Author Archives: Susan

Prince Waldemar of Prussia

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Prince Waldemar of Prussia, painted by Heinrich von Angeli; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Waldemar of Prussia (Joachim Friedrich Ernst Waldemar) was born at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany, on February 10, 1868, the sixth child of the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia.  His parents, known as Fritz and Vicky, were the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.  Waldemar’s birth came 20 months after the tragic death of his 21-month-old brother Sigismund from meningitis and on the 28th wedding anniversary of his maternal grandparents, Queen Victoria and the deceased Prince Albert.  Vicky was overjoyed with her new son and wrote to Fritz, “All the pain of labour is nothing compared to the happiness of having such a dear little creature to hold & to nurse oneself.”

Waldemar_Vicky

Waldemar and his mother; Credit – http://www.royalcollection.org.uk

Waldemar quickly took the place of Vicky’s favorite son, previously held by his deceased brother Sigismund.  Vicky hoped Waldemar would be everything that his elder brothers Wilhelm and Heinrich were not.  She wrote to her mother, “He is such a dear child & although rather more spirited than is easy to manage, he is so trustworthy and honest…”

waldemar with sisters

Waldemar with his sisters the year before his death; Credit – http://www.royalcollection.org.uk

Waldemar had seven siblings:

Vicky_family

Prince Waldemar with his parents and four of his siblings: Charlotte, holding her father’s arm; Fritz holding Margaret in his arms; Victoria, seated, holding  a hat on her lap; Vicky, her arms around Sophie; and Waldemar, standing in sailor suit; Photo Credit – www.royalcollection.org

Waldemar reminded his grandmother Queen Victoria of her late husband Prince Albert because of Waldemar’s love of animals and interest in science.  He loved visiting his grandmother at her home, Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight. Waldemar collected rocks, minerals, and other specimens that his mother carefully labeled and then placed in the museum in the Swiss Cottage where she had played and learned to cook as a child.

During one visit, Waldemar gave his grandmother quite a scare.  Queen Victoria was working on some papers in her room, and when she looked up, she saw a small crocodile staring at her.  Naturally, she screamed and all within hearing came running. Waldemar had let Bob, his pet crocodile, out of his box. In fits of laughter, Waldemar retrieved his crocodile, and order was restored.

Prince Waldemar at age of five; Credit – Wikipedia

In February 1879, Waldemar celebrated his 11th birthday.  A month later, while Fritz and Vicky were watching the children rehearse a pantomime show, Waldemar complained of a sore throat. Unfortunately, Waldemar had come down with diphtheria.  Four months previously, Vicky’s sister Alice and Alice’s youngest child May had died of the same disease. Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection affecting the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. Diphtheria typically causes a sore throat, fever, swollen glands, and weakness, but the determining sign is a thick, gray membrane covering the back of the throat. The membrane can block the windpipe so that the patient has to struggle for breath. Today, diphtheria is extremely rare in developed countries thanks to widespread vaccination against the disease.  However, before the advent of modern medicine, diphtheria could be epidemic, and it often killed its victims.

Vicky took all the precautions known at that time to avoid spreading the disease.  She washed Waldemar with hot vinegar and water, changed his sheets and clothes, and put them in a pail of carbolic acid.  While tending him, Vicky covered her own clothing and sprayed herself with carbolic acid after she left Waldemar’s room.  He seemed to be improving, but on March 26, 1879, at around 9 PM, the doctors summoned Vicky to Waldemar’s room.  His breathing had worsened, and he died shortly after midnight.

Waldemar was buried with one of Vicky’s nightgowns covering him and one of Fritz’s handkerchiefs over his face.  A private funeral service was held at the Neues Palais attended by the household staff, Waldemar’s teachers, and the parents of his friends.  Vicky did not attend the official funeral the next day.  Waldemar was buried near his brother Sigismund at the Friedenskirche (Church of Peace) in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany.  The remains of both boys were later transferred to the Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum at the Friedenskirche, where Fritz and Vicky were buried. German sculptor Reinhold Begas was commissioned to make their marble tombs.

Vicky wrote of her son to Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, “Ours is indeed a grief which must last a lifetime.  We can hardly realise yet that we have lost the darling boy who was our pride and delight, who seemed to grow daily in health and strength, in intelligence and vigour of character.  We had fondly hoped he would grow up to be on use to his country, and his family – we had planned and dreamt of a bright and useful future for him…He is missed every hour of the day, and the House has lost half its life.”

Tomb of Prince Waldemar of Prussia; Credit – http://www.findagrave.com

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Assassination of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Emperor Alexander II of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

March 13, 1881 (Old Style Date March 1) – Assassination of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia; buried at the Fortress of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, Russia

Of the twenty Romanov monarchs,  five died violent deaths (Ivan VI, Peter III, Paul I, Alexander II, and Nicholas II). On March 13 (Old Style Date March 1), 1881, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia was assassinated by a bomb.  Born in 1818, he was the eldest child of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Charlotte of Prussia, known as Alexandra Feodorovna after her marriage.  In 1841, Alexander married Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, known as Maria Alexandrovna after her marriage.  Although the marriage produced eight children, Alexander had several lovers, the chief one being his long-time mistress Catherine Dolgorukova with whom he had three surviving children.  Maria Alexandrovna was frequently ill and died of tuberculosis in 1880.  Less than a month after her death, Alexander married Catherine Dolgorukova morganatically.  This marriage caused a scandal in the Imperial Family and violated the Russian Orthodox rules regarding the waiting period for remarriage following the death of a spouse. Alexander granted his new wife the title of Princess Yurievskaya and legitimized their children.

