Albert's Court

It is impossible to overestimate the influence of Prince Albert over his wife. After a short period of insisting on her superior position as queen (dictating the appointments of his staff, and insisting on the briefest of honeymoons), Victoria gave herself up to his guidance. Windsor was to be prefered to London, and the remote Osborne and Balmoral were prefered to either. Country life took precedence over the social whirl (Albert was notoriously unable to cope with the late hours usual in London society), and an earnest dedication to political affairs was coupled with the production and education of a family of nine children. Naturally the court took on a different tone.

Politically, Albert's arrival in England coincided with the breaking of the Whig stranglehold on the court: his own sympathies were with Peel's Conservatives, and in 1841 it was through Albert that Peel negotiated the sensitive changes to Victoria's household which had prevented the formation of a Conservative ministry two years earlier. Henceforth the permanent household was, not merely more politically diverse, but less openly involved in political alliances. (A proportion of the offices, including the heads of departments such as the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Steward and Master of the Horse, continued to owe their posts to the political ministry of the day, and were changed with the government.) A convincing article by David Cannadine argues that, far from intending to withdraw the monarchy from the political fray and to relinquish political authority, it was the intention of Victoria and Albert to place themselves above party precisely in order that they might consolidate and extend the influence and power of the crown. The sovereign, they believed, could act in the interests of the country as a whole, without regard to the expediencies of politicians tied to both party and the electorate. They failed in this attempt, Cannadine suggests, partly because of the changing nature of British politics, partly because Albert's untimely death in 1861 removed the most active partner in this rejuvenated concept of royal power.* Another reason for failure suggests itself: the very removal of court appointments from politics (and those that remained under political control had least direct contact with the royal family) meant that there could be no 'Queen's Party', no body of politicians who felt that they owed their loyalty and position to the monarchy rather than to their party leaders.

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