Page "Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale" Paragraph 7

When Albert Victor was just short of seventeen months old, his brother, Prince George of Wales, was born on 3 June 1865.

Given the closeness in age of the two royal brothers, they were educated together.

In 1871, the Queen appointed John Neale Dalton as their tutor.

The two princes were given a strict programme of study, which included games and military drills as well as academic subjects.

Dalton complained that Albert Victor's mind was " abnormally dormant ".

Though he learned to speak Danish, progress in other languages and subjects was slow.

Albert Victor never excelled intellectually.

Lady Geraldine Somerset blamed Dalton for Albert Victor's poor education, but possible physical explanations for Albert Victor's inattention or indolence in class include his premature birth, which can be associated with learning difficulties, or petit mal, a mild form of epilepsy manifested in childhood as periods of mental vacuity.

Sir Henry Ponsonby thought that Albert Victor might have inherited his mother's deafness.