Royal Albert Hall
The Triumph of Arts and Sciences
Around the outside of the hall is
a great mosaic frieze,
depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences",
in reference to the Hall's dedication.
Proceeding anti-clockwise from
the north side the sixteen subjects of the frieze are
- Various Countries of the World bringing in their Offerings to the Exhibition of 1851
- Music
- Sculpture
- Painting
- Princes, Art Patrons and Artists
- Workers in Stone
- Workers in Wood and Brick
- Architecture
- The Infancy of the Arts and Sciences
- Agriculture
- Horticulture and Land Surveying
- Astronomy and Navigation
- A Group of Philosophers, Sages and Students
- Engineering
- The Mechanical Powers
- Pottery and Glassmaking
The Prince
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
(26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861)
was the husband of Queen Victoria.
A man of progressive and relatively liberal ideas,
Albert not only led reforms in university education,
welfare, the royal finances and slavery,
he had a special interest in applying science and art
to the manufacturing industry.
The Great Exhibition
In 1851, the Great Exhibition was held in
Hyde Park, London, for which
the Crystal Palace was built.
The exhibition was a great success and
led Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, to
propose that a permanent series of facilities
be built in the area for
the enlightenment of the public.
Progress on the scheme was slow and
in 1861 Prince Albert died,
without having seen his ideas come to fruition.
However, a memorial was proposed for
Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.
The proposal was approved and
the site was purchased with
some of the profits from the Exhibition.
Once the remaining funds had been raised,
in April 1867
Queen Victoria signed the Royal Charter of the
Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences which
was to operate the Hall and on 20 May,
laid the foundation stone.
The official opening ceremony of the Hall was
on 29 March 1871.
A welcoming speech was given by
Edward, the Prince of Wales;
Queen Victoria was too overcome to
speak although she did comment that
it reminded her of the British constitution.
The Crystal Palace
was a cast-iron and plate-glass building originally
erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to
house the Great Exhibition of 1851.
More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world
gathered in the Palace's 990,000 square feet of
exhibition space to display examples of the
latest technology developed in the Industrial Revolution.
Because of the recent invention of
the cast plate glass method in 1848,
which allowed for large sheets of
cheap but strong glass,
it was at the time the largest amount of
glass ever seen in a building and
astonished visitors with its clear walls and
ceilings that did not require interior lights,
thus a "Crystal Palace".
After the exhibition,
the building was rebuilt in an enlarged form on
Penge Common next to Sydenham Hill,
an affluent South London suburb full of large villas. 
It stood there from 1854 until
its destruction by fire in 1936.
The Mourn
Victoria never fully recovered from
Albert's death in 1861 and
she remained in mourning for the rest of her life.
She entered a state of mourning and
wore black for the remainder of her life.
Albert's rooms in all his houses were
kept as they had been, even
with hot water brought in the morning, and
linen and towels changed daily
She avoided public appearances, and
rarely set foot in London in the following years.
Her seclusion earned her the name "widow of Windsor"
Albert Memorial
right across the road from
Royal Albert Hall
Frieze of Parnassus
The central part of the memorial is surrounded by
the elaborate sculptural Frieze of Parnassus
(named after Mount Parnassus,
the favorite resting place for the Greek muses),
which depicts 169 individual
composers, architects, poets, painters, and sculptors.
The Private Boxes
The boxes were originally sold on
999-year leases when the Royal Albert Hall opened
in 1871, to help finance its construction costs.
It gives the owner the right to
see most performances.
If they do not wish to use their tickets,
they can give them to friends or family or
sell them back through the Albert Hall.
Most boxes are passed from
generation to generation of the same family.
Or bought and sold as a private property.
The Standing Places
up to 14000 standing places available
the idea was to provide entertainment equally
for those who can’t really afford a ticket
The Events
The Hall has played host to
over 150,000 different events and
has been affectionately titled "The Nation's Village Hall".
List of events held:
- opera
- ballet
- classical and rock concerts
- conferences
- ballroom dancing
- poetry recitals
- education & graduation
- motor shows
- marathons
- circus shows
- boxing
- wrestling
- tennis
