Prince Albert Victor | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Duke of Clarence and Avondale | |||||
Photograph by William and Daniel Downey, 1891
|
|||||
Born | 8 January 1864 Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire |
||||
Died | 14 January 1892 (aged 28) Sandringham House, Norfolk |
||||
Burial | 20 January 1892 St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle |
||||
|
|||||
House | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | ||||
Father | Edward VII | ||||
Mother | Alexandra of Denmark |
Full name | |
---|---|
Albert Victor Christian Edward |
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892), was the eldest child of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), and the grandson of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria. From the time of his birth, he was second in the line of succession to the British throne, but never became king: he died before his father and his grandmother, the Queen.
Albert Victor was known to his family, and many later biographers, as "Eddy". When young, he travelled the world extensively as a naval cadet, and as an adult he joined the British Army, but did not undertake any active military duties. After two unsuccessful courtships, he was engaged to be married to Princess Mary of Teck in late 1891. A few weeks later, he died during an influenza pandemic. Mary later married his younger brother Prince George, who became King George V in 1910.
Albert Victor's intellect, sexuality and mental health have been the subject of speculation. Rumours linked him with the Cleveland Street scandal, which involved a homosexual brothel, but there is no conclusive evidence that he ever went there or was even homosexual. Some authors have argued that he was the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, but contemporary documents show that Albert Victor could not have been in London at the time of the murders, and the claim is widely dismissed.
Albert Victor was born two months prematurely on 8 January 1864 at Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire. He was the first child of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Alexandra, Princess of Wales (formerly Alexandra of Denmark). Following his grandmother Queen Victoria's wishes, he was named Albert Victor, after herself and her late husband Albert. As a grandchild of the reigning British monarch in the male line, and a son of the Prince of Wales, he was formally styled His Royal Highness Prince Albert Victor of Wales from birth.