# Why is a penile piercing called a Prince Albert?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-penile-piercing-called-a-prince-albert/98589>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 16, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-penile-piercing-called-a-prince-albert/98589 "2002-03-16T06:21:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-penile-piercing-called-a-prince-albert/98589/1 "2002-03-16T06:21:03Z")

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I have been wondering for about a year now just why penile piercings were named Prince Alberts. I can’t imagine that thrilled Queen Victoria much… unless thats the reason she looks so glum in the pictures after Albert died.

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**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-penile-piercing-called-a-prince-albert/98589/2 "2002-03-16T06:38:45Z")

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The story I’ve heard goes:

Prince Albert was uncircumsized. This bugged Victoria for hygienic reasons, so he had himself pierced and ringed to keep the foreskin retracted.

I wonder if she liked the hardware?

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**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-penile-piercing-called-a-prince-albert/98589/3 "2002-03-16T07:00:07Z")

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Not to cast doubt on that explanation but I didnt think circumsion was common for non Jews until the middle of this century… my Dad was 63 when he died last month and uncircumsised…

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-penile-piercing-called-a-prince-albert/98589/4 "2002-03-16T09:23:03Z")

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Looks like it may well be a made-up romanticism.  
From this site on [body piercing:](http://www.studentbmj.com/back_issues/0100/edanddebate/1627.html)

> [@](#):
>
> In fact, most of the names given to piercings are made up. This was revealed in an interview with Jim Ward, a piercer who in the late 1970s started Piercing Fans International Quarterly and making Gauntlet body piercing jewellery, all of which was financed by his friend Doug Molloy. It seems that Molloy felt that piercing needed a bit more romance surrounding it. He invented a wide selection of names and histories to make it more interesting, and now that they have appeared in print the names have become accepted as fact.

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**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-penile-piercing-called-a-prince-albert/98589/5 "2002-03-16T14:07:32Z")

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As it turns out, MANY forms of insanity have their own peculiar names. 😉