Royal Louise's
The name Louise is as rich a royal name as Victoria and Elizabeth. This article is to show some of the remarkable Louise's in royal history, many of whom are related to the Earl and Countess of Wessex through blood or circumstance. I have already discussed HRH Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel in an article on Louise's namesakes, so I'll not be discussing her in this section.
Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
HRH Princess Louise, later Duchess of Argyll was born on 18 March 1848. She was the sixth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was a talented artist and attended the Kensington National Art Training School when she was 20, a first for a royal princess. Despite her many glowing attributes, Queen Victoria found it difficult to find a suitable husband for her much loved daughter. The Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra) suggested her brother, Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark, but the political climate opposed another marriage into the Danish royal family as it that could annoy Prussia. Louise's eldest sister the Crown Princess of Prussia, suggested Prince Albrecht of Prussia , her husband's cousin. However, he was unwilling to live in England and as Victoria wished to keep her daughter near refused the union. The Queen herself suggested that Louise marry a member of the British nobility, but her son Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), disapproved of this idea.
In 1871 a suitable husband was found; the Marquess of Lorne, heir to the title of Duke of Argyll. Queen Victoria had known the family for years and approved of the proposed marriage. The Marquess was also a Member of Parliament, which pleased the Prince of Wales. The couple were married on March 21, 1871 in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. No children were to come from the union, but it was nevertheless a happy marriage.
In 1878, the Marquess accepted the position of Governor-General of Canada. The couple became the official representation of the crown in Canada and ensured strong monarchist sentiments at the turn of the century. Louise especially was popular in Canada, who came to see her as their princess. A number of places in Canada bare witness to these sentiments till today. Their stay in Canada was only marred by a viceregal sleigh accident in Ottawa, Ontario. Louise was lucky to make a full recovery. The couple officially left Canada in 1883 to return to England. A number of Canadian regiments still honour The Duchess of Argyll in their titles, notably: 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's), The Princess Louise Fusiliers and The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) On 4 April 1900, the 8th Duke of Argyll died, and the Marquess of Lorne, became the 9th Duke of Argyll, and Louise, the Duchess of Argyll. Not long afterwards the Duke died in 1914 from pneumonia. Princess Louise, now a widow, spent World War I rousing Canadian Army units coming to fight in France. She died on December 3, 1939 at Kensington Palace at the age of 91. She requested her body was cremated at Golders Green in North London and her ashes were buried at Royal Cemetery at Frogmore .
Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia
Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia was born at Marmorpalais (Marble Palace) near Potsdam, Germany. She was the third daughter of Field Marshal Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828-1888) and Princess Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (1837-1906). Her father, a nephew of the German Emperor Wilhelm I, distinguished himself as a field commander during the Battle of Metz and the campaigns west of Paris in the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War. On 13 March 1879, Princess Louise Marguerite married the Duke of Connaught at St. George's Chapel Windsor. After their marriage the couple moved into Bagshot Park, Surrey, which had been built by Queen Victoria for her son. Clarence House became their official London residence from 1900. The couple had three children: Margaret (1882), Arthur (1883) and Patricia (1881). The majority of Louise's life was spend accompanying her husband, a career army officer, to Malta, India, South Africa, and finally to Canada, where he was governor general from 1911 to 1916.
The Duchess of Connaught was honoured by her own regiments. In 1916 she became colonel-in-chief of the 199th Canadian (Overseas) Infantry Battalion (The Duchess of Connaught's Own Irish-Canadian Rangers), CEF. In 1885, she became chief of the 64th (8th Brandenburg) Regiment of Infantry "Field Marshal General Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia", Prussian Army. Queen Victoria bestowed the Order of Victoria and Albert (first class) on Louise and appointed her a Lady of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India in March 1879. The Duchess also became a member of the Red Royal Cross in 1883 and was invested as a Dame of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem in in 1888.
The Duchess of Connaught died of influenza and bronchitis at Clarence House. She was buried in the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor. The Duke of Connaught survived her by almost twenty-five yearsLouise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife
Her Royal Highness The Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar was born at Marlborough House. She was eldest daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). Princess Louise of Wales spent much of her childhood at Sandringham House, her parents' country estate in Norfolk. On 27 June 1889 Princess Louise married Alexander Duff, 6th Earl of Fife at the Private Chapel in Buckingham Palace . Two days after the wedding, Queen Victoria created the Earl 1st Duke of Fife and Marquess of Duff in the peerage of the United Kingdom. The couple had three children: Alaistair (stillborn 1890), Alexander (1891) and Maud(1883).
Although the Letters Patent creating this dukedom contained the standard remainder to "male heirs of the body lawfully begotten," it eventually became apparent that the Duke and Duchess of Fife would not have a son. On 24 April 1900 Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent creating a second dukedom of Fife and earldom of MacDuff in the peerage of the United Kingdom with a special remainder in default of a male heir, these peerages (or rather, the 1900 creation of them), would pass to the daughters of the 1st Duke and then to their male descendants. On 9 November 1905 King Edward VII declared Princess Louise the Princess Royal , the highest honor bestowed on a female member of the royal family and thereafter, she was styled "HRH The Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife." At the same time, the King declared that the two daughters of the Princess Royal would have the titular dignity of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and the style of Highness, with precedence immediately after all members of the British Royal Family styled Royal Highness.
In December 1911 the Princess Royal was shipwrecked with her family off the coast of Morocco. Although they escaped unharmed, the Duke of Fife fell ill with pleurisy. He died at Assuan, Egypt in January 1912, and Princess Alexandra succeeded to his dukedom, becoming Duchess of Fife in her own right. Princess Louise of Wales also received the Order of Victoria and Albert in 1885 and the Imperial Order of the Crown of India in 1887. She became a Lady of the Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem (LJStJ) in 1888. In 1929, the Princess Royal became a Lady Grand Gross of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (GCStJ). The Princess Royal became colonel-in-chief of the 7th Dragoon Guards (the Princess Royal's Own) in 1914. She later served as colonel-in-chief of the 4th and 7th Dragoon Guards when it was formed in 1921.
Princess Louise, the Princess Royal died in January 1931, at her home in Portman Square, London and was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle . Her remains were later removed to the Private Chapel, Mar Lodge Mausoleum, Braemar, Aberdeenshire. Lady Louise Windsor's god mother, Alexandria Etherington is a direct descendant of Princess Louise through her youngest daughter, Maud.
Princess Louise Mountbatten
Oddly enough I had the greatest difficulty finding information about Lady Louise Mountbatten. She was the eldest daughter of Princess Victoria, granddaughter of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. She is thus the sister of Princess Andrew, the Duke of Edinburgh's mother and Lord Louis Mountbatten. In 1914 King George V requested that Louis anglicanize his surname due to the Anti-German sentiments within Britain after World War I. Thus the surname of Battenberg was changed to Mountbatten, the King conferred on him the title of Marquess of Milford Haven as he had given up his right to his German titles.
On 3 November 1923 Princess Louise married Gustaf VI Adolph of Sweden. Louise was the second wife of the King of Sweden and the couple did not have any more children. Queen Louise of Sweden is remembered for her calming effect on the King and the influence she had on establishing Swedish neutrality during World War II. Queen Louise died on 7 Mar 1965 in Stockholm, Sweden.