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Prince Albert

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Albert was born on August 26, 1819, near Coburg, Germany, the son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He first met the future Queen Victoria in 1836. After she ascended to the crown, Albert visited her again in 1938 and married her in 1840.

Although distrusted in some circles because he was born in a foreign country, Albert became the adviser and private secretary to the queen. He reorganized the royal household and headed a commission to encourage the fine arts in Britain.

In 1847, Cambridge University elected Albert chancellor. His ideas on education were adopted first by Cambridge and later by Oxford University. At the request of the Duke of Wellington, he helped reorganize the army training plan during the Crimean War. He also planned and landscaped Victoria's winter home on the Isle of Wight. Late in 1861, Albert's health broke. He died of typhoid fever on December 14, 1861.