by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Frogmore consists of over thirty acres of private gardens within the grounds of the Home Park, adjacent to Windsor Castle. The name comes from the frogs which have always lived in this area near the River Thames. Frogmore House, a 17th-century country house owned by the Crown Estate, is located there. Frogmore is also the site of three burial places of the British Royal Family: the Royal Mausoleum containing the tombs of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Duchess of Kent’s Mausoleum where Queen Victoria’s mother Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent is interred and the Royal Burial Ground.

• British Monarchy: Frogmore House and Gardens
• Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites
• Unofficial Royalty: When The Monarch Dies

Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent, born Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, lived the last years of her life at Frogmore House. In the 1850s, the Duchess began construction of a domed temple nearby Frogmore House. The upper part was to be a summer house for the Duchess and the lower part was to be her burial place. When the Duchess of Kent died on March 16, 1861, the building was not yet complete. Since a residence would no longer be needed, the whole building became the Duchess of Kent’s Mausoleum.

Later on in 1861, on December 14, Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert died at the age of 42. A few days after the prince’s death, plans were drawn up for the construction of a mausoleum for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert which would be known as the Royal Mausoleum. Effigies of both Victoria and Albert were made at the same time. Victoria’s effigy was stored until her death nearly 40 years later. The crypt under the mausoleum was built with nine spaces for Victoria and Albert’s children but none of the burial sites were ever used.

Also in the Royal Mausoleum is a memorial to Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Alice who died in 1878 of diphtheria shortly after her youngest daughter May died of the same disease and a memorial to Queen Victoria’s father Prince Edward, Duke of Kent who died when Victoria was eight months old.

Interred in Mausoleums at Frogmore

• 1861 – Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria, first interred in the entrance to the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel, transferred to the Duchess of Kent’s Mausoleum, Frogmore later in 1861
• 1861 – Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, The Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria: first interred in the entrance to the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel, transferred to the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore in 1862
• 1901 – Queen Victoria: placed in the Albert Memorial Chapel in St. George’s Chapel for two days, then transferred to Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore

***************************

Adjacent to the Royal Mausoleum is the Royal Burial Ground. Since its consecration on October 23, 1928, most members of the British Royal Family except for monarchs and their spouses have been buried there. The Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, and his wife are also buried there. Some royal family members who had previously been interred in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle were transferred to the Royal Burial Ground shortly after its consecration.  There are other royal family members who were temporarily interred in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel for various reasons and then interred at a later date at the Royal Burial Ground.

Previously interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel, buried in 1928 at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore

• Prince Francis of Teck, brother of Queen Mary, great-grandson of King George III: interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in 1910, transferred to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in late October 1928
• Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught, wife of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught: the first member of the royal family to be cremated, ashes interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel, transferred to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in late October 1928
• Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, husband of Princess Helena: interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in 1917, transferred to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in late October 1928
• Lord Leopold Mountbatten, son of Princess Beatrice: interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in 1922, transferred to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in late October 1928
• Princess Helena, daughter of Queen Victoria: interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in 1923, transferred to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in late October 1928
• Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, brother of Queen Mary, great-grandson of King George III: interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in 1927, transferred to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in late October 1928, he is buried in the same grave as his wife
• Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon, son of Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone: interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in April 1928; transferred to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in late October 1928

Burials at the Royal Burial Ground

• 1929 – Margaret Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge, wife of Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in 1929, she is buried in the same grave as her husband
• 1936 (buried) – Princess Victoria, daughter of King Edward VII: first interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in 1935, transferred to Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in 1936
• 1939 (buried) – Prince Arthur of Connaught, son of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught: first interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in 1938, transferred to Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in 1939
• 1940 (buried) – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria: ashes first interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel in 1939, transferred to Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in 1940
• 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria: first interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel, transferred to Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in 1942, two months later
• 1948 – Princess Helena Victoria, daughter of Princess Helena: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore
• 1956 – Princess Marie Louise, daughter of Princess Helena: first interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel, transferred to Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore later in 1956
• 1957 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, husband of Princess Alice of Albany and brother of Queen Mary: first interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel, transferred to Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore later in 1957, he is buried in the same grave as his wife
• 1968 (buried) – Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V, husband of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent: died in 1942, first interred in the Royal Vault in St. George’s Chapel, transferred to Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in 1968, the day before the burial of his wife Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
• 1968 – Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, wife of Prince George, Duke of Kent, interred in the Royal Burial Ground
• 1972 – Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, eldest son of King George V and formerly King Edward VIII: interred in the Royal Burial Ground
• 1972 – Prince William of Gloucester, elder son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, interred in the Royal Burial Ground
• 1972 – The Honorable Sir Alexander Ramsay, husband of Princess Patricia of Connaught: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore
• 1974 – Princess Patricia of Connaught, known as Lady Patricia Ramsay after her wedding,  daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught: interred in the Royal Burial Ground
• 1974 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, son of King George V: interred in the Royal Burial Ground
• 1981 – Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone, daughter of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria, wife of Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, she is buried in the same grave her husband
• 1981 – George Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge, son of Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, he is buried in the same grave as his wife
• 1986 – Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore next to the grave of her husband
• 1988 – Dorothy Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge, wife of George Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, she is buried in the same grave as her husband
• 1994 – Lady May Abel Smith, daughter of Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice of Albany, and wife of Sir Henry Abel Smith: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, her husband’s ashes were buried at the same time, both are buried in the same grave.
• 1994 (buried) – Sir Henry Abel Smith, husband of Lady May Abel Smith: died 1993, cremated, ashes interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore at the time of his wife’s burial, both are buried in the same grave.
• 2004 – Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore
• 2005 – The Right Honorable Sir Angus Ogilvy, husband of Princess Alexandra of Kent: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore

Formerly buried in the Royal Burial Ground

• 1961 – Queen Maria of Yugoslavia, born Princess Maria of Romania, great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, wife of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia: interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, transferred to St. George’s Church (Oplenac) in Topola, Serbia in 2013

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.