The story
From Albert (“male given name”) + -polis, after Albert, Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria, who proposed the purchase and redevelopment of the area, funded by profits from the Great Exhibition, which he had also championed. Initially used somewhat satirically, the term fell into disuse after the Prince's death, but usage was revived in the 1960s.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.