The Speeches of Prince Albert, Inscribed by Victoria “in recollection of of the greatest and best of men, from the beloved Prince’s brokenhearted widow”

Perhaps the earliest tribute to the departed Prince Albert by the Queen, published just months after his death

Prince Albert, beloved husband of Queen Victoria, died at 10:50 p.m. on December 14, 1861 in the Blue Room at Windsor Castle, in the presence of the Queen and five of their nine children. The Queen's grief was overwhelming, and she was inconsolable. Victoria wore black in mourning for the rest of her long life, and Albert’s rooms in all their houses were kept as they had been, even with hot water brought in the morning, and linen and towels changed daily. Moreover, Victoria withdrew from public life. Albert was not merely a good husband but a good councillor, and is credited with introducing the principle that the British Royal Family should remain above politics and with helping avert a war with the United States over the Trent Affair.

Victoria determined that it was necessary to immortalize Albert’s life, and starting in 1862 and through the 1870s, commissioned books and memorials to him. Perhaps the first effort was the book “The Principal Speeches and Addresses of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, Compiled under the Direction of Her Majesty the Queen".  The volume, published in 1862 (Albert had passed away in December, 1861), contained speeches of the Prince Consort from the 1840s through 1860.  The introduction notes that this volume, it is hoped, will serve as a fitting memorial of the Prince.

Henry Wellesley was the younger brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Henry entered the diplomatic service in 1824, receiving his first important appointment in 1848, when he became Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Cantons. In July 1848 he was sent on special mission to the provisional central power of Germany in Frankfurt. This was followed in June 1851 by his appointment as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the reinstated diet of the German Confederation, a position which he only held for a short time, as he was chosen in 1852 to succeed Lord Normanby as the British Ambassador in Paris. He was Minister during the greater part of the reign of Napoleon III, and the story of his diplomatic life in Paris is integral to the history of England and France in that era.  In 1857 he was created Earl Cowley.

Book signed, first edition of “The Principal Speeches and Address of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort,” 1862, inscribed to Cowley.  “To the Earl Cowley, In recollection of of the greatest and best of men, from the beloved Prince’s brokenhearted widow, Victoria.”  She has dated the inscription “Windsor Castle, March 13, 1863.”