Prince Albert.


If the Princess Charlotte was the prototype of her cousin Victoria,
Prince Leopold was in some respects the prototype of his beloved nephew
Albert, who was born in August, 1819, at Rosenau, a charming summer
residence of his father, the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield. The
little Prince's grandmother, the Dowager-Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, in
writing to her daughter, the Duchess of Kent, to announce the happy
event, says: "The little boy is to be christened to-morrow, and to have
the name of Albert."

When the christening came off it appeared that "Albert" was only one and
the simplest of several names, but he was always known and always will be
known by that name. It has been immortalized by his upright character,
his rare intellectual gifts, his goodness and grace; by the affection of
his countrymen and his noble life-work in England; by the genius of
England's greatest living poet, and by the love and sorrow of England's
Queen.

While the Prince was yet a baby, his mother wrote of him: "Albert is
superb,--remarkably beautiful, with large blue eyes, a delicate mouth, a
fine nose, and dimpled cheeks. He is lively and always gay."

Albert was the second son of the Duke and Duchess. Ernest, a year or two
older, is thus described by his mother: "Ernest is very strong and
robust, but not half so pretty as his brother. He is handsome, though;
with black eyes."

Prince Leopold spent some time with his brother at Coburg when Albert was