Albert, Prince Consort was the husband of Queen Victoria. She
had ascended the throne in 1837 at the age of only eighteen. Being
relatively inexperienced, she relied on her husband's guidance in
many affairs of state. In particular he was a powerful champion of
the arts and sciences, education and industry. The Great
Exhibition, held in London in 1851, was a triumph of his drive and
organizing ability.
His sudden death on 14 December 1861 was a great shock to the
country and of course to the Queen. However, there were two factors
which made it even worse. Firstly, the diagnosis was "low fever" or
typhoid, a particularly undignified disease involving vomiting,
diarrhoea and intestinal haemorrhage. Second, the seriousness of
the illness had been suppressed by the Prince's doctors, with the
result that people were still praying in church for his recovery
after he had died.
This picture is one of many memorials of that event. Queen
Victoria was horrified by the existence of the picture and
considered buying it in order to have it destroyed, but it survived
and was bought by Henry Wellcome in 1924. The artist has not yet
been identified with certainty. At the time it was painted, he used
the pseudonym Le Port. There was a rumour that his real name was
Oakley. He portrays the scene at Windsor Castle, with the Prince
Consort in bed, the Prince of Wales to the left and the Queen in
grey on the right. On the far left is the quartet of disgraced
physicians.