Yearly Archives: 2015

What’s in a Name? – Princess Charlotte of Cambridge

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.

NPG x96002; Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck by Alexander Bassano

Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck by Alexander Bassano, half-plate glass negative, circa 1888 NPG x96002 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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.”

NPG 224; Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz studio of Allan Ramsay

Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, studio of Allan Ramsay, oil on canvas, (1761-1762) NPG 224 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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.

Photo of Charlotte, Princess Royal; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

NPG 206; Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales by Richard Woodman

Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, by Richard Woodman, watercolour, circa 1816 NPG 206 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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.

Queen Elizabeth II; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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.

 

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.

Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, Princess Henry of Battenberg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia

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:

Beatrice had four brothers and four sisters:

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.

Beatrice and her mother; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

Beatrice (center) and her sisters mourning their father; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

Beatrice in 1868; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

Beatrice_Victoria

Beatrice and Queen Victoria, 1880s; Photo Collection of Susan Flantzer

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.

NPG x32978; Prince Henry Maurice of Battenberg; Princess Beatrice of Battenberg by Unknown photographer

Prince Henry Maurice of Battenberg; Princess Beatrice of Battenberg by Unknown photographer albumen cabinet card, 1880s NPG x32978 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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.

Wedding of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg (see below for who’s who in the photo); Photo Credit – www.victorian-gothic.co.uk

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.

Beatrice and her children in 1900; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

NPG P1700(21b); Prince Henry Maurice of Battenberg by Walery

Prince Henry of Battenberg by Walery, albumen print, 1895 NPG P1700(21b) © National Portrait Gallery, London

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.

An elderly Beatrice; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

Tomb of Princess Beatrice and her husband Prince Henry of Battenberg; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Catch Up With The Cambridges

photo: Time, John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images

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

Unofficial Royalty: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Children | Forum
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Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: In 1675, Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg died. Initially, his seven sons collectively governed the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, as set out in their father’s will. In 1680, the seven brothers concluded a treaty of separation, with each brother getting a portion of the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha Altenburg and becoming a Duke. One of the seven new duchies was the Duchy of Saxe-Saalfeld and Johann Ernst, one of the seven sons of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg became the first Duke of Saxe-Saalfeld.  When two of his brothers died without male heirs, Johann Ernst took possession of Coburg (in 1699) and Römhild (in 1714). In 1699, Johann Ernst’s title changed to Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

In 1825, 145 years after the initial split, another line became extinct and there was another split between three surviving duchies. Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld became Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. For more information on the switch, see Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Index.

On November 9, 1918, after the German Empire lost World War I, the Workers’ and Soldiers Council of Gotha, deposed the last Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Charles Edward, a grandson of Queen Victoria.  Five days later, he signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne. The territory that encompassed the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is now in the German states of Bavaria and Thuringia.

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Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (Viktoria Adelheid Helene Luise Marie Friederike) was born on December 31, 1885, at Grünholz Manor (link in German) in Thumby, Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, now in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. She was the eldest of the six children of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Her father was the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and a nephew of King Christian IX of Denmark. Her mother was a granddaughter of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the half-sister of Queen Victoria from her mother’s first marriage.

Princess Viktoria Adelheid’s birthplace Grünholz Manor; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Viktoria Adelheid had four sisters and one brother:

Viktoria Adelheid and Charles Edward in 1905; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 15, 1905, at a court ball at the Berliner Stadtschloss, the engagement of Viktoria Adelheid and Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was announced. Charles Edward, born a British prince, was the only son of Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.  Sadly, Prince Leopold, who had inherited hemophilia from his mother, died following a fall three months before Charles Edward was born.  Charles Edward became Duke of Albany at birth and succeeded his uncle Alfred as the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at the age of 16.  The wedding was held on October 11, 1905, at Glücksburg Castle.

The couple had five children:

Viktoria Adelheid and her family in 1918; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

After World War I, Charles Edward abdicated from the throne of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. During the period between the two World Wars, Charles Edward became active in the Nazi Party.  In 1932, Princess Sibylla, the daughter of Charles Edward and Viktoria Adelheid, married Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten. As Sibylla’s father was a prominent member of the Nazi Party, the wedding almost was a state affair. Adolf Hitler, who would soon become the German Chancellor, wrote a letter to Sibylla’s father congratulating the couple. The civil service was held on October 19, 1932, at Veste Castle in Coburg with the Nazi mayor of Coburg officiating, followed by a large reception, which included a torchlight procession of 4,000 members of the Nazi party. The religious wedding was held the following day at St. Moritz Church in Coburg. During the wedding festivities, numerous swastikas and other Nazi symbols could be seen throughout Coburg. The Nazi connection did not sit well with the Swedish people, and the groom’s grandfather King Gustaf V of Sweden, protesting Coburg’s close relation to the Nazi Party, refused to attend the wedding.

