by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

December 14 was the worst day of the year for Queen Victoria.  On that day in 1861, her beloved husband Prince Albert had died at the age of 42.  Left a widow with nine children at the age of 42, the Queen’s grief was immense.  She withdrew from public life and wore black for the 40 years that she survived Albert.  The Blue Room in Windsor Castle where Albert had died was kept as it had been when he was alive, complete with hot water brought in the morning, and linen and towels changed daily.  Among themselves, Queen Victoria’s family called December 14 “Mausoleum Day.”  They were expected to attend the annual memorial service in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore where Albert was buried.  Besides the death of Prince Albert, December 14 marked several other events in Queen Victoria’s family.

December 14, 1861 – Death of Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle; buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore in Windsor
In March of 1861, Queen Victoria’s mother died.  Because of Victoria’s grief, Albert took over many of her duties despite the fact that he was chronically suffering from stomach problems.  In the fall, Victoria and Albert learned that their 20-year-old eldest son Bertie (the future King Edward VII) was having an affair with an Irish actress.  Devastated by this news, Albert traveled to Cambridge to discuss the matter with his son.  On November 25, 1861, the two walked together in the pouring rain while Albert explained how horrified he and the Queen felt about the situation.

When Albert returned to Windsor Castle, he complained of shoulder, leg, back, and stomach pain and could not eat or sleep.  He was examined by doctors who assured Victoria that Albert would be better in two or three days.  However, Albert’s condition continued to worsen.  Victoria continued to hope for a recovery, but finally, on December 11, the doctors told her the dismal prognosis.  At 10:50 PM on December 14, 1861, Albert died in the presence of his wife and five of their nine children.

Sir William Jenner, one of Prince Albert’s doctors, diagnosed his final illness as typhoid fever, but Albert’s modern biographers have argued that the diagnosis is incorrect.  Albert had been complaining of stomach pains for two years and this may indicate that he died of some chronic disease, perhaps Crohn’s disease, kidney failure, or cancer.

• Unofficial Royalty: Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, The Prince Consort
• The British Newspaper Archive: Newspaper stories from December 1861, reporting  the death of Prince Albert
• Prince Albert’s Obituary from The Times, December 16, 1861

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December 14, 1871 – Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) begins to recover from typhoid fever
In November of 1871, the Prince of Wales, called Bertie in the family, was not feeling well and took to his bed at Sandringham.  Typhoid fever, a bacterial disease transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, was diagnosed and it was realized by the family that he might die.  Within a few weeks, it would be the 10th anniversary of the death of Bertie’s father, Prince Albert, who, it was believed, had died of typhoid fever. Bertie’s sister Princess Alice, who was visiting with her husband, was there to help nurse her brother as she had done ten years earlier with her father.  The Princess of Wales, called Alix, spent most of her time at her husband’s bedside and was quite alarmed by his delirium and violent and hysterical ravings.

On December 7, it seemed the worst might be over and Alix and Alice went for a sled ride.  When they returned, they found Bertie had suffered a relapse.  On December 8, Sir William Jenner sent a telegram to Queen Victoria: “The Prince passed a very unquiet night.  Not so well. Temperature risen to 104. Respiration more rapid. Dr. Gull and I are both very anxious.”  The Queen, who had visited her son in the early stages of his illness, returned to Sandringham, sure that Bertie would die on December 14, the 10th anniversary of her husband’s death.

On December 13, Bertie’s condition was grave.  Alix wrote in her diary that she and Princess Alice said to each other in tears, “There can be no hope.”  Bertie’s doctors consulted with Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son, about whether they should issue a bulletin saying that the Prince of Wales’ strength was failing.  Prince Alfred later told one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, there had been “36 hours of the wildest, loudest, incessant talking, in all languages, whistling, and singing.”  The worst attack came just hours before the start of December 14, and it seemed certain Bertie would die.

Dawn broke on December 14 and miraculously, Bertie had slept through the night.  Queen Victoria came into his room early in the morning and found him awake and smiling.  That day the bulletin regarding the Prince of Wales’ condition said, “…there is some abatement of the gravity of the symptoms.”  Within 24 hours, the fear of a relapse had all but disappeared.  A thanksgiving service was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the recovery of the Prince of Wales from typhoid fever on February 27, 1872.

