The visitors remained five days, and were received with so much affection by every member of the royal family and so splendidly entertained that it was with sincere regret that they parted from them at last. {361}After stopping two or three days at Brighton, the queen and prince made a tour in Belgium, and visited their beloved uncle, King Leopold. The month succeeding this journey was marked by the prince's first visit to Cambridge, where he and the queen were received by the students with tremendous enthusiasm. [[A.D. 1844.]] The first grief that darkened the home of the royal couple was caused by the death of Prince Albert's father, which occurred quite suddenly in January, 1844. This event was not entirely unexpected; nevertheless the prince was deeply shocked, for he had always entertained a warm affection for his father. The following month he decided to visit Coburg, and see those of his relations who remained. Shortly after his return the King of Saxony arrived at Buckingham Palace on a visit, and two days later the Emperor of Russia appeared, having given only forty-eight hours' notice that he would do so. Meanwhile, the court removed to Windsor Castle, where the emperor was conducted by Prince Albert and received by the queen. The royal visitor was struck by the magnificence of the castle, and repeatedly declared that the English court was conducted on a grander scale than any he had ever seen. A brilliant review was given in Windsor Park on the fourth of June in honor of the two royal guests, and they were delighted with the rapidity of the artillery movements. The whole royal party attended the Ascot races on the sixth, and returned to town on the seventh. Next day the emperor went with Prince Albert on an excursion in the country, and attended the opera with the queen in the evening. On the ninth he took his departure, having made a most favorable impression in England. On the sixth of August the queen's second son was born, at Windsor Castle. He was christened at the end of {362}four weeks in the private chapel, and received the names Alfred Ernest Albert. The sponsors were Prince George of Cambridge, the Prince of Leiningen, represented by the Duke of Wellington, the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, represented by the Duchess of Kent. The scene was very solemn. The Princess Royal and the Prince of Wales were present; and it was on that occasion that the former first beheld the father of the man she was to marry fourteen years later,--the Crown Prince of Prussia,--who was then on a visit to England.