Prince Albert. Portrait of Prince Albert (1819- 61), German husband of the British Queen Victoria, a patron of science and sponsor of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Born Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emmanuel of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, he and Victoria fell in love at their first meeting. Mar- rying in 1840 he became her main advisor. Despair- ing at the poor state of science and technology in Britain compared with Germany, he instigated the Great Exhibition. The Exhibition featured thousands of technological items from around the world. It was hugely successful & Albert used the profits to open museums. Suffering from overwork, Albert died of typhoid fever. Portrait from 1851.