THE PRINCE CONSORT.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12975, 30 November 1907, Page 7

THE PRINCE CONSORT.

\W hare <]oa!t o-lsewhero with Qmv»n - Victoria's love story, but no suninuiry ~- • "i thcsi. rcinurknble letters would bo '~. . '"Omplrip tlmt Hid not reft'r \» the mi*- ,;:■■- portent part plnyetj b.v tli* Pnuc« Con||\»rt •# tie Queen* tdriaer »ad helper

in her public duties. The Queen wrote a remarkable m-momii-lnm in lA*>li?°n tho hlim »liatinc position in which the Prince Consort found himself. It *s a strange omission in our . Constitution." she sn-vs, "that. while I tno w ife of a Kinc hn-*. the highest I rank and dignity in tho rc<ilm after 1 j her husband assigned to her by law. *; tho husband of a Queen Regnant i* en- ■ ! tirely ignored by the law. "This is the I more extraordinary, as a husband h-*> iin this country such particular rigl"-' and such gro.-tt noivcr over his wile. and as the Queen is married just as avy > . other woman is. and swears ro obey h'-r ■ ' lord and master, as such, while by bw ( ! be_ has no rank or defined position. , This is a stranee anomaly. No doubt, I -as is the case now. tho Quern can give 1 her husband the highest place by plac- • ing him always near her person, and . the nation would give it liim as a matter of course. Still, when I fir--t married, we had much difficulty on this [ subject; much bad feeling was shown, and several members of the Royal fum- • ily showed bad grace in giving prece- , dence to tho Prince, and the late Kin-; of Hanover positively resisted doing so" 1 In truth, as a London paper remarks, tho Prince Consort deserved better rei cognition than he received in his lifetime. It is not, perhaps, too much to say that tho most notable result of the publication of these volumes will be the tardy but complete vindication of the unfailing- sagacity of Prince Albert in handling tho complicated political situations that arose in the twenty years during which ho stood beside the Queen. He grasped the essentials of Constitutional Monarchy with clearness I and certainty, and by resolute -adherence to principles which he had hivnI self thought out in a logical and invulnerable form, he vastly increased the dignity of tho Crown in this country. Into his hands the Queen confided her 1 policy, and not only did she make no mistake of importance during his lifetime, but it is clear that the > unfailing discretion which characterised her use of the Royal prerogatives during her widowhood is due to the careful and just training which she received from her husband.