• Unofficial Royalty: King Edward VII of the United Kingdom
• British Medical Journal, December 2, 1871: The Illness of HRH The Prince of Wales

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December 14, 1878 – Death of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine at the New Palace in Darmstadt, Hesse (Germany); buried at the Grand Ducal Mausoleum at Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt
Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection affecting the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. Diphtheria causes a sore throat, fever, swollen glands, and weakness, but the determining sign is a thick, gray membrane covering the back of the throat. The membrane can block the windpipe so that the patient has to struggle for breath. Today, diphtheria is extremely rare in developed countries due to the vaccination against the disease.  However, before the advent of modern medicine, diphtheria could be epidemic and it often killed its victims.

In November of 1878, diphtheria invaded the household of the Grand Ducal Family of Hesse and by Rhine, where the reigning Grand Duke was Ludwig IV, the husband of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria.  Victoria, Alice’s eldest child was the first to become ill, on November 5, and soon Alice’s husband and four of Alice’s other children, Irene, Ernest, Alix, and Marie, developed diphtheria.  Only Elizabeth remained healthy and she was sent to the palace of her paternal grandmother.

On November 15, 1878, Alice’s youngest child, four-year-old Marie, choked to death because of the membrane covering her throat. Alice kept Marie’s death secret from her other children, however, she finally told them in early December.  Alice’s son Ernest was inconsolable, and to comfort him, Alice hugged and kissed him despite the risk of infection. On December 7, Alice realized that she had diphtheria. By December 14, 1878, the 17th anniversary of her father’s death, Alice became gravely ill and died that day.  Her last words were “Dear Papa.”

• Unofficial Royalty: Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

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Queen Victoria with her York great-grandchildren in 1900 (Princess Mary, the future Princess Royal, and Prince Edward, the future King Edward VIII, standing; Prince Albert, the future King George VI, in front; Prince Henry, the future Duke of Gloucester, being held by the Queen)

December 14, 1895 – Birth of King George VI at York Cottage at Sandringham in Norfolk, England
Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George was born on the anniversary of the death in 1861 of his great-grandfather Prince Albert and of his great-aunt Princess Alice in 1878.  Queen Victoria received the news with mixed feelings. Her son, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) wrote to his son, the new baby’s father (later King George V): “Grandmama was rather distressed that this happy event should have taken place on a darkly sad anniversary for us, but I think – as well as most of us in the family here – that it will break the spell of this unlucky date.”

The Prince of Wales later wrote to his son: “I really think it would gratify her [Queen Victoria] if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her”.  Queen Victoria was pleased to hear of the proposal to name the new baby Albert, and wrote to the baby’s mother: “I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me, especially as he will be called by that dear name which is a byword for all that is great and good.”

• Unofficial Royalty: King George VI of the United Kingdom

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December 14, 1901 – Birth of King Paul I of Greece in Athens, Greece
A Greek great-grandson of Queen Victoria was also born on December 14, 11 months after Queen Victoria’s death and on the 40th anniversary of Prince Albert’s death.  The future King Paul I of Greece was the son of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophie of Prussia, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s eldest child Victoria, Princess Royal.  Paul was the father of Queen Sofia of Spain and of former King Constantine II of Greece.

• Unofficial Royalty: King Paul I of Greece

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December 14, 1945 – Death of Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk at a nursing home in London, England
Maud was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and died of bronchitis at the age of 52  on the 84th anniversary of Prince Albert’s death. She was born Lady Maud Duff, the youngest daughter of Princess Louise, Princess Royal, and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife. In 1905, her grandfather King Edward VII granted Maud and her older sister Alexandra the title of Princess with the style of “Highness” and they received precedence immediately after all members of the royal family bearing the style of “Royal Highness.”

• Unofficial Royalty: Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk

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Works Cited

• “Albert, Prince Consort.” Wikipedia. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Albert>.
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1997. Print.
• Hough, Richard. Edward and Alexandra: Their Private and Public Lives. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1992. Print.
• Pope-Hennessy, James. Queen Mary. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959. Print.
• Princess Alice of the United Kingdom.” Wikipedia. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Alice_of_the_United_Kingdom>