When his father died in 1855, Alexander became Emperor of All Russia. He is known as the most reforming tsar since Peter the Great.  His foremost accomplishment was the emancipation of the serfs in 1861.  In addition, Alexander II reorganized the judicial system, established local self-government called Zemstvo, instituted universal military service in which sons of the rich and the poor were required to serve, ended some of the privileges of the nobility, and promoted higher education in the universities.

A liberal-leaning ruler, Alexander was subjected to several assassination attempts, including two attempts in 1879 and 1880 by The People’s Will (Narodnaya Volya), a radical revolutionary group whose goal was a social revolution.  After the failed attempts, a committee of The People’s Will members called March 1 (Pervomartovtsy) began to plan the next attack on Alexander II.  The People’s Will was led by Andrei Zhelyabov and his lover Sophia Perovskaya. Zhelyabov was arrested a few days before the planned attack.

On March 13, 1881, Alexander II signed an order creating several commissions, composed of government officials and prominent private individuals, to prepare reforms in various branches of the government. Afterward, he attended church services with the Imperial Family, the usual custom on Sunday.  Before Alexander left the Winter Palace for some events, his wife begged him not to follow his usual route home because of the reports of possible terrorist attacks.  He promised to return to the palace via the Catherine Canal Embankment instead.  Alexander attended a parade at the Michael Riding School and visited his cousin Grand Duchess Catherine Michaelovna.  The conspirators had laid dynamite mines in tunnels dug under the Tsar’s usual route.  When Sophia Perovskaya saw that Alexander visited his cousin and might return to the palace using a different route, she arranged her co-conspirators along the Catherine Canal Embankment, the most logical alternate route.

Alexander II was riding in a bomb-proof carriage, a gift from Emperor Napoleon III of France.  As the carriage turned onto the Catherine Canal Embankment, a bomb was thrown.  The carriage was damaged and several onlookers were wounded, but the emperor was unharmed.  Next, Alexander II made a mistake that cost him his life.  Unaware that another conspirator was leaning against a railing about six feet away, he left the carriage to inspect the damage and check on the wounded people, and a bomb was thrown directly between the emperor’s legs.  The noise from the bomb was deafening, smoke filled the air, wounded people were screaming, and the snow was drenched with blood. When the smoke cleared, Alexander II lay mortally wounded, his legs crushed and torn from the blast of the bomb.  Alexander asked to be taken to the Winter Palace so he could die there.

As members of the Imperial Family heard the news (and some of them heard the two bombs), they arrived at the Winter Palace. The sight that greeted them was grim.  Alexander II’s face and body were intact, but his legs were gone up to his knees.  The room began to get crowded as more family members arrived.  Alexander II’s eldest son Alexander and his Danish wife Dagmar arrived.  Dagmar was still wearing her skating costume and carrying her ice skates as she had planned to go ice skating. Dagmar’s husband stood in disbelief and their eldest son, 13-year-old Nicholas, the future Nicholas II, was clinging to a cousin for comfort.  The emperor’s wife Catherine Dolgorukova (Princess Yurievskaya) hysterically ran into the room, threw herself on her husband’s body, kissed his hands, and called out his name.  For 45 minutes, those in the room watched as Emperor Alexander II’s life ebbed away. At 3:35 PM, the emperor died, and as the Imperial Family knelt to pray, his wife fainted and was carried from the room, her clothes drenched with his blood.

The assassination of Emperor Alexander II; Credit: Wikipedia

Just the day before he died, Alexander II had completed plans to create an elected parliament and he intended to release these plans within a few days.  Perhaps if Alexander II had lived Russia would have become a constitutional monarchy and not been led down the path the country ultimately took. Alexander II’s son and successor, Alexander III, was very conservative and reversed some of the liberal reforms of his father.  One of the first things he did as emperor was to tear up his father’s plans for an elected parliament and cancel the order his father had signed the day he died.

Two of Alexander II’s sons met violent deaths: Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was assassinated by a terrorist bomb at the Kremlin in Moscow in 1905 and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (and three other Grand Dukes) was shot by the Bolsheviks at the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1919.

Emperor Alexander II was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg next to his first wife.

Tomb of Alexander II (on left) and Maria Alexandrovna, his wife (on right); Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1883, construction began on the Church on the Spilt Blood.  The church was built on the site of Alexander’s assassination and is dedicated to his memory.

Church on the Spilt Blood in St. Petersburg, built on the site of Alexander II’s assassination; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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.

Henry the Young King

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Henry the Young King, son of King Henry II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry the Young King was born at Bermondsey Abbey in London, England on February 28, 1155, where his recently crowned parents were holding court.  He was the second child of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Henry’s elder brother William, Count of Poitiers died in 1156 at the age of two, leaving Henry as the eldest child of King Henry II.

Henry had seven siblings:

13th-century depiction of Henry and his legitimate children: (l to r) William, Young Henry, Richard, Matilda, Geoffrey, Eleanor, Joan, and John; Credit – Wikipedia 

On November 2, 1160, five-year-old Henry was married to two-year-old Marguerite of France.  Marguerite was the daughter of King Louis VII of France (the first husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine) and his second wife Constance of Castile.  The reason for the early marriage was political. Marguerite’s dowry included the disputed territory of the Vexin and King Henry II wanted to possess it.

Henry was educated under the guidance of his father’s chancellor Thomas Becket.   In 1170, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke was appointed his tutor and was also his tournament team leader until 1182 when Henry and Marshal had a falling out.  Henry participated in many tournaments in northern and central France and became one of the major patrons of the sport.

