Albert, Prince Consort cousins, brothers King Pedro V of Portugal and Prince Ferdinand, died of typhoid fever within 5 days of each other in early November. On top of this news, Albert was informed that gossip was spreading in gentlemen's clubs and the foreign press that the Prince of Wales was still involved with Nellie Clifden. Albert and Victoria were horrified by their son's indiscretion, and feared blackmail, scandal or pregnancy. Although Albert was ill and at a low ebb, he travelled to Cambridge to see the Prince of Wales on 25 November to discuss his son's indiscreet affair. In his final weeks
Grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha unfortunately did little to hide their favouritism. Both Vicky and Alfred were the favorites of Albert, and Arthur enjoyed the favouritism of both his parents. Victoria initially was jealous of the time that Albert had been spent with Vicky, but in her widowhood Victoria made Vicky something of her confidante, and for her part, Vicky had accrued hundreds of letters from her mother, to the point that shortly before her death, she had them smuggled out of Germany by her brother's secretary, Sir Frederick Ponsonby. Of her sons, Victoria had the most trouble with her eldest, Albert Edward, and her