Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; later the Prince Consort; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria.

He was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europe's ruling monarchs. At the age of 20, he married his first cousin, Queen Victoria, with whom he would ultimately have nine children. Initially he felt constrained by his position as consort, which did not confer any power or duties upon him, but he soon began to lend his support to many public causes, such as educational reform and the worldwide abolition of slavery, and took on the responsibilities of running the Queen's household, estates and office. He was heavily involved with the organisation of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was a resounding success.

As the Queen depended more and more on his help and guidance, Albert aided in the development of Britain's constitutional monarchy by persuading his wife to show less partisanship in her dealings with Parliament—although he actively disagreed with the interventionist foreign policy pursued during Lord Palmerston's tenure as Foreign Secretary.

He died at the relatively young age of 42, plunging the Queen into a deep mourning that lasted for the rest of her life. Upon Queen Victoria's death in 1901, their eldest son, Edward VII, succeeded as the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, named after the ducal house to which Albert belonged.

Albert was born at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, Germany, the second son of Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Albert's future wife, Victoria, was born earlier in the same year with the assistance of the same midwife. Albert was baptised into the Lutheran Evangelical Church on 19 September 1819 in the Marble Hall at Schloss Rosenau with water taken from the local river, the Itz. His godparents were his paternal grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; his maternal grandfather, the Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg; the Emperor of Austria; the Duke of Teschen; and Emanuel, Count of Mensdorff-Pouilly. In 1825, Albert's great-uncle, Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, died. His death led to a re-arrangement of the Saxon duchies the following year and Albert's father became the first reigning duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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