Pre-wedding activities 1932 from left to right: Charles Edward, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Princess Sibylla (bride), Prince Gustaf Adolf (groom), Crown Princess Louise of Sweden, Viktoria Adelheid; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Three sons of Charles Edward and Viktoria Adelheid served in the German armed forces during World War II and their son Hubertus was killed in action in 1943. After the end of World War II, Charles Edward was placed under house arrest on June 4, 1945, at his residence, the Veste Coburg, because of his Nazi sympathies. Charles Edward and Viktoria Adelheid were housed in a stable cottage on the grounds of the Veste Coburg. Charles Edward’s sister Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and her husband the 1st Earl of Athlone came to Coburg to plead for his release but were unsuccessful. However, they successfully negotiated for an improvement in the couple’s living conditions. Charles Edward and Viktoria Adelheid were able to move into a part of one of their own houses, close to the market where it was easier for them to do their own shopping.

Several times Charles Edward faced trial for his alleged Nazi activities. His relatives insisted that his support of the Nazis had not been for ideological reasons, but because Charles Edward believed Hitler could save Germany from Communism, and that he had confined himself to the humanitarian activities of the German Red Cross. In 1949, a denazification appeals court classified Charles Edward as a Nazi Follower, Category IV. He was heavily fined and almost bankrupted.

After World War II, some of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha properties that were in East Germany were seized. The family was left with Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany and Schloss Greinburg an der Donau in Grein, Austria, still owned by the family. Charles Edward spent the last years of his life in seclusion. He died of cancer on March 6, 1954, at the age of 69 in Coburg and was buried in the family cemetery in the forest of Schloss Callenberg.

After her husband’s death, Viktoria Adelheid spent time traveling, often with her sister-in-law, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. Viktoria Adelheid was much happier than she had been during the dark days after World War II. She spoke animatedly in broken English or Princess Alice, whose German was excellent, provided a rapid translation.  Viktoria Adelheid died on October 3, 1970, at the age of 84 at Schloss Greinburg in Grein, Austria, and was buried beside her husband in the Waldfriedhof (Forest Cemetery) at Schloss Callenberg.

Cemetery at Schloss Callenberg; Credit – By I, Presse03, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2524640

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.

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Resources at Unofficial Royalty

May 1915: Royalty and World War I

by Susan Flantzer

Captain The Honorable Julian Henry Francis Grenfell

Captain The Honorable Julian Grenfell, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Julian Grenfell is among the British poets collectively called the War Poets, soldiers writing about their war experiences.  Many of them, like Julian Grenfell, died on the battlefield.

The Honorable Julian Henry Francis Grenfell was born on March 30, 1888 at 4 St. James’s Square in London, England. He was the eldest of the five children of William Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough, and Ethel Anne Priscilla Fane, daughter of the diplomat Julian Fane.

Even as a child, Julian loved to draw and write poems. He attended Eton College, where he won a prize for Latin verse, and wrote and edited for Eton magazines.  After Eton, Julian attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he excelled in athletics and sports, but developed a reputation as a bully. His mother’s efforts to include him in the aristocratic social world resulted in the poem, I Won’t be Made a Social Pet!  He also wrote a series of unpublished essays denouncing aristocratic society, and the feelings he had about the aristocracy may have led to his decision to join the British Army’s Royal Dragoons in 1910.

Julian first served in India and South Africa, where he wrote poems, comical plays for his fellow soldiers to perform, and articles for the regimental magazine. A poem from this time, To a Black Greyhound, expresses the closeness he felt with animals. After the outbreak of World War I, Julian served in France and Belgium where he developed a reputation for courage. In 1914, Julian was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his action in stalking German snipers and shooting them from close range.  Julian was then offered a non-combat position as an aide-de-camp. He refused, saying his regiment was short of officers, and wrote a satirical poem, Prayer for Those on the Staff.

On May 13, 1915, Julian was wounded in the head by splinters from a bombshell while monitoring enemy troop movements during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. He was taken to a hospital in Boulogne, France where he died on May 26, 1915 at the age of 27, after two failed operations, and surrounded by his parents and his sister Monica, a Red Cross nurse. Julian’s younger brother Gerald William (Billy) Grenfell was killed in action on July 30, 1915, within a mile of where Julian had been wounded.

Julian Grenfell was buried at the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery in France, and he is one of the sixteen Great War (World War I) poets commemorated on a slate stone unveiled November 11, 1985 in the South Transept (Poet’s Corner) of Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey: Poets of the First World War

Grave of Julian Grenfell Photo Credit – findagrave.com

Grenfell’s best-known poem, Into Battle, was written at a time of confusion as he and his men waited to go to the front near Ypres, Belgium. The poem, often included in literature anthologies, was first published in The Times along with Grenfell’s obituary.

Into Battle by Julian Grenfell

The naked earth is warm with Spring,
And with green grass and bursting trees
Leans to the sun’s gaze glorying,
And quivers in the sunny breeze;
And life is Colour and Warmth and Light,
And a striving evermore for these;
And he is dead who will not fight,
And who dies fighting has increase.

The fighting man shall from the sun
Take warmth, and life from glowing earth;
Speed with the light-foot winds to run
And with the trees to newer birth;
And find, when fighting shall be done,
Great rest, and fulness after dearth.

All the bright company of Heaven
Hold him in their bright comradeship,
The Dog star, and the Sisters Seven,
Orion’s belt and sworded hip:

The woodland trees that stand together,
They stand to him each one a friend;
They gently speak in the windy weather;
They guide to valley and ridges end.

The kestrel hovering by day,
And the little owls that call by night,
Bid him be swift and keen as they,
As keen of ear, as swift of sight.

The blackbird sings to him: “Brother, brother,
If this be the last song you shall sing,
Sing well, for you may not sing another;
Brother, sing.”

In dreary doubtful waiting hours,
Before the brazen frenzy starts,
The horses show him nobler powers; —
O patient eyes, courageous hearts!

And when the burning moment breaks,
And all things else are out of mind,
And only joy of battle takes
Him by the throat and makes him blind,
Through joy and blindness he shall know,
Not caring much to know, that still
Nor lead nor steel shall reach him, so
That it be not the Destined Will.

The thundering line of battle stands,
And in the air Death moans and sings;
But Day shall clasp him with strong hands,
And Night shall fold him in soft wings.

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Timeline: May 1, 1915 – May 31, 1915

May 1: The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive begins near Krakow, Poland
May 1: Battle of Eski Hissarlik on the Gallipoli Peninsula
May 3: Troops withdraw from Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula
May 6 – 8: Second Battle of Krithia on the Gallipoli Peninsula
May 7: British ocean liner Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
May 8 – 13: Battle of Frezenberg Ridge, part of the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium
May 9 – June 18: Second Battle of Artois in Artois, France
May 9: Battle of Aubers Ridge, a phase of the Second Battle of Artois near Armentières, France
May 10: Troops from Hungary rout the Russians at Jarosław, Poland
May 11: Armistice called at Gallipoli to bury the dead
May 12: Windhoek, capital of German South-West Africa (now Namibia), is occupied by South African troops
May 15 – 25: Battle of Festubert near Neuve Chapelle, France
May 16 – June 23: Battle of Konary near the town of Klimontów, Poland
May 23: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
May 24 –25: Battle of Bellewaarde, final phase of the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium

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A Note About German Titles

Most of the royals who died in action during World War I were German. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments, but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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May 1915 – Royals/Nobles/Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website.  If a person has a Wikipedia page, their name will be linked to that page.


Arthur Reginald French, 5th Lord De Freyne

Ralph Chalmers

The Honorable George French

The Honorable Keith Stewart

The Honorable Henry Hardinge

The Honorable Talbot Stanhope

The Honorable William Rodney

The Honorable Percy Evans-Freke

Lord Spencer Compton

The Honorable Clement Freeman-Mitford

Colwyn Philipps

John Bigge

The Honorable Alexander Hepburne-Scott

The Honorable William Order-Powlett

Robert Howard

The Honorable Arthur Coke

The Honorable Julian Grenfell (see article above)

Robert Chalmers

The Honorable Cormac Deane-Morgan

Count Peter Alexandrovich Benckendorff

Ernst, Freiherr von Saalfeld

The Honorable William Nugent

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: In 1675, Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg died. Initially, his seven sons collectively governed the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, as set out in their father’s will. In 1680, the seven brothers concluded a treaty of separation, with each brother getting a portion of the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha Altenburg and becoming a Duke. One of the seven new duchies was the Duchy of Saxe-Saalfeld and Johann Ernst, one of the seven sons of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg became the first Duke of Saxe-Saalfeld.  When two of his brothers died without male heirs, Johann Ernst took possession of Coburg (in 1699) and Römhild (in 1714). In 1699, Johann Ernst’s title changed to Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

In 1825, 145 years after the initial split, another line became extinct and there was another split between three surviving duchies. Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld became Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. For more information on the switch, see Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Index.

On November 9, 1918, after the German Empire lost World War I, the Workers’ and Soldiers Council of Gotha, deposed the last Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Charles Edward, a grandson of Queen Victoria.  Five days later, he signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne. The territory that encompassed the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is now in the German states of Bavaria and Thuringia.

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Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Charles Edward was born at Claremont House near Esher, Surrey, England, on July 19, 1884. He was the only son and the second of the two children of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the youngest son of Queen Victoria, and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Sadly, Charles Edward’s father died three months before he was born. Prince Leopold, who inherited hemophilia from his mother Queen Victoria, died at age 30 from a fall that caused a cerebral hemorrhage. Luckily, Charles Edward was in no danger of inheriting hemophilia. Males have XY chromosomes and females have XX chromosomes. Each parent transmits one chromosome to their offspring. Hemophilia is transmitted on the X chromosome. The hemophiliac male will transmit his Y chromosome to his sons, and therefore the sons will not have hemophilia. However, all daughters of hemophiliac males will be carriers as they all will receive their father’s X chromosome with the hemophilia gene. For more information see Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Family.

His father Prince Leopold had always been drawn to the story of the Stuarts who lost the throne and wanted his son to be named Charles Edward for Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. The infant prince was named Leopold Charles Edward George Albert. Formally he was known as Charles Edward, and in the family, he was called Charlie. At his birth, Charles Edward inherited his father’s title Duke of Albany.

