Prince Albert's Book of Common Prayer (green-velvet wedding copy)
The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments
Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us.
What it is
This green-velvet bound Book of Common Prayer (RCIN 1123511, Royal Collection) was given to Prince Albert by the Duchess of Kent on his wedding day, 10 February 1840, as a companion to Victoria's copy, its clasped-hands fastening symbolising the marriage union. Although Albert had been baptised and confirmed as a Lutheran in Coburg, the gift signalled his integration into the Anglican devotional world, and he engaged genuinely with its liturgy rather than treating it merely as a diplomatic courtesy. He subsequently composed sacred works for Anglican chapel use—a Te Deum, Jubilate, Sanctus, and the anthem 'Out of the Deep' (Psalm 130)—demonstrating active participation in Anglican liturgical prayer. This particular copy is distinguished from Victoria's by its green velvet binding and clasped binding rather than the jewelled bookmark, making it the more restrained, personal devotional object of the two.
Why it still matters
The same 1662 text that Albert received is still prayed in Anglican churches worldwide; its Collect, Epistle, and Gospel structure can be used daily for personal scripture meditation alongside Morning and Evening Prayer.
Kept alongside
Book of Common Prayer (1662 edition, Victoria's wedding copy)
The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments
The copy held as RCIN 1057741 in the Royal Collection was presented to Queen Victoria on her wedding day, 10 February 1840, by her mother the Duchess of Kent, inscribed 'Given To my beloved Victoria on her Wedding Day by Her most affectionate Mother.' The binding bears Victoria's monogram and a metal cartouche with the marriage date; the gold bookmark spells 'VICTORIA' in gemstones. A companion green-velvet copy (RCIN 1123511) was simultaneously given by the Duchess of Kent to Prince Albert. The 1662 Prayer Book was also the formal instrument for confirming and catechising the royal children, its catechism covering the Creed, Ten Commandments, Lord's Prayer, and Sacraments.
Psalter (BCP 1662 Morning & Evening Prayer)
The Psalter, or Psalms of David, as they are to be sung or said in Churches
The Coverdale Psalter, embedded within the Book of Common Prayer, was chanted or read through entirely every month in the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer. Royal household chapel observances at Windsor's Private Chapel, St George's Chapel Windsor, and the Chapel Royal all used this Psalter without exception. Prince Albert's own setting of Psalm 130 ('Out of the Deep') as an anthem for Anglican chapel use reflects the household's deep immersion in Coverdale's cadences. Its language, shaped by Coverdale's 1535 rendering, is simultaneously archaic and luminous, capable of expressing the full range of human emotion before God.
The Herrnhuter Losungen (Moravian Daily Watchwords)
Herrnhuter Losungen
The Losungen are a daily devotional pairing an Old Testament 'watchword' (chosen by lot) with a New Testament 'doctrinal text,' originating at Herrnhut under Count Zinzendorf in 1728 and first printed in 1731. Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf—the maternal grandmother of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert—grew up in Ebersdorf, a documented centre of Herrnhut Pietism; her family connection to Zinzendorf's wife Erdmuthe Dorothea ran through the Reuss-Ebersdorf line, making the devotional culture of the Losungen part of Augusta's formation. The strong probability that the Losungen were used in the ducal household of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld rests on this family and geographic connection rather than a surviving library inventory. The work's simplicity—two scripture verses per day, read aloud at the family table—made it the ideal vehicle for transmitting Pietist devotional culture across generations and across confessional boundaries.