When Henry was 15, his father adopted the French practice of ensuring the succession by declaring his heir the junior king.  Henry was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 14, 1170, by Roger of Pont L’Évêque, Archbishop of York.  Marguerite was not crowned, infuriating her father King Louis VII.  To appease the French king, another coronation which included Marguerite was held on August 27, 1172, at Winchester Cathedral.  Marguerite and Henry had only one son, William, who was born prematurely on June 19, 1177, and died three days later.

Despite his rank of junior king,  King Henry II refused to grant Henry land or allow him to participate in the government.  With his mother and his brothers Richard (the future King Richard I of England) and Geoffrey, he nearly overthrew King Henry II in 1173.  In 1182–83, Henry had a falling out with his brother Richard when Richard refused to pay homage to him on the orders of King Henry II.  As he was preparing to fight Richard, Henry became ill with dysentery (also called the bloody flux), the scourge of armies for centuries.  It was clear that Henry was dying and he repented for his sins by prostrating himself naked on the floor before a crucifix.  Henry the Young King died on June 11, 1183, in Martel, France holding a ring his father had sent as a sign of his forgiveness.  Henry was so popular that the people of Le Mans and Rouen almost went to war for the custody of his body.  He had requested to be buried in Rouen Cathedral, but as his body traveled through Le Mans, the bishop ordered his body to be buried at the cathedral there.  The Dean of Rouen Cathedral had to resort to legal means to bury Henry according to his wishes.  Ironically, the tombs of the perpetually fighting brothers, Henry and Richard, lie on opposite sides of the altar of Rouen Cathedral.

Henry the Young King in literature:

  • Henry is an important character in Sharon Kay Penman‘s novels Time and Chance and The Devil’s Brood.
  • Henry is an important secondary character in Elizabeth Chadwick‘s novel The Greatest Knight about William Marshal.
  • The consequences of Henry’s death play an important role in the events of James Goldman’s play The Lion in Winter (also a film) which features Henry’s parents and three younger brothers, the future King Richard II of England; Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany; and the future King John of England.

Tomb of Henry the Young King in Rouen Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

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Princess Louise, Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Louise, Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife; Credit: Wikipedia

Late in her third pregnancy 22-year-old Alexandra, Princess of Wales became ill with rheumatic fever.  She safely gave birth to her first daughter without the use of the painkiller chloroform which her doctors thought would worsen her condition.  The bout of rheumatic fever continued after the baby’s birth and the Princess of Wales was in such pain that she had to be constantly comforted by her lady-in-waiting, Lady Macclesfield. The rheumatic fever threatened Alexandra’s life and left her with a permanent limp.  Thus, the future Princess Royal entered the world on February 20, 1867, at Marlborough House in London, England.

The princess was christened Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar at Marlborough House, her parents’ home in London. Her godparents were:

 

Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar was the third of six children and the eldest of the three daughters of the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.  She was the granddaughter of two monarchs, Queen Victoria and King Christian IX of Denmark.  At the time of her birth, she was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Louise of Wales.

Louise’s five siblings:

by Alexander Bassano half-plate glass negative, 1875 NPG x104919 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The children of King Edward VII, by Alexander Bassano, half-plate glass negative, 1875.
NPG x104919. © National Portrait Gallery, London

Unlike their beautiful mother, Louise and her sisters were not considered attractive and had the rather unpleasant nickname of “The Hags.”  Their education was minimal although they had been taught music.  In public, the sisters appeared shy and did not want to be noticed or have others talk about them.  In private, they were less inhibited and participated in the family tradition of practical jokes.  Alexandra was extremely possessive of her children and prolonged their childhood far past the norm.  For example, Louise, at age 19, was given a child’s birthday party.  While Louise and Maud married, their sister Victoria was not allowed to marry so that she could serve as a companion to her mother.  Her cousin Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna described her a little more than “a glorified maid.”

On July 27, 1889, Louise followed the example of her aunt Princess Louise and married a husband from the British nobility.  Seventeen years older than his bride, Alexander William George Duff was the only son of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife and Lady Agnes Hay, daughter of the 18th Earl of Erroll and Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence, an illegitimate daughter of King William IV. Louise and Alexander were third cousins via their mutual descent from King George III. Alexander’s descent was via the future King William IV’s long-time relationship with actress Dorothea Jordan by whom he had ten children who married into the British aristocracy.

Alexander had become 6th Earl Fife upon his father’s death in 1879.  Two days after the wedding, Queen Victoria created the groom Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.  Despite their age difference, the couple was well-matched and settled down to a life of country pursuits with the Duke managing his Scottish estates and Louise becoming an expert at salmon fishing.

by William Downey, for W. & D. Downey albumen cabinet card, 27 July 1889 NPG x3805 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife; Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar, Duchess of Fife by William Downey, for W. & D. Downey. albumen cabinet card, 27 July 1889,
NPG x3805.  © National Portrait Gallery, London

The couple had three children:

Louise with her daughters Alexandra and Maud, circa 1894; Credit – Wikipedia

As female-line great-granddaughters of the British monarch (Queen Victoria), Alexandra and Maud were not entitled to the title of Princess or the style Royal Highness. Instead, they were styled Lady Alexandra Duff and Lady Maud Duff, the styles of daughters of a Duke.   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 giving the second dukedom of Fife a special remainder in default of male issue to the Duke’s daughters and their agnatic male descendants.

Louise was the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and in 1905 was created Princess Royal.  At the same time, Louise’s daughters Alexandra and 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!” Louise’s brother, the future King George V, was greatly disturbed by this act.

