head of the Coburg family, Ernest would normally have been able to arrange Alfred's education and general upbringing unchallenged. This however was not the case. Alfred was torn between his British birth and his German inheritance. This was partly because Alfred was second-in-line to the United Kingdom until the birth of his nephew Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, in 1864. One example of the many problems of his education concerned the language he would speak. Although he grew up learning German, his native language was decided to be English. In addition, a naval career was chosen for Alfred, a common profession for a British prince but almost unheard of for a German prince. Ernest also wanted Alfred to be educated in Coburg, but his brother refused. Albert's refusal most likely stemmed from the negative British reaction that would have inevitably occurred and the fact that Albert was fearful of Alfred's moral development. Thus, despite Ernest's protests, he went unheeded in Albert's lifetime. In 1863, Ernest told Victoria that it was time for Alfred to leave the navy and enter a German university. By March of the following year, it was decided that Alfred would attend Bonn University but be left to consider his future, as he was having reservations over permanently residing outside England. The matter was eventually resolved; Alfred came to accept his inheritance, and Victoria understood and accepted that Ernest needed to be involved in the upbringing of his heir-presumptive, with a strong German element added to his education and (carefully chaperoned) visits to Coburg. In media Ernest appears in the 2016 ITV series Victoria, portrayed by David Oakes. He is inaccurately depicted as having an affair with Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland. In real life, Ernest likely never met the Duchess; he was already married at the time, and the Duchess was twelve years older than him. Honours German honours Foreign decorations : Grand Cross of the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 23 April 1836 Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, 1 March 1844 : Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 18 November 1839 Kingdom of France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, May 1843 : Stranger Knight of the Garter, 12 December 1844 : Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1852 : Grand Cross of the Southern Cross : Grand Cordon of the