February 10 – V & A Day

nPostednon February 10, 2016

nWhennone of my daughters was staying in London for the summer, she told menthat she wanted to take me to the V & A Museum. “The Viennay?”nI asked. “I’ve never heard of that. What sort of museum is it?”

nAtnthat point, I spotted the logo in a brochure she was handing me:

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n“Oh!nThe V and A! Victoria and Albert!”

nInloved the museum, a lot. But today isn’t really about the V & AnMuseum. Instead, it’s about the couple themselves.

Onnthis date in 1840, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of GreatnBritain and Ireland, Empress of India, married her first cousin. Henwas Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was born in what isnnow Germany. When he married Queen Victoria, he did not become king;ninstead, he became Prince Consort. It’s sort of like being the FirstnLady, the wife of the U.S. President; being a Prince Consort doesn’tnnecessarily mean you have any power or even particular duties, but you generally can exert a lot ofninfluence, organize or champion programs, and work on issues that are important to you.

nVictorianand Albert were a good pair. The Queen depended more and more onnAlbert’s advice; he took on responsibilities in runningnthe household, their many estates, and the office; and he supported causes such asnthe worldwide abolition of slavery and education reform.

nThentwo had nine children, all of whom lived to be adults, and several ofnwhom had very long lives. The oldest son eventually became King ofnEngland, Edward VII; the oldest daughter became German Empress andnQueen of Prussia.

nVictorianand Albert had 42 grandchildren! Four of them became reigningnmonarchs, and five of them were consorts of monarchs. Back then, itnwas really common for royal and noble families across Europe tonarrange marriages among their children, to keep the power “all innthe family” and to try to keep the peace among nations and empiresnthrough intermarriage and familial relationships. Sometimes Victorianis called “the grandmother of Europe.”

Unfortunately,nAlbert died too soon, at age 42. Victoria was so grief-stricken, shenmourned him the rest of her life – she even wore black for the restnof her life – 40 more years! Albert’s rooms were kept as they hadnbeen during his life – dusted and cleaned, and even hot waternbrought every morning and linens and towels changed every day! And we are talking about his rooms in all four of their homes: Buckingham Palace, Balmoral Castle, Osborne House, and Windsor Castle! (Apparently, this sort of thing was done back then among very richnpeople, so this isn’t as freaky as it sounds.)

nThenVictoria era was a time of huge changes – England gradually becamena modern constitutional monarchy, the modern idea of Christmas as antime of gift-giving largely developed, ideas of universal educationnand literacy grew and spread, developments in printing technologiesnmade visual art and literature available even to the masses. n

nAlsonon this date: