Alfred, Queen Victoria’s Second Son
Public DomainAlfred served as both the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha during his life.
Queen Victoria’s fourth child and second son, Alfred, was born on August 6, 1844. While he was initially second in line for the throne, his position declined as his older brother, Edward, began having children.
At just 14, Alfred became a cadet in the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Euryalus. And by 1867, he’d been appointed captain of the HMS Galatea. While on the ship, he became the first member of the family to visit Australia.
Public DomainEven as a child (pictured here in 1856), Alfred knew he wanted to serve in the Royal Navy.
A few years earlier, he’d almost become the King of Greece after King Otto was expelled in 1862. However, Queen Victoria and the British government prevented his rise to the throne, and his naval career continued.
In 1874, Alfred married the future Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, whom he’d met through his sister Alice. They had four daughters and one son, also named Alfred.
The younger Alfred died under bizarre circumstances in 1899 when he was just 24. Rumors of the cause ranged from a tumor to consumption, but he may have actually died by suicide. One theory claims that he was involved in a “secret marriage” that caused controversy within his family and shot himself with a revolver during his parents’ 25th wedding anniversary celebration. While he survived the initial injury, he died from complications several days later.
The elder Alfred died of throat cancer one year later at age 55, making him one of the few children of Queen Victoria to pass away before her.
