Imperial College London (legally The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Imperial's origins lie with Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, who championed creating a centre for science, technology and the arts in the area around South Kensington, which came to be known as "Albertopolis" and also comprises the Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and Science Museum. Imperial has grown through mergers, including with St Mary's Hospital Medical School (in 1988), the National Heart and Lung Institute (in 1995) and Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (in 1997).