Royal Albert Hall events in British culture, each year it hosts more than 390 shows in the main auditorium, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestra, sports, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium spaces. The Hall was originally supposed to have been called the "Central Hall of Arts and Sciences", but the name was changed to the "Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences" by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert,
Albert, Prince Consort Just before the marriage, Albert was naturalised by Act of Parliament, and granted the style of "Royal Highness" by an Order in Council. Initially Albert was not popular with the British public; he was perceived to be from an impoverished and undistinguished minor state, barely larger than a small English county. The British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, advised the Queen against granting her husband the title of "King Consort"; Parliament also objected to Albert being created a peer—partly because of anti-German sentiment and a desire to exclude Albert from any political role. Albert's religious views provided a small amount of