In December 1911, the Duke and Duchess of Fife and their two daughters set off to spend the winter in Egypt and Sudan where the climate was more beneficial to Louise’s health.  Their ship went aground near Morocco and then their lifeboat sank.  The family was rescued, but the Duke of Fife later developed pneumonia and died in Aswan, Egypt on January 29, 1912.  Alexandra succeeded to the 1900 Dukedom, becoming the Duchess of Fife and Countess of Macduff in her own right and her father’s other titles, including the 1889 Dukedom, became extinct.  Alexandra’s only son predeceased her, so upon her death, Maud’s son James Carnegie became the 3rd Duke of Fife. He also became the 12th Earl of Southesk, a title he inherited from his father.

Louise died at the age of 63 on January 4, 1931, at her London home at 15 Portman Square in London, England. She was first interred at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, and was later buried with her husband at the private chapel in the mausoleum of Mar Lodge in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Louise’s grave; Credit – By GentryGraves – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45486868

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.

Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Duchess of Albany

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Duchess of Albany; Credit – Wikipedia

Her Serene Highness Princess Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont (Helena Frederica Augusta) was born on February 17, 1861, at Arolsen Castle in Arolsen, the capital of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont.  Today the town is known as Bad Arolsen and is located in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district of Hesse, Germany. Her parents were George Victor, Sovereign Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Princess Helena of Nassau. Through both of her parents, Helena was a descendant of Anne, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain.

Helena was the fifth of seven children and had five sisters and one brother:

Helena had one half-brother from her father’s second marriage to Princess Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg:

Helena’s family lived mostly at  Arolsen Castle, a Baroque-style home built from 1713-1728.  The Scottish philosopher, historian, and writer Thomas Carlyle was a great friend of Helena’s mother and a frequent visitor to Arolsen Castle.  Carlyle described life at Arolsen Castle as a “pumpernickel court.”  Helena had a Lutheran education from a very liberal-minded pastor.

Arolsen Castle, now a museum and home of Wittekind, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1881, Helena first met her future husband, Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in the German state of Hesse, where Leopold was staying with Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, the widower of Leopold’s sister Alice.  Leopold was the only son of Queen Victoria to suffer from hemophilia.  He saw marriage as a way to become independent from Queen Victoria, his overbearing mother. Besides having hemophilia, Leopold also had mild epilepsy. (See Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Descendants.)  Although hemophilia had more serious consequences, it was a disease that was not completely understood at the time, and it was Leopold’s epilepsy that caused him problems while seeking a bride. Epilepsy was considered a social stigma and many families hid away their epileptic relatives.

After Leopold was rejected by several potential royal brides, Queen Victoria and her eldest daughter Victoria stepped in and made arrangements for Leopold and Helena to meet.  The couple became engaged on November 17, 1881.  Leopold was ecstatic when he wrote to his brother-in-law Ludwig, widower of his sister Alice: “…we became engaged this afternoon…Oh, my dear brother, I am so overjoyed, and you, who have known this happiness, you will be pleased for me, won’t you?…You only know Helena a little as yet – when you really know her, then you will understand why I’m mad with joy today.”

Leopold and Helena; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 27, 1882, Leopold and Helena were married at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.  Helena was escorted down the aisle by her father George Victor, Sovereign Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and her brother-in-law King Willem III of the Netherlands.  Her wedding gown of white satin, decorated with traditional orange blossom and myrtle was a gift from her sister Queen Emma of the Netherlands.  Leopold had requested that his friend, the French composer Charles Gounod, compose a wedding march to be played as Helena made her way to the altar.

Leopold and Helena had two children:

Charles Edward became Duke of Albany at birth (his father’s title) and in 1900 succeeded his uncle Alfred as the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  During World War I, he was deprived of his British titles because he took up arms against his native country.  After World War II, Charles Edward was imprisoned due to his Nazi sympathies and was heavily fined and almost bankrupted.  Charles Edward’s grandson, King Carl XVI Gustaf is the current King of Sweden.  Leopold’s daughter Alice married a brother of Queen Mary, Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, and died in 1981, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria.

Helena, Duchess of Albany with her two children Alice and Charles Edward in 1887; Credit – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Unfortunately, Leopold and Helena’s marriage was short-lived.  In early 1884, Leopold’s doctors recommended that he spend the winter in Cannes, France, which he had done before.  At the time, Helena was expecting her second child.  On March 27, 1884, Leopold slipped and fell on the staircase at Villa Nevada, the private home where he was staying in Cannes.  He injured his knee and hit his head. Leopold died early on the morning of March 28, 1884, apparently of a cerebral hemorrhage, the injuries having been exacerbated by his hemophilia. He was 31 years old.

Four months after Leopold’s death Helena gave birth to her son.  She continued to live with her children at Claremont House near Esher in Surrey, England, which Queen Victoria had bought for Leopold upon his marriage. Helena devoted the rest of her life to her children, grandchildren, and charitable work.  She was one of the founders of the Deptford Fund, originally founded in 1894 to help the people living by the dockyards in the Deptford section of London.  In 1899,  Helena founded The Albany Institute which is still in existence.  Its website says, “The Albany is a centre for the community that has been responding to the needs of the people of Deptford for over 100 years.”

On September 1, 1922, Helena died of a heart attack at the age of 61 in Hinterriss, Austria where she was visiting her son.  At her request, Helena was buried in the beautiful countryside of Hinteriss.

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.

