Victim or villain?

Prince Albert Victor, one of the Royal Family’s most controversial figures, began his life in Windsor

- Bernard Bale

It was a Leap Year, Friday 8 January 1864, when Prince Albert Victor was born at Frogmore House, Windsor.Born prematurely, he was the first child and son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, later to become King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and they were both relieved and delighted.

It was another 17 months before his brother, Prince George, was born. Albert Victor was a little slow in developing and thus it soon became difficult to see which was actually the older of the two brothers. They were educated together and later became Naval Cadets together.

Neither were great academics but George seemed more suited to continue his career at sea while Albert Victor took a different path towards Trinity College, Cambridge. He could speak Danish, his mother’s native tongue, but his years of studying other languages, the arts and military strategy were fruitless. That became the pattern of his life – not an unpleasant man but not a well-educated one either. And there was a ‘Mr Hyde’ side to the future monarch.

Royal gossip was like currency in the elitist of company and Prince Albert Victor provided much of it among the establishment. He appeared uncommunicative, although at Trinity College he was reputed to be a frequenter of parties. Some of these were organised by a don called Oscar Browning, who seemed to lean heavily in the direction of homosexuality. That set the gossip machines into overdrive.