Friday 23 December 2011

Epping: Funeral of Prince Albert, 23 December 1861

A single sheet of paper found in a contemporary book I purchased in a secondhand bookshop in Norwich tells how the people of Epping marked the funeral of Prince Albert, Consort to Queen Victoria, on this day in 1861. A Service was held at St John's Chapel, now St John's Church, at the bottom of the High Street.


Prince Albert is credited with being a key organiser of The Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1851 and for making Christmas trees popular in British homes at this time of year. His early death has a devastating effect on Queen Victoria, now a widow in her early 40s.




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