Frederick, Prince of Wales

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Frederick, Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

Frederick, Prince of Wales was one of the seven Princes of Wales who never became King.  Six Princes of Wales, including Frederick, predeceased their fathers:

When Frederick was born in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany, on February 1, 1709, Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch, sat upon the British throne, but there was a succession crisis.  Despite having 18 pregnancies, Queen Anne did not have a Protestant heir as decreed by the 1689 Bill of Rights.  Queen Mary II, the wife, first cousin, and co-ruler of King William III, and Anne’s elder sister, had died childless in 1694. In 1701, Parliament enacted the Act of Settlement to prevent a succession crisis and a Catholic restoration.  If neither King William III nor the future Queen Anne failed to provide an heir, the crown would go to the senior Protestant heir, Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and her Protestant descendants.  Over fifty Catholics with better claims to the British throne than Sophia, Electress of Hanover were excluded from the line of succession.  Sophia was the daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of King James I of England.  Sophia was Frederick’s great-grandmother, so at the time of his birth, His Serene Highness Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Hanover was fourth in line to the British throne after his great-grandmother, grandfather, and father.

Sophia, Electress of Hanover died on June 8, 1714, less than two months before the death of Queen Anne on August 1, 1714.  Upon Queen Anne’s death, Frederick’s grandfather George, ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) in the Holy Roman Empire, became King George I of Great Britain. George I’s son, the future King George II of Great Britain, was created Prince of Wales and, along with his wife Caroline of Ansbach, now the Princess of Wales, went to live in Great Britain.  They left seven-year-old Frederick, now second in the line of succession to the British throne, in Hanover in the care of his great-uncle Ernst August, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, and they did not see their son again for 14 years.  Certainly, this long separation during childhood was a factor in the negative relationship Frederick had with his parents as an adult.

Frederick had seven siblings, six of whom survived childhood:

In 1727, Frederick’s grandfather King George I died, and Frederick’s father acceded to the throne as King George II.  The following year, Frederick, who automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at his father’s accession, was summoned to London.  There was more evidence of the feud between Frederick and his parents.  He was the heir to the throne but was not even met by any officials when he first arrived in London and had to take a hackney carriage to St. James’ Palace. In addition, King George II was reluctant to create Frederick Prince of Wales, but finally did so in January 1729 at the government’s urging. During his first years in England, Frederick was not given much to do by his father, and occupied himself with drinking, gambling, and womanizing.  Frederick had several mistresses before he settled down in marriage.

Marriage possibilities to Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia (Frederick’s first cousin) and Lady Diana Spencer (see Unofficial Royalty: The Other Lady Diana Spencers), daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, and Lady Anne Churchill, were vetoed by King George II. Finally, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was chosen as Frederick’s bride.  Sixteen-year-old Augusta arrived in England, barely speaking English, to marry the 29-year-old Frederick.  Frederick and Augusta married at the Chapel Royal in St. James’ Palace in London, England, on May 8, 1736.

The couple had nine children:

Family of Frederick, Prince of Wales painted in 1751 after his death;  Credit – Wikipedia
Front row: Henry, William, Frederick; Back row: Edward, George, Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales holding Caroline Matilda, Elizabeth, Louisa

Frederick made a point of opposing his parents in nearly everything.  He annoyed them when he and Augusta appeared in public together because the couple was popular with the public. When Augusta went into labor with her first child at Hampton Court Palace, where the King and Queen were in residence, Frederick insisted that Augusta endure a bumpy carriage ride back to St. James’ Palace in London to prevent his hated parents from being present at the birth. This event created an even larger rift between Frederick and his parents.

Frederick was a great patron of the arts, most notably music and painting.  He loved taking part in amateur theatricals with his children.  He also enjoyed sports and was seriously involved in cricket, both as a patron and a player. Frederick looked forward to succeeding to the throne and becoming “a patriot king.”  He delighted in opposing the government and lent his support to the opposition.  After the Jacobite rising in 1745, Frederick opposed the severe treatment of the Jacobites that his father and brother supported.

Frederick became ill in March 1751 after he “caught a chill” while gardening at his home.  He became feverish and was bled and blistered, the medical treatment of the time. After a brief recovery, Frederick suffered a relapse and was again bled. After eating a light supper on the evening of March 31, 1751, at Leicester House in London, Frederick suffered a coughing fit and died suddenly at the age of 44.  An autopsy found the cause of death to be a burst abscess in the lung.  It was popularly believed that his death was caused by a blow from a cricket ball to his chest, but there is no proof of that. King George II was playing cards with his mistress when he was told of Frederick’s death.  He continued playing cards and later said, “I have lost my eldest son, but I am glad,” so the feud between father and son did not even end with death.  Frederick was buried in the royal vault in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

A famous epigram was written upon Frederick’s death:

Here lies poor Fred who was alive and is dead,
Had it been his father I had much rather,
Had it been his sister nobody would have missed her,
Had it been his brother, still better than another,
Had it been the whole generation, so much better for the nation,
But since it is Fred who was alive and is dead,
There is no more to be said!

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Queen Mathilde of Belgium

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

By Michael Thaidigsmann – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27426118

On July 21, 2013, the annual Belgian National Day, Belgium got its first native-born queen.  King Albert II of the Belgians abdicated in favor of his son Philippe, and Philippe’s wife became Queen Consort of the Belgians.  Belgium’s previous queen consorts were French, Austrian, German, Swedish, Spanish, and Italian.

Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d’Udekem d’Acoz was born on January 20, 1973, in Uccle, one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.  Her parents were  Jonkheer Patrick d’Udekem d’Acoz (1936 – 2008) and Countess Anna Maria Komorowska (born 1946).  Through her mother, Mathilde has Polish noble and Polish–Lithuanian princely ancestry.  Her father descends from Walloon (a French-speaking people who live in Belgium) nobles and was titled Jonkheer, the lowest title within the Belgian nobility system.  Upon the marriage of Mathilde to Prince Philippe in 1999, Mathilde’s father was created Count d’Udekem d’Acoz by King Albert II.

