by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s (now The Prince and Princess of Wales) second child, a daughter, was born on May 2, 2015. Her given names are Charlotte Elizabeth Diana and she is styled Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. (She is now styled Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Wales.) Letters patent issued on December 31, 2012, by Queen Elizabeth II declared that all children of the Prince of Wales’s eldest son are princes or princesses with the style Royal Highness. As with other princes and princesses who are born to royal dukes, the children of the Duke of Cambridge take their territorial designation from their father’s title.

The last-born Princess of Cambridge was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge (1833-1897). Princess Mary Adelaide was the second daughter and the youngest of the three children of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge who was a son of King George III. Princess Mary Adelaide was the first cousin of Queen Victoria and the mother of Queen Mary, the wife of King George V. Therefore, she is the great great great great grandmother of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. Princess Mary Adelaide weighed approximately 250 pounds and was affectionately known as “Fat Mary.” Her first cousin Queen Victoria wrote of her, “Her size is fearful. It is really a misfortune.” Princess Mary Adelaide, however, was high-spirited and full of life, and was adored by the Victorian public who called her “The People’s Princess.”

Princess Charlotte’s first name, a French diminutive of Charles, is most likely a tribute to her paternal grandfather King Charles III and her maternal grandmother Carole Middleton, whose name comes from Carolus, the Latin form of Charles. Charlotte is also the middle name of the princess’ maternal aunt Pippa Middleton. However, there is a history of the name Charlotte in the British Royal Family. King James II and his second wife Mary of Modena had a daughter named Charlotte (1682), but she lived for only two months. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818) was the wife of King George III. Queen Charlotte is noted for giving birth to 15 children with all but two surviving childhood. She was a patroness of the arts and an amateur botanist, who helped expand Kew Gardens in London.

King George III and Queen Charlotte named their eldest daughter Charlotte (1766-1828). In 1789, she was created Princess Royal, a style that can be awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The living conditions of King George III’s daughters came to be known as “the Nunnery.” None of the daughters was allowed to marry at the age when most princesses would marry. Charlotte was the only one of her sisters to escape the “the Nunnery” relatively early. At the age of 29, Charlotte married Hereditary Prince Friedrich of Württemberg, later King of Württemberg. The couple had one child, a stillborn daughter born in 1798.

Queen Charlotte also had two granddaughters named Charlotte. Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817) was the only child of George, Prince of Wales, the future King George IV. Had Charlotte survived her grandfather King George III and her father King George IV, she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom. During her lifetime, Charlotte was second in the line of succession to the British throne after her father. On May 2, 1816, Charlotte married the handsome Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld (after 1826, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and in 1831, elected Leopold I, King of the Belgians).

On November 6, 1817, a great tragedy struck the British Royal Family. After a labor of over 50 hours, Charlotte delivered a stillborn son. Several hours later, twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte, the only child of George, Prince of Wales, and King George III’s only legitimate grandchild, died of postpartum hemorrhage. Charlotte was mourned by the British people in a manner similar to the mourning of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was buried in the Royal Tomb House at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle with her stillborn son at her feet. Charlotte’s pregnancy and delivery had been grossly mismanaged and the doctor in charge later committed suicide. The death of Charlotte of Wales caused a succession crisis. See Unofficial Royalty: Death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in childbirth and its impact on the succession to the British throne.

Queen Charlotte’s other namesake granddaughter was Princess Charlotte of Clarence, the daughter of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, the future King William IV. Little Charlotte was born on March 27, 1819, and died the same day, a few hours after being baptized. Had Charlotte of Clarence lived, she would have been Queen instead of her cousin Victoria.

Prince Charlotte’s second name is Elizabeth, and of course, it is in honor of her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth is also the middle name of her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, and her maternal grandmother, Carole Middleton. It was also the name of Princess Charlotte’s great great grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The name of Elizabeth has been used over the years in the British Royal Family.

• Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of King Edward I (1282-1316)
• Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV and wife of King Henry VII (1466-1503)
• Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII (1492-1495)
• Elizabeth I, Queen of England, daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (1533-1603)
• Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I (1596-1662)
• Elizabeth, daughter of King Charles I (1635-1650)
• Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James II (born and died 1678)
• Elizabeth, daughter of King George III (1770-1840)
• Elizabeth of Clarence, daughter of King William IV (1820-1821)

 

Princess Charlotte’s third name Diana is in honor of her late paternal grandmother Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997). Diana was born The Honourable (later Lady) Diana Frances Spencer, youngest daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (later 8th Earl Spencer) and his wife, formerly the Honourable Frances Burke Roche, at Park House, on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate. She married Charles, Prince of Wales on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The Prince and Princess of Wales had two sons – Prince William and Prince Harry. The couple divorced in 1996 and Diana’s style became Diana, Princess of Wales. While she lost her HRH status, she remained, officially, a member of the Royal Family.

At 4 AM (Paris time) Sunday, August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died in the hospital after being involved in a car crash that instantly killed Dodi Fayed and the driver of the car. Diana’s car was being chased by photographers on motorbikes at high speeds when the crash happened in a tunnel. Investigation of the accident also brought to light that the driver of the car was more than three times over the (French) alcohol limit.

The Prince of Wales, (now King Charles III) along with Diana’s two sisters, flew to Paris to accompany Diana’s coffin back to Britain. Draped with the Royal Standard, the coffin was taken to the Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace. The funeral was held on Saturday, September 6, 1997, in Westminster Abbey, following a procession from Kensington Palace. After the service, Diana’s coffin was taken to Althorp, the ancestral home of the Earls Spencer, where she was buried privately on an island in the center of a lake on the grounds.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Princess Beatrice was born on April 14, 1857, at Buckingham Palace in London, England. She was the youngest of the nine children of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her christening was held on June 16, 1857, at the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. The princess was named Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore. Mary was for Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, the last surviving child of King George III, who had died two weeks after Beatrice was born. Feodore was for Queen Victoria’s half-sister, Feodora, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Princess Beatrice’s godparents were:

• Prince Friedrich of Prussia (her eldest sister’s fiancé, later Friedrich III, German Emperor)
• The Duchess of Kent (her maternal grandmother, born Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld)
• Princess Victoria, Princess Royal (her eldest sister)

Beatrice had four brothers and four sisters:

• Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901) married Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia, had four sons and four daughters
• King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841-1910) married Princess Alexandra of Denmark, had two sons and three daughters
• Princess Alice (1843-1878) married Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, had two sons and five daughters
• Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844-1900) married Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, had one son and four daughters
• Princess Helena (1846-1923) married Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, had two sons and two daughters
• Princess Louise (1848-1939) married John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, 9th Duke of Argyll, no issue
• Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1850-1942) married Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, had one son and two daughters
• Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (1853-1884) married Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont, had one son and one daughter

Beatrice’s parents realized she would be their last child, and she was treated differently from her siblings. Prince Albert described her as “an extremely attractive, pretty, intelligent child – indeed the most amusing baby we have had.” Known as Baby in the family, Beatrice filled a void for her parents when her eldest sister Victoria, Princess Royal married less than a year after her birth and left to live in Prussia with her new husband. By the time Beatrice was three years old, she was an aunt twice over from that marriage.

On December 14, 1861, Prince Albert died at the age of 42. Beatrice was only four and a half and had lost one of her principal role models. Queen Victoria was grief-stricken. The night Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria went into the nursery and carried the sleeping Beatrice to her own bed, where she lay unable to sleep, hugging Beatrice while wrapped in the bedclothes of her deceased husband. Because of her mother’s prolonged grief and mourning, Beatrice’s life would forever be shaped by her father’s death. She became a great solace to her mother, and as the years progressed, Queen Victoria hoped that Beatrice would always be her constant companion.

Despite her father’s death, Beatrice’s education proceeded according to the plan Prince Albert devised for his children. She received lessons in French and German and a hands-on history education by visiting historical sites. Unlike her mother, Beatrice eventually had clear and legible handwriting and was an accurate speller. By the age of fifteen, Beatrice was writing letters on behalf of Queen Victoria, and she was developing into the quiet, attentive, and devoted helper the Queen wanted. When the last of her sisters married and left home, Beatrice took on the job of her mother’s full-time personal assistant.