About two weeks after his birth, Charles Edward became ill, and it was thought advisable to baptize him privately at Claremont House on August 4, 1884. Later that year, he was christened publicly on December 4, 1884, at Christ Church in Esher, Surrey, England. His godparents were:

Charles had one older sibling, a sister:

 

Charles Edward and his sister Alice were first educated at home by their governess, Miss Jane Potts. After Charles Edward got to be “too much for Miss Potts,” as his sister says in her memoir For My Grandchildren, he was sent as a day student to Sanroyd School, then to prep school at Lyndhurst and Eton College.  Charles Edward remained at Eton College until an event occurred that would change his life drastically.

Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the second of the two sons of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  Albert’s elder brother succeeded their father as Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  Ernst II had married Princess Alexandrine of Baden, but when it became increasingly clear that the marriage would produce no children, a plan for the succession needed to be devised. A union between the United Kingdom and the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was undesirable. For most of Ernst II’s reign, his brother Albert was the heir presumptive. When Albert died in 1861, his second son Alfred became the heir presumptive after his older brother, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII of the United Kingdom), renounced his succession rights.

Alfred married and had one son and four daughters, and his son Alfred (known as Young Affie) became the next in the line of succession. In 1893, Ernst II died, and Alfred became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his son Young Affie became Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Young Affie was involved in a scandal with his mistress and shot himself during his parents’ 25th wedding anniversary celebrations. His parents sent him off to a spa to recover, but Young Affie died two weeks later on February 6, 1899. Prince Albert’s third son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, had renounced the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha succession for himself and his only son, Prince Arthur of Connaught. That left only Charles Edward. It is rumored that Prince Arthur of Connaught, who was attending Eton with Charles Edward, threatened to beat up his cousin if he did not accept the duchy.

In 1899, 15-year-old Charles Edward left Eton to continue his education in Germany. Various relatives argued about where Charles Edward should attend school. Finally, Cousin Willy, Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, arranged for Charles Edward to attend Leichterfelde Military Cadet Academy, the German equivalent of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The Duchess of Albany and her daughter Alice stayed for a prolonged time in Germany to ease Charles Edward’s adjustment, but the adjustment did not last long. Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha died of throat cancer on July 30, 1900, and 16-year-old Charles Edward became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. After becoming Duke, Charles Edward continued his education at the University of Bonn, where he studied law and political science. Until Charles Edward reached his 21st birthday, Hereditary Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the husband of Alfred’s daughter Alexandra, served as the Regent of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

 

On February 15, 1905, at a court ball at the Berliner Stadtschloss, the engagement of Charles Edward and Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was announced. Viktoria Adelheid, who was called Dick in the family, was the niece of Empress Augusta Victoria, wife of Charles Edward’s first cousin Wilhelm II, German Emperor, and Wilhelm is said to have selected the bride. She was the eldest daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. The wedding was held on October 11, 1905, at Glücksburg Castle.

Charles Edward and Viktoria Adelheid in 1905; Credit – Wikipedia

The couple had five children:

Charles Edward and his family in 1918; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles Edward showed a great interest in cars and early aviation. In 1910 in Gotha, he built an airplane landing site with a hangar and a flying school. In 1913, he was involved in transforming the Gotha Coach Factory into an airplane manufacturer.

During World War I, Charles Edward was a General on the staff of the General Command of the 3rd Army of the German Empire. Before 1867, the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha had its own army, but in 1867, a treaty was signed with Prussia, and the Duchy’s army was added to the 6th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 95 of the 22nd Division of the Army Corps.  Charles Edward considered the 6th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 95 his army and accompanied the regiment to the front. He visited the regiment often and spent more than one-third of World War I with the regiment. In December 1914, Charles Edward was promoted to General of Infantry. Although he held the rank of General, Charles Edward had no active command during World War I. To demonstrate his unconditional loyalty to the German Empire, Carl Edward signed a law on March 12, 1917, that said non-German members of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha could not be in the line of succession and succeed to the throne if their home country was at war with the German Empire. An attack on London on June 17, 1917, by seventeen twin-engine bombers built at Charles Edward’s Gotha Coach Factory cost 160 lives and increased the anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom.

Charles Edward visiting the troops in 1914; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles Edward had been invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1902, but he was struck off the roll of the Order of the Garter in 1915 by his first cousin King George V of the United Kingdom, along with six other Austrian or German royals. Further action was taken against him after the British Parliament passed the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act which allowed the Privy Council to investigate “any persons enjoying any dignity or title as a peer or British prince who have, during the present war, borne arms against His Majesty or His Allies, or who have adhered to His Majesty’s enemies.” Under the terms of that act, an Order in Council on March 28, 1919, formally removed Charles Edward’s British peerages, the Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and the Baron of Arklow. Charles Edward and his children also lost their titles of Prince and Princess of the United Kingdom and the styles Royal Highness and Highness. Along with Charles Edward, three others, Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, Earl of Armagh; Ernst August (Duke of Brunswick), Prince of Great Britain and Ireland; and Henry, Viscount Taaffe of Corren and Baron of Ballymote, lost their titles. According to the Titles Deprivation Act, the male heirs of these four people have the right to petition for restoration of their titles but no heir has ever done so.

