Albert Prince of Books
Words and photos by Martin P McAdam
For the last three weeks in August each year Charlotte Square becomes the site of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
It began back in 1983 as a “Meet the Author” event and is now a key part of the August Festival season. Originally a biennial event, it transitioned to a yearly festival in 1997. It now attracts over 200,000 visitors every year. Unfortunately you can't visit the Book Festival this year. Instead the 2020 Edinburgh International Book Festival has gone online.
Charlotte Square (originally St. George’s Square, the name change to avoid confusion with George Square on the south side) was designed as a single unified scheme by Robert Adam. The concept was to create individual houses with a unified facade to give the look of a palace-front. However, Adam died in 1792 and his completed designs had to be realised by others. The north side of the square was built first and is reasonably faithful to his original concept. The north side of the square consists of a row of eleven houses with No.6, Bute House, now the official residence of the First Minister, as the centre piece.
The centre gardens, originally circular, were converted to the current octagonal design in 1873. Outside of the festival, Charlotte Square Gardens are closed to the public, only accessible to the owners of the nearby properties. It is strange then that the magnificent memorial of Albert, Prince Consort, is located at the centre of this private space.
At the age of 20, Albert married his cousin Queen Victoria and together they had nine children. Like many partners of royalty he is said to have struggled with finding a purpose and a meaningful role.
However he played an important role in the development of the Great Exhibition of 1851. He became prominent in the development of educational reform and in the abolition of slavery.
From a position of extreme privilege he was aware of the plight of the working classes. The Times of 19 May 1848 reports on his speech as President of the Society for the Improvement of the Condition of the Labouring Classes. It was, he said the "duty of those who, under the blessings of Divine Providence, enjoy station, wealth, and education" to assist those less fortunate.
In December 1861, following a diagnosis of typhoid fever, at the age of just 42, Albert died at Windsor Castle in the presence of Queen Victoria and five of their nine children. A modern analysis of his symptoms indicate that he may have died from a more chronic disease such as Crohn's disease, kidney failure or cancer. Victoria was devastated, she withdrew from public appearances and remained in mourning, dressed in black until her death on the Isle of Wight in 1901.
The main statue of the memorial, reaching to a height of over nine metres, features an equestrian statue of Albert in his field marshal's uniform, dwarfing the four figures around the base. It was unveiled by Queen Victoria herself in 1876. The main sculpture was executed by Sir John Steel. The stone plinth, in Peterhead granite, was designed by the architect David Bryce.
At each corner of the plinth are additional figures by David Watson Stevenson (Science and Learning) and at a different corner (Labour), George Clark Stanton (Army and Navy) and William Brodie (Nobility).