14 December 1861 Death of Prince Albert and the Albert Memorial in London

On 14 December 1861, Prince Albert died at the age of 42 of typhoid.
Soon Queen Victoria commissioned a suitable memorial in memory of
her beloved husband.

Albert Memorial in London - own picture taken in 2016


The initiative was taken by the Lord Mayor of London, William Cubitt.
On a meeting on 14 January 1862, he appointed a committee to raise funds
for a design, which had to be approved by the Queen.

A handsome Prince Albert in 1840
Source picture: Wikipedia


The popularity of the Prince Consort led to the creation of several
Albert Memorials around the United Kingdom. The first was set up in
Manchester.

Statue of Prince Albert - Albert Memorial London- own picture taken in 2016

The order to create a statue of Prince Albert in Kensington Gardens, London,
in front of the Royal Albert Hall was initially given to Baron Carlo Marochetti,
a favorite sculptor of Queen Victoria. However he died in 1867.
In 1868, John Henry Foley was commissioned to create the statue of Prince Albert.


The architects who worked on the memorial were led by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
Other artists were inter alia:
Thomas Leverton Donaldson;
William Tite;
Sydney Smirke;
James Pennethorne;
Matthew Digby Wyatt;
Philip C.Hardwick;
William Burn;
Edward Middleton Barry.

Finally, the monument was opened in July, 1872, by Queen Victoria herself.

Albert Memorial - London - own picture taken in 2016


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