On November 9, 1918, the Workers and Soldiers Council of Gotha deposed Charles Edward as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Five days later, he signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne. Saxe-Coburg and Gotha broke into two republics, Coburg and Gotha. In 1920, Gotha joined the newly created state of Thuringia, while Coburg joined the Free State of Bavaria. After losing his throne, being branded as a traitor by his birth country, and fearing the threat of Communism, Charles Edward searched for something new. He became associated with various right-wing paramilitary and political organizations. In 1932, he took part in the creation of the Harzburg Front, through which the German National People’s Party became associated with the Nazi Party.

Charles Edward first met Adolf Hitler on October 14, 1922, when he welcomed Hitler as a guest of honor at a festival in Coburg. In the following decades, Charles Edward met Hitler personally at least 21 times. After the first electoral success of the Nazi Party in Coburg in 1929, Charles Edward openly supported the Nazi Party. On March 23, 1932, in the Coburg National newspaper, Charles Edward supported Hitler in the presidential election against the incumbent Paul von Hindenburg. After the Nazi Party won the general election in 1933, the Nazi swastika flag was flown over the Veste Coburg, the home of Charles Edward.

As a result of his support of the Nazi Party, Charles Edward was appointed to several positions and represented the Nazi Party in Germany and abroad. He became a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA or Brownshirts), the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, and rose to the rank of Obergruppenführer.  He served as president of the German Red Cross from 1933 to 1945, and the German Red Cross became a part of the Nazi Party and was no longer affiliated with the neutral International Red Cross. In December of 1935, Charles Edward was elected President of the German-English Society, whose goal was to explore a possible pact between the two countries. In January 1936, Charles Edward returned to his home country when he represented Adolf Hitler at the funeral of King George V. After King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne and married Wallis Simpson, it was Charles Edward who hosted their unauthorized trip to Germany in 1937. Charles Edward was too old for active service during World War II, but three of his sons served in the German armed forces, and his son Hubertus was killed in action in 1943.

Charles Edward giving a speech as President of the German Red Cross in 1936; Credit – Wikipedia

After the end of World War II, Charles Edward was placed under house arrest on June 4, 1945, at his residence, the Veste Coburg, because of his Nazi sympathies. Charles Edward and his wife were housed in a stable cottage on the grounds of the Veste Coburg. His sister Alice and her husband came to Coburg to plead for his release, but were unsuccessful. However, they were able to negotiate for an improvement in Charles Edward’s living conditions. Charles Edward and his wife moved into a part of one of their own houses, close to the market, where it was easier for them to do shopping. Several times Charles Edward faced trial for his alleged Nazi activities. In 1949, a denazification appeals court classified Charles Edward as a Nazi Follower, Category IV. He was heavily fined and almost bankrupted.

After World War II, some of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha properties, now in East Germany, were seized. The family was left with Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, Bavaria, West Germany and Schloss Greinburg an der Donau in Grein, Austria. Charles Edward spent the last years of his life in seclusion. He died of cancer on March 6, 1954, at the age of 69 in his apartment on Elsässer Straße (Street) in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany, and was buried in the Waldfriedhof (Forest Cemetery) at Schloss Callenberg. His wife Viktoria Adelheid died on October 3, 1970, and was buried beside her husband.

The cemetery at Schloss Callenberg; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone; Credit – Wikipedia

The husband of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Alice of Albany, and Governor-General of both the Union of South Africa and Canada, His Serene Highness Prince Alexander of Teck was born in Kensington Palace in London, England on April 14, 1874. He was the fourth child and third son of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. His mother was a male-line granddaughter of King George III and a first cousin of Queen Victoria. Princess Mary Adelaide weighed approximately 250 pounds and was affectionately known as “Fat Mary.” 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.”

Alexander’s father was His Serene Highness Prince Francis of Teck, the product of a morganatic marriage. Prince Francis’ father, Duke Alexander of Württemberg, was once heir to the throne of Württemberg. However, Duke Alexander contracted a morganatic marriage (marriage to a person of a lower rank) to Hungarian countess Claudine Rhedey. Duke Alexander lost his rights to the throne, and his children lost the right to use the Württemberg name. Francis’ cousin King Karl of Württemberg eventually elevated him to the more important Germanic title of Duke of Teck.

Mary Adelaide and Francis had a happy marriage, but had chronic financial problems due to Mary Adelaide’s extravagance and generosity. Queen Victoria gave them an apartment at Kensington Palace where their four children were born. Christened Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George, Alexander was called Alge, a name derived from the first two letters of Alexander and George. He had an older sister and two older brothers:

NPG x96004; Queen Mary with her mother and brothers by Alexander Bassano

Queen Mary with her mother and brothers by Alexander Bassano, half-plate glass negative, circa 1884 NPG x96004 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Alge was first educated at home by tutors and at a local morning school. All the Teck children were encouraged to learn languages, and their parents insisted they speak only French at some meals and only German at others. In 1883, when Alge was nine years old, his parents were forced to flee the country due to their financial situation. The family settled in a villa in Florence, Italy, where they lived more cheaply for two years. Alge’s two elder brothers remained in England, attending boarding school. During this time, Alge and his sister May developed a close relationship that lasted all their lives.