Mathilde, the eldest of five siblings, has three sisters and one brother:

  • Jonkvrouw Marie-Alix d’Udekem d’Acoz (1974 – 1997), died in a car accident at the age of 22 along with her maternal grandmother.
  • Countess Elisabeth d’Udekem d’Acoz (born 1977), married Margrave Alfonso Pallavicini, had three children
  • Countess Hélène d’Udekem d’Acoz (born 1979), married Baron Nicolas Janssen, had three children:
  • Count Charles-Henri d’Udekem d’Acoz (born 1985)

Mathilde attended primary school in Bastogne, a Walloon municipality of Belgium.  She then attended secondary school at the Institut de la Vierge Fidèle in Brussels, Belgium.  From 1991-1994, Mathilde attended the Institut Libre Marie Haps in Brussels, Belgium where she studied speech therapy and graduated magna cum laude.  Mathilde then began to study psychology at the Université Catholique de Louvain and had her own speech therapy practice in Brussels from 1995 until her marriage in 1999. She continued her studies after her marriage and received a Master’s degree in psychology in 2002. Besides Dutch and French, Mathilde speaks English, Italian, and some Spanish.

 

Mathilde met Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant and the heir to the Belgian throne in 1996 playing tennis. Unbelievably, their romance went undetected by the press and their engagement was a surprise.  The couple married on December 4, 1999, civilly at the Brussels City Hall and religiously at the Cathedral of Saint Michel and Saint Gudula in Brussels.

 

Mathilde and Philippe had four children. Their eldest child Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant will become the first female monarch of Belgian due to changes in the succession law in 1991.

Embed from Getty Images

Mathilde is concerned with a range of social issues including education, child poverty, intergenerational poverty, the position of women in society, and literacy. She has been very active in charity work, particularly with UNICEF and her own charity which focuses on vulnerable people.

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.

Kingdom of Belgium Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth was the third daughter and seventh of the fifteen children of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  She was born on May 22, 1770, at the Queen’s House (now Buckingham Palace) in London, England.

Elizabeth had fourteen siblings:

Elizabeth was christened in the Great Council Chamber at St. James’s Palace, on  June 17, 1770, by Frederick Cornwallis, Archbishop of Canterbury. Her godparents were:

Elizabeth was considered to be the most attractive of King George’s daughters.  She was known for her humor, intelligence, and artistic ability.  Starting by copying drawings (some are in the Royal Collection), Elizabeth later published lithographs and etchings, mostly of mythological scenes.  Some of the interior decorations of the Queen’s House (now Buckingham Palace) were designed and made by Elizabeth.  At Frogmore House, she helped to design the garden buildings and painted the flower murals at the Queen’s Cottage at Kew.

Thomas Gainsborough portrait of Princess Elizabeth at the age of 12; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth’s childhood was very sheltered and spent most of her time with her parents and sisters.  The living conditions of King George’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. Perhaps this over-protection of King George III’s daughters was due to what happened to his sister Caroline Matilda when she married King Christian VII of Denmark.  Christian’s mental illness led to Caroline Matilda having an affair, being caught, the execution of her lover, and her exile.  The story was told in several novels including Per Olov Enquist’s The Visit of the Royal Physician (1999) and in the Danish film A Royal Affair (2012).

The sisters longed to escape from “the Nunnery.” Prior to King George’s first bout with what probably was porphyria in 1788, he had told his daughters that he would take them to Hanover to find husbands.  Further bouts occurred in 1801 and 1804 and prevented talk of marriage for his daughters. Queen Charlotte feared that the subject of marriage, which had always bothered her husband, would push him back into insanity.  She was stressed by her husband’s illness and wanted her daughters to remain close to her.  The sisters – Charlotte, Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia, and Amelia – continued to be over-protected and isolated which restricted them from meeting eligible suitors.

Starved for male companionship, Sophia got pregnant by her father’s 56-year-old equerry and secretly gave birth to a boy who was placed in a foster home. Amelia had an affair with another equerry.  There have been suggestions that both Elizabeth and Augusta also had affairs.  Three of the six daughters would eventually marry, all later than was the norm for the time.  Charlotte, Princess Royal married the future King of Württemberg, Frederick I, at the age of 31, and had one stillborn daughter. Mary married her cousin Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester at the age of 40 and had no children. Elizabeth was the last of the daughters to finally escape from “the Nunnery.”

By 1810, King George III was nearly blind from cataracts, constantly in pain from rheumatism, and was in “melancholy beyond description” according to Princess Amelia’s nurse.  Princess Amelia died in 1810 at the age of 27 and her death is partly credited for the final decline in her father’s health.  King George III accepted the need for the Regency Act of 1811 and the Prince of Wales (the future King George IV) acted as Prince Regent until his father died in 1820.

In 1818, Elizabeth read a letter from Hereditary Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Homburg to her mother asking to marry her and Elizabeth finally saw the way to exit “the Nunnery.” 48-year-old Friedrich had been a captain in the Russian cavalry, an Austrian general during the Great French War, and had been created a Commander of the Austrian Military Order of Maria Theresa.   Elizabeth was nearly 48 years old and was hardly likely to provide heirs for Hesse-Homburg, but Friedrich had six brothers to do that.  Elizabeth’s dowry would go a long way in helping tiny Hesse-Homburg out of its debts and also would provide funds for needed building renovations.  Elizabeth would have her own household to administer, a husband, and freedom from her mother. Queen Charlotte was not easily persuaded to agree to the marriage and after heated discussions and interventions from several of Elizabeth’s siblings, the Queen agreed to the marriage.

