepest mourning. The great bell of Windsor Castle chimed out its doleful-sounded intervals from early hour, and minute-bells were tolled also, at St. John's Church, at the parish church of Clure and St. John. There were services in the morning and afternoon, and the day was observed throughout the royal borough in the strictest manner. The weather was in character with the occasion—a chill, damp stir, with a dull, leaden sky above, increased the gloom which hung over all. There were not many people inside of Windsor who went to watch the procession, but it was kept under close watch by royal family. The grenadier guards formed a guard of honour, and they watched the entrance of the chapel. It was said, the officers wore the deepest military mourning—scarves, sword-knots, and rosettes of crape. In the home park was stationed a troop of horse artillery, which commenced firing minute-guns at the end of the long walk, advancing slowly, until it reached the castle gates just at the close of the ceremony. The ministers, the officers of the queen's household, and other distinguished personages, who had been honoured with an invitation to attend the ceremonial, reached Windsor by a special train from Paddington. They were met by carriages provided for them at the station, and began to arrive at the chapel royal soon after eleven o'clock. The Earl of Derby, Earl Russell, and the Duke of Buckleck were among the first to make their appearances, and, as they alighted at the door of the chapel, they were received by the proper officials, and conducted to the seats appointed for them in the choir. Some people were allowed to watch from the lower ward of Windsor Castle, and they stood on the fringes, and saw the intimate funeral procession. Albert's coffin was on a hearse, and it passed through St George's Gateway, and into the lower ward. European monarchs and the royal family looked on, and they were then taken into the chapel to greet the coffin. The queen was present, and she was there ready to see her husband's coffin taken into the chapel. The funeral itself was not necessarily a royal funeral, but it did not have much pomp. It was more personal. Following the funeral service, the coffin of Prince Albert was slowly lowered into the royal vault beneath the choir of St George's Chapel. It was then held inside the royal vault. At this point the royal vault was already packed, and becoming rather overcrowded, and because of this, Victoria had decided that Albert's mausoleum would be inside of Frogmore, where he would later be buried along with his wife, the queen, one day. This led to the creation of the royal mausoleum at Frogmore, and it would not be long before Albert's coffin was raised back up to the ground level. In 1862, just a year after his funeral, his coffin was taken from the shelf-racking where it was placed inside the chapel in Windsor, and it was brought above ground and taken to Frogmore. Despite the royal mausoleum being in its early stages of building, within a year Albert would be buried inside of the mausoleum. Eventually, Albert would be joined by his wife, Victoria, inside the mausoleum in a huge white sarcophagus and tomb. But what is interesting is that Albert was moved, and it's likely that this happened in secret, and possibly at night not to attract any attention, and that Albert's coffin was then, following a short service, re-interred. It's not known how Victoria felt about this, but she would pay her respects to her husband most days when she was at Frogmore. Prince Albert was the reliable and competent consort of Queen Victoria, and he was a man who was very skilled in matters of monarchy and government. But he would be disinterred, and he would be removed out of the royal vault following his death, before he was moved on a short journey to Frogmore, and his coffin would have been removed, and taken possibly by horse and cart, to the nearby house. Thank you for watching, and to support, please subscribe to Her Remarkable History. Thank you.