The family returned to England in the spring of 1883, and Alge was enrolled in Reverand A.H. Morton’s boarding school in Farnborough, England. At the beginning of the Lent Term in 1889, Alge began to attend Eton College. In 1892, Alge started his military education at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Two years later, Alge was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 7th Hussars and stationed in India. In 1896, Alge was transferred to Africa and participated in the Second Matabele War and the Second Boer War.

At the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, Alge caught the eye of the King’s niece, Princess Alice of Albany. Alge and his siblings had known Alice since childhood, although they were much older than her. Alice was the daughter of Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Prince Leopold inherited hemophilia from his mother and died at age 30 from a fall that caused a cerebral hemorrhage, the injuries, exacerbated by his hemophilia. Alice was just 13 months old, and her mother was pregnant with her brother Charles Edward, who was Duke of Albany at birth and succeeded his uncle Alfred as Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1900.  Alice and her mother lived at Claremont, and Alge was stationed at nearby Hampton Court Palace, so there was an opportunity for the couple to court. Alge and Alice became engaged on November 16, 1903.

 

The wedding was held on February 10, 1904, at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. After Alge’s wedding leave from the British Army, he became the aide-de-camp to Sir John French, the commander at the Aldershot Garrison. King Edward VII allowed the couple to live at the Royal Pavilion at Aldershot. Toward the end of 1904, Alge’s regiment was scheduled to be transferred out of the country, but King Edward VII insisted that Alge remain in England and be transferred to the Royal Horse Guards. King Edward VII also allowed his niece and her husband to live at the Henry III Tower of Windsor Castle as the Horse Guards were stationed at the Windsor Castle barracks.

Alge and Alice had three children:

Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone with her children May and Rupert, circa 1909; Credit – Wikipedia

Alice was a hemophilia carrier. Her father Prince Leopold was the only one of Queen Victoria’s four sons to have hemophilia and the first of the nine hemophiliacs among Queen Victoria’s descendants. All daughters of hemophiliacs have to be hemophilia carriers because their fathers pass their X chromosome to them, and the hemophilia gene is on the X chromosome. All sons of hemophiliacs will not have the disease because they receive a Y chromosome from their father. Alice’s son Rupert was a hemophiliac. On April 15, 1928, 20-year-old Rupert died from an injury received in a car accident, which he probably would have recovered from had he not been a hemophiliac.  It is also possible that Alge and Alice’s son Maurice, who died at the age of six months, was a hemophiliac.

Prince Alexander of Teck,1910; Credit – Wikipedia

During World War I, Alge saw active service in Belgium and France. 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.” Alge relinquished the title Prince of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style Serene Highness.  His two surviving children also lost their Württemberg titles and styles. The Teck family adopted the surname Cambridge (Alge’s eldest brother Adolphus became the 1st Marquess of Cambridge), and for several months Alge’s style was Sir Alexander Cambridge.  On November 7, 1917, King George V created him Earl of Athlone and Viscount Trematon.  Alge’s son Rupert used his father’s secondary title as a courtesy title and his daughter May was styled Lady May Cambridge.  Alice was then styled Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.

At the end of World War I, Alge retired from the army and took up civilian work, including continuing as Chairman of Middlesex Hospital in London, a post he was first appointed to in 1910. Alge served as the Governor-General of South Africa from 1924-1930 and the Governor-General of Canada from 1940-1946.  During the World War II years in Canada, Alge and Alice welcomed several displaced royals who had sought refuge in Canada: Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway; Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix of Luxembourg; King Peter of Yugoslavia; King George of Greece; Empress Zita of Austria and her daughters; as well as Alice’s first cousin Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her daughter, Princess Juliana.

The Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone at the Opening of Parliament in 1946; Photo: Wikipedia

In 1946, Alge retired, and he and Alice took a grace and favor apartment at Kensington Palace in London. However, Alge did not completely retire. He served on the committee organizing the 1953 coronation of his great-niece Queen Elizabeth II and continued to serve as Chancellor of the University of London until 1955. Alge died on January 16, 1957, at Kensington Palace in London, England at the age of 82.  After a funeral with full military honors, Alge was buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore in Windsor, England. Alice survived Alge by 24 years, dying on January 3, 1981, one month short of her 98th birthday, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria. Alice was buried beside her husband and son Rupert at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore in Windsor, England.

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.

The Honorable Sir Alexander Ramsay

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

The Honorable Sir Alexander Ramsay; Credit – Wikipedia

The Honorable Alexander Ramsay (Alexander Robert Maule), the husband of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Patricia of Connaught, was born in London, England on May 29, 1881. He was the third of the five sons of John William Maule Ramsay, 13th Earl of Dalhousie and Lady Ida Bennet, daughter of Charles Bennet, 6th Earl of Tankerville.

Ramsay had a long career in the Royal Navy. He began his career in 1894 as a cadet on the cadet training ship HMS Britannia.  After serving on several ships, Ramsay became the naval aide-de-camp to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught in his early years (1911-1913) as Governor-General of Canada. In 1913, Ramsay served as the gunnery officer on the battle cruiser Indefatigable in the Mediterranean.

