C

BE A HUMAN BEING

Work is what horses die of. Everybody should know

that.

—ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN

ompared with most royal couples, Queen Victoria and Prince
Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were exceptional. They
actually loved each other and they actually worked at, and took
seriously, their jobs as heads of state. This was all very good.
But it could also be argued that any positive trait—even hard
work—taken to excess becomes a vice.
In both their cases, as a couple for whom, by the nature of their
profession, even the idea of “work/life balance” was impossible, the
virtue of their self-discipline and dedication became a fatal vice.
Albert, a Bavarian prince who married into the British royal
family, was a hard worker from the day he married Victoria. He
brought much-needed order and routine to the life of his queen. He
streamlined processes and took up a share of the burdens that had
previously fallen on Victoria alone. Indeed, many of the so-called
Victorian traits of the era originated with him. He was disciplined,
fastidious, ambitious, conservative.
Under his pressing, their schedule became one meeting, dispatch,
and social event after another. Albert was almost constantly busy,
working so much that he occasionally vomited from stress. Never
shirking a responsibility or an opportunity, he took on every bit of
the burden of power his wife was willing to share, and in turn,