She thought that he might, at least, have the title of "King-Consort," and perhaps because of this hope, she deferred for years--till 1857-- conferring on him, by Royal Letters Patent, the title of Prince-Consort. Doubtless the English people, if they had been on the lookout for a King, might have gone farther and fared worse,--but the four Georges had somehow got them out of conceit with the word "King," and William, the Sailor, had not quite reconciled them to it;--then they were jealous of foreigners, and last, but not least, there were apprehensions that the larger title would necessitate a larger grant. But the Prince did not need the empty honor, which in his position would have been "a distinction without a difference." I do not believe he cared much for it, though titles are usually dear to the Teutonic soul, determined, as he always so wisely was, to "sink his individuality in that of the Queen," and when at last, the second best title of Prince-Consort, that by which the people already named him, was made his legal right, by his fond wife, grieved to have kept --"the best man under the sun, So many years from his due," he was well content, because it pleased her. The Queen certainly did all she constitutionally could to confer honors on her husband, who after all outdid her, and best honored himself. Before their marriage, she had invested him with the noble order of the Garter, and given him the Star, and the Badge, and the Garter itself set in diamonds. She now invested him with the insignia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. It amused her, this investing--she would have liked to invent a few orders, for royal Albert's sake--he became the insignia so well! She also made him Colonel of the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons--he rode so well!--and she had the name changed to "Prince Albert's Own Hussars." Everywhere the Queen and Prince appeared together--at reviews and art exhibitions, at church and at the theatre (for the Queen was very fond of the drama in those days), at drawing-rooms and at races--and everywhere the people delighted in their beauty and their happiness.