At the age of six, Beatrice declared, “I don’t like weddings at all. I shall never be married. I shall stay with mother.” Queen Victoria said of Beatrice, “She is my constant companion and hope and trust will never leave me while I live.” Nevertheless, Beatrice did have suitors. During the 1870s, there was talk of Beatrice marrying Louis Napoleon, the only child of the exiled French Emperor, Napoleon III, and his wife Eugénie, who had settled in England. However, in 1879 Louis Napoleon died in the Anglo-Zulu War. After the death of their sister Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from diphtheria in 1878, Beatrice’s eldest brother, the Prince of Wales (Bertie), suggested that Beatrice marry Alice’s widower, Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. However, it was illegal for Beatrice to marry her sister’s widower. The Prince of Wales supported a bill in Parliament that would allow such marriages. The bill passed in the House of Commons, but failed in the House of Lords.

In 1884, while attending the wedding of her niece Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine and Prince Louis of Battenberg, Princess Beatrice fell in love. The man who won Beatrice’s heart was Prince Henry of Battenberg, the groom’s brother. Henry was the third of the four children of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Countess Julia Hauke. As his parents’ marriage was morganatic, Henry and his siblings took their titles from their mother, who had been created Countess of Battenberg, elevated to Princess of Battenberg in 1858. Henry’s older brothers, Alexander (Sandro) and Louis, had shown interest in Beatrice in the past but were unsuccessful.

Beatrice told her mother that she wanted to marry Henry. Queen Victoria reacted with silence. For seven months, from May to November 1884, Queen Victoria and Beatrice lived together, and the Queen did not speak to Beatrice, instead, the Queen communicated with Beatrice by notes. Members of the family, including the Prince and Princess of Wales (Bertie and Alexandra), Alice’s widower Ludwig, and Beatrice’s eldest sister (Vicky) tried to persuade the Queen to agree to Beatrice’s marriage. Queen Victoria finally realized that Beatrice would not back down and offered her some conditions that must be met. Henry must renounce his career, nationality, and home and agree to live with Beatrice and the Queen. By the end of 1884, Queen Victoria and Beatrice were reconciled, and a wedding was being planned.

Beatrice and Henry (called Liko) were married on July 23, 1885, at Saint Mildred’s Church in Whippingham, Isle of Wight, England, near Queen Victoria’s beloved home Osborne House. Queen Victoria allowed Beatrice to wear the Honiton lace and veil that she had worn on her wedding day, the only one of her daughters allowed to do so. The ten royal bridesmaids were all nieces of Princess Beatrice: Princess Alix and Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine; Princess Alexandra, Princess Marie and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh; Princess Louise, Princess Maud and Princess Victoria of Wales; Princess Marie Louise and Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.

• Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg

THE BACK: (L-R): Prince Alexander of Bulgaria, Princess Louise of Wales, Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, Princess Victoria of Wales, Prince Franz Joseph of Battenberg * THE MIDDLE: (L-R): Princess Maud of Wales, Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Princesses Marie Louise and Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein * THE FRONT: (L-R): Princesses Victoria Melita, Marie and Alexandra of Edinburgh and the bridal couple.

Beatrice and Henry had three sons and one daughter. The Spanish Royal Family descends from their marriage.

• Prince Alexander of Battenberg, later Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke (1886 – 1960), married Lady Irene Denison, had issue
• Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (1887 – 1969), married King Alfonso XIII of Spain, had issue
• Prince Leopold of Battenberg, later Lord Leopold Mountbatten (1889 – 1922), unmarried, a hemophiliac
• Prince Maurice of Battenberg (1891 – 1914), unmarried, killed in action during World War I

Unfortunately, Beatrice was a hemophilia carrier. Her son Leopold was a hemophiliac, and her daughter Victoria Eugenie was a carrier. Leopold died after an emergency operation at Kensington Palace when he was almost 23. Victoria Eugenie, known as Ena, brought hemophilia into the Spanish Royal Family. Two of Ena’s sons had hemophilia. Her son Alfonso died in a car accident at age 31, and her son Gonzalo also died as the result of a car accident at age 20.

• Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Family

Beatrice and Henry kept their promise and lived with Queen Victoria, and Beatrice remained her full-time confidante and secretary. Henry was often bored by the lack of activity. To give him more to do, Queen Victoria appointed him Governor of Carisbrooke Castle and Captain-General and Governor of the Isle of Wight in 1889, Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army in 1887, Colonel in 1893, and a member of the Privy Council in 1894. In November 1895, Henry persuaded Queen Victoria to allow him to go to West Africa to fight in the Anglo-Ashanti Wars. Henry arrived in Africa on Christmas Day of 1895. By January 10, 1896, Henry was sick with malaria, and it was decided to send him back to England. Henry died aboard the ship HMS Blonde off the coast of Sierra Leone on January 20, 1896, at the age of 37. His funeral took place on February 5, 1896, at St. Mildred’s Church on the Isle of Wight where he had been married. He was interred at St. Mildred’s Church in what became known as the Battenberg Chapel.

Following Henry’s death, Beatrice remained her mother’s companion and secretary. As Queen Victoria aged, she relied more heavily on Beatrice to deal with correspondence and other matters. The Queen realized that Beatrice needed her own place, so she gave Beatrice the Kensington Palace apartments that she and her mother had once occupied. The Queen appointed Beatrice Governor of Carisbrooke Castle and Captain-General and Governor of the Isle of Wight, positions vacated by Henry’s death. For the rest of her life, Beatrice conscientiously undertook the duties related to these positions.

Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901. Beatrice continued to make public appearances, but her position diminished during the reign of her brother King Edward VII. For thirty years, Beatrice transcribed and edited her mother’s journals, which Victoria had kept since 1831, when she was 12 years-old. Queen Victoria had ordered Beatrice to delete material that might prove hurtful to living people. Two-thirds of the content of the original journals were deleted. These deletions distressed Beatrice’s nephew, King George V and his wife Queen Mary, who could do nothing, and many historians have felt that valuable information had been lost forever. The 111 notebooks that Beatrice copied are kept in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle.

Beatrice’s three sons served during World War I, and sadly, Maurice, her youngest son, was killed in action. Due to anti-German sentiment during World War I, King George V issued Letters Patents on July 17, 1917 “declaring that the name Windsor is to be borne by his royal house and family and relinquishing the use of all German titles and dignities.” Beatrice’s two surviving sons relinquished their German styles and titles and anglicized their name to Mountbatten. The older son Alexander was created Marquess of Carisbrooke, and Leopold was granted the rank and precedence of the younger son of a marquess, becoming Lord Leopold Mountbatten.

As she aged, Beatrice became very infirm with arthritis and needed to use a wheelchair. She translated and edited the memoirs of her great-grandmother Augusta, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which were published under the title In Napoleonic Times. Beatrice’s last home, Brantridge Park in West Sussex, England, was owned by Queen Mary’s brother, Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, and his wife, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, who was Beatrice’s niece. At that time, the Athlones were in Canada, where the Earl was Governor-General.

It was at Brantridge Park, that Beatrice died on October 26, 1944, at the age of 87, the last surviving child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Beatrice’s funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on November 3, 1944. Queen Elizabeth, the wife of King George VI, Beatrice’s great-nephew, led Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain, Beatrice’s daughter, to the open vault in the choir where they both curtsied. Behind them in the choir stalls stood a young woman dressed in black, 18-year-old Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II. Beatrice’s coffin remained in the Royal Tomb House at St. George’s Chapel until August 28, 1945. At that time, the coffin was taken to St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham, Isle of Wight, England and buried with her husband in the Battenberg Chapel.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Books

• The Last Princess: The Devoted Life of Queen Victoria’s Youngest Daughter – Matthew Dennison
• The Shy Princess – David Duff

Queen Victoria Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• House of Hanover: Queen Victoria Index
• Bibliography of Royal Biographies: Queen Victoria and Family
• British Royal Weddings
• Christenings of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Their Children, and Select Grandchildren
• Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Family
• History and Traditions: Weddings of Queen Victoria and Her Children
• Queen Victoria’s Children and Grandchildren Articles Index
• Queen Victoria’s Great-Grandchildren
• Queen Victoria’s Great-Great-Grandchildren
• Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index (Household, Ladies, Prime Ministers, Private Secretaries, Relatives Articles)

The Cambridge family has a new addition, a little sister for Prince George. Catch up with the Cambridges.

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