In the bitter winter of 1861, Britain’s Prince Consort, Albert, sat down and wrote a letter to his 19-year-old son, Bertie, the Prince of Wales. The cause was a piece of news that had reached Albert’s ears: his eldest son had reportedly become involved with Nelly Clifton, an Irish actress and sex worker. Albert’s letter, written in a state of genuine despair, did not hold back. ” I write to you with a heavy heart on a subject which has caused me the deepest pain,” he wrote.
“I knew that you were thoughtless and weak, and I often trembled at the thought that you might get into some scrape through ignorance. But I could not think you depraved, what has become, of all sense of religion, morality, decency, and honor, to thrust yourself into the hands of one of the most abject of the human species, to be by her initiated in the sacred mysteries of creation, which ought to remain shrouded in holy awe until touched by pure and undefiled hands. ”
The letter continued at length, expressing Albert’s fury and disappointment. But the prince consort was not convinced that a letter alone would get through to his son.
Soon after, he made the journey to Cambridge to confront Bertie face to face. The specific content of that private conversation has never been recorded, so what passed between father and son remains unknown. What is known is the state Albert was in when he returned to Windsor the following day. He was reportedly completely wrecked, physically and emotionally drained by the encounter.
Within just a few weeks, his health had deteriorated dramatically, setting the stage for a tragic turn that would reshape the British monarchy.