The Prince Regent and the Privy Council formally approved the marriage and on April 7, 1818, in the Private Chapel at the Queen’s House (now Buckingham Palace), Princess Elizabeth married her prince and gained her freedom.  The bride wore a dress of silver tissue and Brussels lace with ostrich feathers on her head.   Friedrich was not handsome but he was very kindhearted and a war hero wounded at the Battle of Leipzig.  The couple spent their honeymoon at the Royal Lodge at Windsor.  The marriage was not a love match, but through mutual understanding and respect, it was a happy marriage that met the needs of both Elizabeth and Friedrich.

Elizabeth

Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom and Friedrich VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg; Credit – royalcollection.org.uk

On January 20, 1820, Friedrich’s father died and he succeeded him as Landgrave of the 85 square mile/ 221 km2 Hesse-Homburg.  Using Elizabeth’s dowry and annual allowance, the couple built new roads, restored the castles in Bad Homburg and Meisenheim, and became involved in the care of the poor. Using seeds and seedlings from England, they created an English garden at Homburg Castle.  Elizabeth continued pursuing her artistic activities.  In 2010, an exhibit, Das graphische Werk der Landgräfin Elizabeth 1770–1840 (The Graphic Works of Landgravine Elizabeth), was held in Bad Homburg, Germany.

Friedrich died at the age of 59 on April 2, 1829, due to influenza and complications from an old leg wound.  Elizabeth wrote, “No woman was ever more happy than I was for eleven years and they will often be lived over again in the memory of the heart.”  During her widowhood, Elizabeth lived in Bad Homburg, Frankfurt, London, and in Hanover where her favorite brother Adolphus served as Viceroy.  Visiting with family and charitable work occupied much of her time.

On January 10, 1840, Elizabeth died at the age of 69 at her home in the Free City of Frankfurt, now in Hesse, Germany.  Elizabeth’s coffin was brought back to Bad Homburg on an immense catafalque pulled by black-plumed horses.  The catafalque was covered in black velvet and on top was the coronet to which she was entitled as a Princess of the United Kingdom.  The countryside roads were lined with mourners.  The funeral was held at the chapel of Homburg Castle.  At Elizabeth’s request, the Anglican burial service was read before she was interred next to her husband in the Mausoleum of the Landgraves in Homburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, now in Hesse, Germany.  In England, deep court mourning was temporarily suspended for several days the following month for the wedding festivities of her niece Queen Victoria.

Elizabeth was and still is the most popular of the Hesse-Homburg Landgravines. She is remembered for her generosity in spending her dowry and allowance in her new homeland, using it to improve the castle and the gardens. Hesse-Homburg greatly mourned her death in 1840.

Her great-niece, Victoria, Princess Royal (German Empress Friedrich) wanted to erect a monument in her honor but unfortunately did not live to see it done. However, Wilhelm II, German Emperor did fulfill his mother’s wish and, on August 11, 1908, unveiled the monument in the presence of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. It was, very appropriately, placed in front of the English Church on Ferdinandstrasse in Bad Homburg, which was built for the English spa guests in 1868.

Landgravine Elizabeth monument in Bad Homburg; 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 that deal with Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg
George III’s Children by John Van Der Kiste (1992)
The Georgian Princesses by John Van Der Kiste (2000)
Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser (2004)

Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone; Credit: Wikipedia

January 3, 1981 saw the end of an era.  On that day the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria died at the age of 97, one month short of her 98th birthday.  Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone had lived through six reigns: Queen Victoria (grandmother), King Edward VII (uncle), King George V (first cousin and brother-in-law), King Edward VIII (first cousin once removed and nephew by marriage), King George VI (first cousin once removed and nephew by marriage) and Queen Elizabeth II (first cousin twice removed and great-niece by marriage).  Princess Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline was born on February 25, 1883, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.  Her parents were Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the youngest son of Queen Victoria, and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Princess Alice was christened Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on March 26, 1883.  She was named Alice for her late paternal aunt. Her godparents were:

Alice had one brother:

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.  Hemophilia is transmitted on the X chromosome and it is a recessive trait.  Women have XX chromosomes and men have XY chromosomes.  Each person gets one chromosome from each parent. A woman has XX chromosomes so she can only pass an X chromosome onto her children.  A man has XY and can pass either chromosome on, so the father determines the child’s gender.  If the father passes the X, it’s a girl and if the father passes the Y, it’s a boy.  The daughter of a hemophiliac will always be a carrier because her father can only pass on an X chromosome with hemophilia on it.  However, sons of a hemophiliac will not have hemophilia because the hemophiliac father will pass on a Y chromosome and his wife will pass on a healthy X chromosome (unless she is a hemophilia carrier).  Therefore, all of Prince Leopold’s daughters would be hemophilia carriers and all of his sons would bear no trace of the disease.  The only way for a female to be a hemophiliac is for her to be the daughter of a carrier and a hemophiliac.  For more detailed information on hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s family, see Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia.

Leopold had some difficulty in finding a bride, but not because of his hemophilia, but rather his mild epilepsy.  Although hemophilia has severe genetic implications, not much was known about it at that time.  Epilepsy was considered a social stigma and it was not unusual for families to hide away epileptic relatives.  Finally, a marriage was arranged by Leopold’s mother and his eldest sister.  On April 27, 1882, Leopold married Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.  Unfortunately, Leopold and Helena’s marriage was short-lived.  In early 1884, Leopold’s doctors recommended that he spend the winter in Cannes, France, which he had done before.  At the time, Helena was expecting her second child.  On March 27, 1884, Leopold slipped and fell on the staircase at Villa Nevada, the private home where he was staying in Cannes.  He injured his knee and hit his head. 31-year-old Leopold died early on March 28, 1884, from a cerebral hemorrhage, his injuries having been exacerbated by his hemophilia.

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany; Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone by Hills & Saunders albumen cabinet card, 1883 NPG Ax5552 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany; Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, by Hills & Saunders, albumen cabinet card, 1883. NPG Ax5552 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Four months after Leopold’s death, Helena gave birth to a son Charles Edward. Charles Edward became Duke of Albany at birth (his father’s title) and in 1900 succeeded his uncle Alfred as the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  During World War I, he was deprived of his British titles for taking up arms against his native country.  After World War II, Charles Edward was imprisoned due to his Nazi sympathies and was heavily fined and almost bankrupted.  Charles Edward’s grandson King Carl XVI Gustaf is the current King of Sweden.

Alice and Charles Edward were brought up by their widowed mother at Claremont House near Esher in Surrey, England.  Alice’s childhood was full of visits to her many relations throughout Europe.  In addition to her over forty first cousins from her father’s side of the family, Alice was also a first cousin of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.  Alice’s maternal aunt, Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, had married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and their daughter Wilhelmina succeeded her father on the Dutch throne at the age of ten in 1890.

 

In November 1903, Alice became engaged to Prince Alexander of Teck, called Alge by his family and friends. Alge was the youngest of four children of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck,  and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge,  a granddaughter of King George III and first cousin of Queen Victoria.   At the time of his marriage, Alge’s sister Mary was the Princess of Wales, having married the future King George V in 1893.  Alice and Alge were married at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on February 10, 1904.  Many royal relations attended the wedding including Alice’s cousin Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.  Alice’s brother escorted her down the aisle where her uncle King Edward VII waited to give her away.  Lady Violet Greville commented, “Unlike most royal brides, this bride looked the picture of happiness.”

 

The couple had three children:

  • Lady May Cambridge, born Princess May of Teck (1906 – 1994), married Henry Abel Smith, had issue
  • Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon, born Prince Rupert of Teck (1907 – 1928), hemophiliac, died from injuries received in a car accident
  • Prince Maurice of Teck (born and died 1910), died in infancy

Princess Alice with her children May and Rupert; Credit – Wikipedia

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.  Princess Alice relinquished her titles of Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess of Saxony which she had inherited from her father and through her grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  However, Alice remained a Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and a Royal Highness in her own right because she was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria in the male line.  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.

After World War I, Alice became one of the most widely traveled members of the royal family, visiting Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Malaya, Singapore, Siam (now Thailand), South Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Uganda, Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, the West Indies, Canada, and the United States.  From 1924-1930, Alge was Governor-General of South Africa and Governor-General of Canada from 1940-1946.   During her time in South Africa and Canada, Alice was very active in charities.  In 1966, Alice published For My Grandchildren, a memoir describing her life, duties, and travels.

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

On April 1, 1928, while they were serving in South Africa, Alge and Alice received the news that their hemophiliac son Rupert had been in a car accident in France.  Rupert had been driving with two friends when the car skidded and crashed into a tree.  One of his friends died due to injuries and the other was only slightly injured.  At first, Rupert also did not seem to be seriously injured.  However, after being in the hospital for several days, he began to hemorrhage from the ear due to a slight fracture of the skull.  The bleeding was arrested and Rupert seemed to be improving, but it did not last.  On April 15, 1928, 20-year-old Rupert died from an injury he probably would have recovered from had he not been a hemophiliac.  Rupert’s funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, but his parents, who were too far away in South Africa, were unable to attend.  King George V, Queen Mary, the Prince of Wales, and other royal family members attended the funeral.  Rupert was buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore in Windsor, England.  Rupert’s death, following the death of his brother Maurice in 1910, meant that the title of Earl of Athlone would become extinct when his father died.

Upon Alge’s retirement as Governor-General of Canada, Alge and Alice took up residence in a grace and favor apartment in Kensington Palace.  Alge died on January 16, 1957, at Kensington Palace 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 was frequently consulted on matters of royal protocol as she was the oldest surviving member of the royal family.  There is a story at the time of Princess Anne’s first marriage in 1973 when Alice refused to ride in the carriage procession to Westminster Abbey saying it was not fitting for a princess of her rank.  She traveled by car instead.  Alice was a familiar sight in the neighborhood around Kensington Palace.  Each Sunday she would walk to the local church, St. Mary Abbots Church, and could frequently be seen at the local shops.  Alice also could be seen riding on London buses.  During Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, Princess Alice proudly wore her Silver Jubilee Medal on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

In 1978, Princess Alice had a fall, hurt her shoulder, and had to be hospitalized for several days.  Although she did recover, this marked the beginning of the deterioration of her health.  Members of the royal family visited her regularly including Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Mother Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, Princess Alice the Duchess of Gloucester, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and various Dutch, Swedish, and German princesses.  The Queen Mother once remarked that she had been kept waiting while Princess Alice “put a little powder on her face and had her hair attended to.”  Alice’s physical condition continued to weaken.  She said that if she could not walk, she would die.  By the end of 1980, she could no longer walk.  Princess Alice of Albany died peacefully in her sleep on January 3, 1981, at Kensington Palace.

Princess Alice’s funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on January 8, 1981.  Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British Royal Family attended along with many other royals including King Olav of Norway, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, former Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and her brother’s son Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Princess Alice was buried beside her husband and son 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.

Recommended books about Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
For My Grandchildren: Some Reminiscences of Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (1966)
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, by Theo Aronson (1981)