During World War I, Ramsay took part in several important naval operations including the bombardment of the Dardanelles forts and naval operations at Gallipoli. He attained the rank of Commander in 1914 and became Flag Commander of the Second Squadron in 1916. From 1919-1922, Ramsay was the naval attaché in Paris, France. In 1928, Ramsay assumed command of the aircraft carrier HMS Furious in the Atlantic Fleet. He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1933 and commanded the aircraft carriers in the Atlantic Fleet for the next five years.

Ramsay served as Commander in Chief of the East Indies Station from 1936 to 1938. Thereafter, he became Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Air Services, posts he held until the outbreak of World War II. He was promoted to Admiral in 1939 and retired from the Royal Navy in 1942.

While serving as naval aide-de-camp to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught in his early years as Governor-General of Canada, Ramsay became acquainted with his youngest child, Princess Patricia of Connaught. The couple became engaged at the fishing lodge of J. K. L. Ross, a Canadian businessman, sportsman, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, and philanthropist, on St. Anns Bay in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The wedding was held at Westminster Abbey in London, England on February 27, 1919. This was the first major royal event after World War I and the first royal wedding at Westminster Abbey since the 1382 wedding of King Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. The bridal party consisted of eight bridesmaids and two train-bearers:

Photo Credit – Bain News Service – Library of Congress

Upon her marriage, Princess Patricia voluntarily relinquished the style of Royal Highness and the title of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and assumed the style of Lady Patricia Ramsay. She was not obligated to renounce her royal title but she wished to have a social status and rank closer to that of her husband. The decision was made with the agreement of her father The Duke of Connaught and her first cousin King George V.  Lady Patricia remained a member of the British Royal Family, remained in the line of succession, and attended all major royal events including weddings, funerals, and coronations.

The couple had one child:

Lady Patricia and her son; Photo Credit – Wikipedia, Bain News Service – Library of Congress

At the age of 91, Alexander Ramsay died at his home Ribsden Holt in Windlesham, Surrey, England on October 8, 1972, and was buried in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in Windsor, England. Fourteen months later, on January 12, 1974, Lady Patricia died at Ribsden Holt at the age of 87 and was buried alongside her husband.

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.

Prince Arthur of Connaught

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Prince Arthur of Connaught; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Arthur of Connaught was the only son and the second of the three children of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia. He was born at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England on January 13, 1883, and was christened Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert on February 16, 1883, at the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle. His godparents were:

NPG x128290; Prince Arthur of Connaught by Alexander Bassano

Prince Arthur of Connaught by Alexander Bassano, albumen cabinet card, 1885, NPG x128290 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Prince Arthur had two sisters:

Prince Arthur with his parents and his sisters, 1893; Credit – Wikipedia

Arthur began his education at home with governesses and tutors. He was the first British prince to attend Eton College. After finishing Eton College, Arthur received his military education at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 7th (Queen’s Own) Hussars on May 8, 1901. Like his father, Arthur had a military career. He was on active duty during the Second Boer War. During World War I, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to General Sir John French and General Sir Douglas Haig.

He held the following ranks in the British Army:

  • Lieutenant, 7th (Queen’s Own) Hussars (1903)
  • Captain, 2nd Dragoons (The Royal Scots Greys) (1907)
  • Brevet Major (1913)
  • Major, 2nd Dragoons (The Royal Scots Greys) (1915)
  • Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel (1919)
  • Retired from active service (December 31, 1919)
  • Honorary Major-General (1920)

When his first cousin King George V succeeded to the British throne in 1910, Prince Arthur and his father The Duke of Connaught were the most senior male members of the British Royal Family over the age of 18 who were living in the United Kingdom. Therefore, Prince Arthur undertook a wide variety of royal duties on behalf of King George V and acted as a Counsellor of State when King George V was out of the United Kingdom.

On October 15, 1913, at the Chapel Royal of St. James’ Palace in London, Arthur married her first cousin once removed, Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife. Alexandra was the eldest surviving child of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and a grandchild of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.  In 1900, when it became apparent that the Duke and Duchess of Fife were unlikely to have a son to inherit the title, Queen Victoria issued the Duke of Fife a new Letters Patent as Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This Letters Patent gave the second dukedom of Fife a special remainder that allowed the dukedom to pass to the daughters of the 1st Duke of Fife, if he had no son, and then to the male heirs of his daughters. Therefore, Alexandra became heir to her father’s dukedom.

Alexandra’s mother was the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and was created Princess Royal during her father’s reign, in 1905.  At the same time, Alexandra and her sister Maud were granted the title of Princess with the style of “Highness” and received precedence immediately after all members of the royal family bearing the style of “Royal Highness.” This act was unprecedented and when the College of Arms told King Edward VII it could not be done, the King simply said, “Do it!”  Alexandra and Maud’s maternal uncle, the future King George V, was greatly disturbed by this act.

Because Alexandra’s father had died the year before her wedding, her uncle King George V, gave her away. After her marriage, Alexandra was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Arthur of Connaught, Duchess of Fife.

Prince Arthur and his wife Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife; Credit – Wikipedia

Arthur and Alexandra had one son Alastair Arthur, born on August 9, 1914, at his parents’ home at 54 Mount Street in Mayfair, London, England. As a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria through the male line, Alastair was styled His Highness Prince Alastair of Connaught until he was three years old.  At that time King George V restricted the titles of Prince/Princess and the style of Royal Highness to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. Alastair was then styled with the courtesy title Earl of Macduff, his mother’s secondary title.

