Inside The Coffin Of Prince Albert - Queen Victoria's Husband

On the 14th of December 1861, inside the walls of Windsor Castle, the consort and husband of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, succumbed to a period of illness. His death devastated the Queen, who often dismissed his health concerns and issues. But the truth was that Albert was a rather sickly man, and he died at the age of just 42, and his wife Victoria would live for four decades more. Now Victoria was heartbroken by his death, and she wore black in mourning for the rest of her life. And then following his funeral, the coffin and body was actually temporarily held inside of the Royal Vault within St George's Chapel, and it was not buried in a traditional tomb. This would come some time later, as he was interred inside of the Royal Mausoleum, which was made by Victoria to become a grand burial place for herself, Albert and their children. But the tomb and burial vault may actually have a number of huge problems today, and that would have caused damage to the coffin of Victoria and Albert. So today we look at inside the coffin and burial vault of Queen Victoria's husband, and to support our channel, please subscribe. Prince Albert was not a very well man at all, and the doctors warned the English when he came over from Germany that if he were to get a fever, it could be deadly. He suffered with his health throughout the whole of his life, and he also could not cope too well with the stresses of being the consort to a Queen and head of state. Victoria, interestingly, always left the windows open in the palaces, as she liked fresh air entering her residence, which often caused Albert to work long hours in the cold, and he was always known to be sat at his desk, wrapped in a blanket. Now, Albert's health caused problems with their marriage also, as Victoria tended to dismiss his concerns and problems, and she believed that he was a hypochondriac. In the August of 1859, Albert became very ill. He was suffering badly with stomach cramps, and he got much worse, and allegedly lost the will to live, and he had given up. He did recover, and then the following year, he was involved in an accident whilst in his carriage, travelling alone, drawn by four horses who had bolted. He was badly shaken up and had cuts and bruises, but then in 1861, Queen Victoria's mother died. The Queen was heartbroken, and Albert took on most of her duties, despite being in significant pain with his stomach. His last public event was the opening of the Royal Horticultural Gardens on the 5th of June, 1861. But by the November, the couple had returned back to Windsor, and two of Albert's cousins had died in 1861, and he was also informed that his son, the Prince of Wales, the heir to the throne, was running with the wrong crowd, and Albert and the Queen were horrified by this. And Albert was ill, and feeling much worse. There were even more political issues to deal with, and all of this got Albert quite down, but to his doctors, it was clear that he was not getting better. He then took to his bed, and in the December, he was diagnosed with typhoid fever. The royal family were at his bedside, and the doctors warned the royals what was going to come. And at around 10.50pm on the 14th of December, 1861, in his bed in the Blue Room at Windsor Castle, surrounded by five of his children and Queen Victoria, Prince Albert died. Queen Victoria later described the moment in her diary, and she wrote, Alice told me to come in, Sir James having told her to do so, and I came in and took his dear left hand, which was already cold, though the breathing was quite gentle. I knelt down by him. Alice was on the other side, Bertie kneeling at the foot of his bed. Two or three long, but perfectly gentle breaths were drawn, the hand clasping mine, and all, all was over. The heavenly spirit fled to the world it was fit for, and free from the sorrows and trials of this world. I stood up, kissed his dear heavenly forehead, and called out in a bitter and agonising cry, O my dear darling, then dropped on my knees in a mute, distracted despair, unable to utter a word or shed a tear. I lay down on the sofa in the Red Room, and all the gentlemen came in and knelt down and kissed my hand. Victoria was then able to see Albert again, and she wrote, They all left again, and good Sir James came to say if I would like to come and take a look. I went in alone, and that kind fatherly old friend. Then I took courage and kissed my precious darling. My all in all, the thought of losing whom I had never thought possible. He was warm as though he slept. The body and remains of Albert were then placed into a coffin, and one prepared then for a funeral. The funeral ceremony took place at St George's Chapel in Windsor, a stone's throw away from where he died, and after the proceedings took place, on the 23rd of December 1861, Albert's body was lowered into the Royal Vault within St George's Chapel. It was held there and kept inside the vault for some time, as there were plans drawn up for the creation of the Royal Mausoleum within Frogmore on the Windsor Estate. The plan Victoria dreamed of was for herself and Albert to be buried in the mausoleum, along with their children, and that this would become a large family crypt and place of remembrance. The mausoleum was built with spaces for Victoria's children, but the only two ever buried and interred there were Victoria and Albert. The Royal Mausoleum took 10 years to complete following Albert's death, and the central part of it was the tomb of Albert and also Victoria. Albert's body, it's believed, was interred following the completion of the mausoleum. He was placed inside of the mausoleum and grand tomb in 1862, a year following his death. Despite the fact the mausoleum wasn't finished wholly, large parts of the construction were finished. The officials probably wanted his body to be interred quickly. Also, it had been left in the Royal Vault. The decoration in the chapel would take another decade to finish. So, on the 18th of December, 1862, the reburial of the coffin of Prince Albert inside of Frogmore's Royal Mausoleum took place. Queen Victoria described this in her diary and said of the event that, I woke up very often during the night thinking of the sacred work to be carried out at seven o'clock. At that precious hour, the earthly remains were to be carried with all love and peace to their final resting place by our three sons. I cannot say more. I got some sleep during that time and later and Alice came to tell me all had been peacefully and lovingly accomplished, dull, rainy and mild. Waited a little while in the house and then walked to the mausoleum. It seemed so like the day at Frogmore when Albert was so dear and loving. Everyone entered each carrying a wreath. The Dean, with a faltering voice, read some most appropriate prayers. We were all much overcome. We knelt round the beloved tomb and when everyone had gone out, we returned again and gazed at the great beauty and the peace of the beautiful state. What a comfort it will be to have that near me. The tomb effigy of Albert shows him in his garter robes and it was made when he died. Interestingly, the Queen's effigy was also made at the same time but was not installed onto the chest tomb until she died in 1901. No one actually could remember where it had been placed but Victoria's effigy was placed on the tomb following her death. Today the mausoleum remains off public view because there is a troubling problem at Frogmore with damp that has caused parts of the site to become waterlogged. This leads to the possibility that the vault itself containing the coffins of Albert and Victoria could have become flooded and damaged by the damp water conditions. But in death, the pair were reunited and buried together under a huge tomb that shows them both in their prime. 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