\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 Prince Albert was born in 1819, the son of Ernest, duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In 1840 he married his cousin, Queen
\b \cf4 \ATXht13221000 Victoria\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , who adored him. However, as a foreign Prince Consort his position was a delicate one. Yet he was respected for his political advice and for his dedication to the arts, the sciences and the living conditi
ons of the working class. The profits of the\b \cf4 \ATXht10861000 \ATXnt901 Great Exhibition\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \ATXnt0 so keenly promoted by Prince Albert were largely invested in a collection of buildings in the area of South Kensington in London, a t
rue repository of Victorian taste. These include the sumptuous Gothic Albert Memorial, the Italianate amphitheatre of the \b \cf4 \ATXht11801000 Royal Albert Hall \b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and the \b \cf4 \ATXht11851000 Victoria & Albert Museum\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 .
When Prince Albert died of typhoid in 1861, the heart-broken Queen Victoria practically withdrew from public life for fifteen years.\par