Alexandra with her son Alastair;  Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Arthur was Governor-General of South Africa from 1920 – 1923. After his return to the United Kingdom, he supported several charitable organizations, including serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Middlesex Hospital. Like his father, Arthur was an active Freemason and served as Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire in 1924.

NPG x70586; Prince Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert by Lafayette (Lafayette Ltd)

Prince Arthur of Connaught by Lafayette (Lafayette Ltd), whole-plate nitrate negative, 30 July 1930, NPG x70586 © National Portrait Gallery, London

On September 12, 1938, Prince Arthur died of stomach cancer at the age of 55. He was first interred at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and then his remains were transferred to the Royal Burial Ground in Frogmore, Windsor, England in 1939. As Prince Arthur predeceased his father The Duke of Connaught, Arthur’s son Alastair became heir to the dukedom.

Arthur_Louise Margaret grave

Prince Arthur is buried near his parents; Photo Credit – Connie Nissinger, www.findagrave.com

In 1942, upon the death of his paternal grandfather Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, Alastair succeeded him as the 2nd Duke of Connaught. On April 26, 1943, while on active duty with the British Army in Ottawa, Canada, the 28-year-old Alastair fell asleep or passed out in front of an open window, fell out the window, and died of hypothermia during the night. On his death, his titles became extinct.

Alexandra survived her husband Prince Arthur for nearly 21 years, dying at her home in London on February 26, 1959, at the age of 67. She was buried at St. Ninian’s Chapel in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, located on the grounds of the Mar Lodge Estate, where her parents are buried.

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Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, Duchess of Connaught

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Louise Margaret of Prussia, Duchess of Connaught; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Luise Margarete Alexandra Viktoria Agnes of Prussia was born on July 25, 1860, at the Marmorpalais (Marble Palace), a royal residence in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia (now in Brandenburg, Germany). She was the fourth daughter and the fourth of the five children of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau. Prince Friedrich Karl’s father, Prince Karl of Prussia, was a younger son of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and a brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia. Luise Margarete’s mother was also descended from Prussian kings as her great-grandfather was King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia.

Luise Margarete had three sisters and one brother:

NPG x45763; Princess Louise, Duchess of Connaught by Unknown photographer

Princess Louise, Duchess of Connaught (née Princess of Prussia) by Unknown photographer, albumen print, 1870s, NPG x45763 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Luise Margarete’s parents had an unhappy marriage. After her birth, the birth of a fourth daughter, Prince Friedrich Karl reportedly beat his wife for not producing a son. Only the urgings of Friedrich Karl’s uncle King Wilhelm I of Prussia and future German Emperor, prevented a formal separation. Luise Margarete became engaged to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, Queen Victoria‘s third son and the seventh of her nine children. However, Queen Victoria considered Luise Margarete a less than satisfactory bride for her son. She was plain-looking and had broken teeth. Her parents were unpleasant, had an unhappy marriage, and lived apart. Victoria wanted to avoid associating her family with a possible scandal.

Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; Princess Louise, Duchess of Connaught after Léon Abraham Marius Joliot, albumen carte-de-visite, 1870s, NPG Ax131371© National Portrait Gallery, London

Luise Margarete and Arthur were married on March 13, 1879, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. The bride received a magnificent diamond tiara and a pearl and diamond pendant from her mother-in-law Queen Victoria. After her marriage, Luise Margarete was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Connaught and her name was anglicized to Louise Margaret.

Louise Margaret of Prussia_wedding

Louise Margaret in her wedding dress;  Credit – http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/2905669/the-duchess-of-connaught-when-princess-louise-margaret-of-prussia-1860-1917-in Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

Arthur and Louise Margaret had one son and two daughters. The Swedish and Danish Royal Families are their descendants. The family resided at their country home Bagshot Park and Clarence House, their London residence.

The Duke and Duchess of Connaught with their children, Portrait by Hughes & Mullins, 1893; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise Margaret spent the first twenty years of her marriage accompanying her husband on his various military assignments. In 1911, Arthur was appointed the first Governor-General of Canada who was also a member of the Royal Family. Louise Margaret and her youngest child Patricia accompanied Arthur to Canada. They lived in Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Canada, and undertook extensive travels in Canada. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the family remained in Canada and Louise Margaret worked for the Red Cross and other organizations.

In the summer of 1916, Louise Margaret and her family returned to England from their five-year stay in Canada. A little more than six months later, on March 14, 1917, Louise Margaret died from bronchial pneumonia at Clarence House at the age of 56. She became the first member of the British Royal Family to be cremated, which was done at Golders Green Crematorium. Burying ashes in an urn was still unfamiliar at the time, and her urn was placed in a coffin during the funeral, which was held at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Louise Margaret’s ashes were buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. Arthur survived his wife by nearly 25 years, dying on January 16, 1942, at Bagshot Park at the age of 91.

Arthur_Louise Margaret grave

The Duchess of Connaught, along with her husband is buried in the grave on the right-hand side of the photo, nearest the wall; Photo Credit – Connie Nissinger, www.findagrave.com

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.