CHAPTER IV

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THE DEATH OF THE PRINCE CONSORT.

England in 1861--The Jumble of Parties--Secret Alliance Between Palmerston and the Tories--Opening of Parliament--The Prince Consort and the “Two Old Italian Masters”--Lady William Russell’s _Salon_--The Proposed Sale of Venice--The Fall of Gaeta--Prussia and Italy--Death of Cavour--A _Casus Belli_ against France--Napoleon in the East--Denmark and the Duchies--The Queen’s Private Sorrows--Last Illness and Death of the Duchess of Kent--Renewed Attacks in the Press on Prince Albert--Palmerston Accused of Tampering with Despatches--Anecdote of Lord Derby and Lord Granville--The Budget--Repeal of the Paper Duty--Palmerston’s “Grudge” Against Prince Albert--The Marriage of the Princess Alice announced--The Queen and Her Social Duties--Two Drawing-Rooms and Two Investitures--A Season of Mourning--Death of Lord Herbert of Lea--Lord John Russell’s Peerage--Reform and the Working Classes--Ministerial Changes--The Queen’s Tour in Ireland--The Queen and German Unity--Coronation of the King of Prussia--Death of the King of Portugal--Fatigue of the Prince Consort--Signs of His Last Illness--The Queen at Her Husband’s Sick-Bed--A Mournful Vigil--The Prince Consort’s Last Words--Scene at the Death-Bed--The Sorrow of the Country--The Queen’s Despair--Her Removal from Windsor--Prince Albert’s Character and Career--His Funeral--The Scene at the Grave--The Queen and the Princess Alice 73

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