Prince Maurice of Battenberg

Prince Maurice of Battenberg

Prince Maurice of Battenberg
Born 3 October 1891
Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire
Died 27 October 1914(1914-10-27) (aged 23)
Burial Ypres, Belgium
Full name
Maurice Victor Donald
Family Battenberg
Father Prince Henry of Battenberg
Mother Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom
Occupation Military (King's Royal Rifle Corps)

Prince Maurice of Battenberg, KCVO, (Maurice Victor Donald; 3 October 1891 – 27 October 1914) was a member of the Hessian princely Battenberg family and the extended British Royal Family, the youngest grandchild of Queen Victoria. He was known as Prince Maurice of Battenberg throughout his life, since he died before the British Royal Family relinquished their German titles during World War I and the Battenbergs changed their name to Mountbatten.

Early life

Prince Maurice was born on 3 October 1891. He was given the name Maurice after his father Prince Henry of Battenberg and the great-grandfather, Count Maurice von Hauke, Victor after his grandmother the Queen, and Donald in honour of Scotland, as he was born at Balmoral Castle. His father was Prince Henry of Battenberg, the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Julie Therese née Countess of Hauke. His mother was Princess Henry of Battenberg (née The Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom), the fifth daughter and the youngest child of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort.

As he was the child of a morganatic marriage, Prince Henry of Battenberg took his style of Prince of Battenberg from his mother, Countess Julia Hauke who was created Princess of Battenberg in her own right. As such, Maurice was styled as His Serene Highness Prince Maurice of Battenberg from birth. In the United Kingdom, he was styled His Highness Prince Maurice of Battenberg under a Royal Warrant passed by Queen Victoria in 1886.[1]

The youngest of his four siblings, Maurice most resembled his father, who died when the Prince was only four, the same age his mother was when her own father died. He was his mother's favourite out of his brothers. He was educated at Lockers Park Prep School in Hertfordshire.

His elder sister Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, married Alfonso XIII of Spain and was Queen Consort of Spain between 1906 and 1931.

Later life

Maurice attended Wellington College and was a member of Benson House. The young Prince served in World War I as a lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and was killed in service in the Ypres Salient in 1914. He is buried in Ypres Town Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery.[2] A memorial tablet to him and his brother Leopold is in Winchester Cathedral.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

Honours

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25655. p. 6305. 14 December 1886.
  2. ↑ CWGC: Prince Maurice of Battenberg
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28505. p. 4595. 19 June 1911.
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