The death of Prince Albert 150 years ago at the age of 42 sent a whole nation into shock and grief. It was a catastrophe for Queen Victoria, who had relied on him utterly, and it defined the last 40 years of her reign.

Oxford-based historian Helen Rappaport examines the circumstances leading up to Albert’s death and offers new theories on what killed him. She looks at the dramatic effect on the nation and examines how Queen Victoria set out to preserve the memory of her adored husband.

Rappaport started out as an actress on television and in films but abandoned acting for history and writing. She is an expert in Russian history and 19th-century women’s history. Her books include Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs and No Place for Ladies:  The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War. Here she talks to Ross King, a novelist and art historian whose books include Brunelleschi’s Dome and Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling.