HRH The Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg
After Prince Albert's death, Beatrice, as the youngest child and nicknamed 'Baby', resigned herself to the fate of being brought up to stay close to her widowed Mother and, eventually, be her secretary. However, there was still talk of possible husbands, including the Prince Imperial of the French Empire who died in Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. Beatrice, however, fell in love with her nephew-in-law, Henry of Battenberg. As Beatrice was required by the Royal Marriages Act to gain her Mother's permission to marry, Victoria nevertheless took the opportunity of insisting they live near her and that Beatrice continue as her secretary.
Beatrice and Henry had four children but, after 10 years of marriage, Henry died of malaria whilst fighting in the Anglo-Asante War. Beatrice therefore continued as her Mother's secretary and edited her journals when Victoria passed away.
Beatrice died in 1944 at the age of 87, outliving all her siblings, two of her children, and several nieces and nephews including King George V and Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Alexander
Beatrice's children allegedly became Queen Victoria's favourites and Drino, as he was known, felt closer to his Grandmother than to his distant Mother. After leaving college, he appears to have been a bit of a military butterfly, having served in all three major services - in order, Navy, Army and Air Force - seemingly more to collect ranks, medals and orders of chivalry than forging a brilliant career. This was in great contrast to his simple, small-scale wedding to Lady Irene Denison on 19th July 1917, only days after having to relinquish his German princely title and coveted rank of Highness and rather resentfully becoming Marquis of Carisbrooke in the November.
Having no allowance, Drino went into commerce after the Great War and, amongst other posts, became “an adviser to buyers of decorative fabrics” at an Oxford Street drapery store. He later became a director of Lever Brothers and several other prominent corporations. Known for his flamboyance, it is heavily rumoured that he was homosexual and that he had a male lover in later life. Irene was thanked by The King and Queen for her perseverance and for her charitable work.
Drino worked in 'intelligence' for the RAF during World War Two and died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1960 as the last surviving grandson of Queen Victoria. He and Irene did have a child, Lady Iris Mountbatten, an actress, model and TV presenter. As such, the title of Marquis of Carisbrooke, though, became extinct.
Technically born a German prince, Alexander would take on his Father's Battenberg/Hesse Coat of Arms, and so would and did his two brothers. However, these were quartered with his Mother's Arms, although Crests and Cornet/Crown were still inherited from his Father. As with Princess Helena's children, Beatrice's Coat of Arms took first place in the Quarterings, even though neither Helena nor Beatrice were even remotely heraldic heiresses. It was simply an acknowledgement that they were members of the British Royal Family.
The illustrations above show a bookplate of Alexander's (and his brothers') pre-1917 Arms and Alexander's post-1917 Coat of Arms as Marquis. The Battenberg princely Crown was changed for a British Coronet which is shown as that of a grandchild of a sovereign through the female line, with alternating Fleurs-de-Lys and Strawberry Leaves. However, it is not clear whether Alexander was entitled to this Coronet, rather than that of an ordinary marquis, as Letters Patent would be required, especially nowadays. However, as we saw in a previous Blog, Alexander did wear the physical version of this Coronet at the Coronation of King George VI and lent it to the Earl of Harewood, son of HRH The Princess Mary, Princess Royal, in 1953.
Both Alexander and Leopold changed their Supporters slightly with the two gold Lions now being guardant (looking out) rather than looking at each other over the Shield. No reason seems to be given but the change is confirmed by Burke's Peerage.
Victoria Eugenia (Ena)
Her story and various Coats of Arms have been covered previously - Blog One and Blog Two.
Leopold
In 1909 he was commissioned in a territorial force unit and in 1912 in the regular army. He saw active service during the First World War but was put on half-pay early in 1918 due to his health. (There is no particular evidence that Leopold had hemophilia, but this action would certainly lead one to come to that conclusion.) However, Leopold didn't resign his commission until 1920.
During the First World War he relinquished his German titles along with the rest of the Royal Family and eventually became Lord Leopold Mountbatten.
After all his war service in the military, Leopold died at the age of 32 during a hip operation.
Before 1917, Leopold's Arms were the same as his brothers. They continued pretty much the same afterwards as noted above, but for difference and according to the English system, Leopold's Arms carried a Crescent for a second son. The two elder, surviving brothers were further able to difference their Arms by the Orders they had received. Alexander had the Order of the Bath and Leopold the Royal Victorian Order, the respective Ribbands of which encircled their Shields.
Maurice
The Prince, as he still was, was killed in action at Zonnebeke, in the Ypres Salient on 27 October 1914. The war diary of the 1st battalion for that day records: ‘During the advance eastwards from the ridge the battalion came under terrific shell fire as well as rifle fire… Poor [Prince] Maurice was killed outright just on top of the ridge’ (WO 95/1358/3).
Princess Beatrice declined Lord Kitchener’s offer to have Maurice's body returned to England for burial and so he lies with his men in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in Ypres.
Maurice's Coat of Arms remains the version before the changes to the Royal Family in 1917 as a consequence of the Great War as he did not live long enough to have to relinquish the German titles he had inherited. The generic Shield of all three brothers is shown on a memorial plaque to Leopold and Maurice in Winchester Cathedral as shown below.