The Exiled Mother-In-Law of Queen Victoria

How the poor treatment of his mother influenced Prince Albert’s views on marriage

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was a faithful and devoted husband to his beloved wife, Queen Victoria. Rare for the time period, there are no allegations of affairs or dalliances with other women after his marriage. Exemplary of his commitment to marital life, Albert died after a distressing talk with his son, the future King Edward VII, regarding Edward’s affair with a notorious actress. Albert and Victoria found their heir’s wayward behavior upsetting to their morals. Victoria went as far as to blame Albert’s death on his horror of finding out that Edward was not the faithful man his father was.

Albert’s unusual disdain for philandering may be attributed to the poor treatment his mother, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, received from his father, Duke Ernest III of Saxe-Gotha-Saalfield. Louise was married to Ernest at the age of sixteen. Like many princesses, she had no say in her marriage and was given only a cursory education on her wifely duties. Thrust into marriage with a man she did not love with little worldly experience, Louise endured a lonely existence. Louise was said to be beautiful and clever, but these attributes did not win over her husband, and Ernst looked for sexual fulfillment outside of the banns of marriage. Despite their incompatibility, Louise and Ernest managed to produce two sons: another Ernest and Albert. After the succession was secured, Ernest…