January 16, 1942: Death of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn

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Crown Princess of Sweden, Duke of Connaught and Strathern, Governor General of Canada, King Frederik IX of Denmark, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Arthur, Princess Ingrid of Sweden, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, Princess Margaret of Connaught, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; May 1, 1850 – January 16, 1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He served as the Governor General of Canada, the tenth since Canadian Confederation and the only British Prince to do so. In 1910 he was appointed Grand Prior of the Order of St John and held this position until 1939.

Arthur was educated by private tutors before entering the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich at 16 years old. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the British Army, where he served for some 40 years, seeing service in various parts of the British Empire.

On his mother’s birthday (May, 24) in 1874, Arthur was created a royal peer, being titled as the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex. Some years later, Arthur came into the direct line of succession to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in the German Empire upon the death in 1899 of his nephew, Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, the only son of his elder brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. He decided, however, to renounce his own and his son’s succession rights to the duchy, which then passed to his other nephew, Prince Charles Edward, the posthumous son of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.

At St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, on March 13, 1879, Arthur married Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, the daughter of Prince Friedrich Charles of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau. Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia was a great-niece of the German Emperor, Arthur’s godfather, Wilhelm I.

The couple had three children: Princess Margaret Victoria Charlotte Augusta Norah (born January 15, 1882), Prince Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert (born January 13, 1883), and Princess Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth (born March 17, 1886), who were all raised at the Connaughts’ country home, Bagshot Park, in Surrey, and after 1900 at Clarence House, the Connaughts’ London residence.

Through his children’s marriages, Arthur became the father-in-law of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden; Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife; and Sir Alexander Ramsay. Arthur’s first two children predeceased him; Margaret while pregnant with his sixth grandchild. For many years, Arthur maintained a liaison with Leonie, Lady Leslie, sister of Jennie Churchill, while still remaining devoted to his wife.

In 1900 he was appointed as Commander in Chief of the British Army in Ireland, which he regretted; his preference being to join the campaign against the Boers in South Africa. In 1911, he was appointed as Governor General of Canada, replacing the Earl Grey as viceroy. He occupied this post until he was succeeded by the Duke of Devonshire in 1916. He acted as the King’s, and thus the Canadian Commander-in-Chief’s, representative through the first years of the First World War.

The Duke of Connaught with his granddaughter Princess Ingrid of Sweden

The Duke of Connaught with his granddaughter Princess Ingrid and her husband the future King Frederik IX of Denmark. They are the parents of Denmark’s current monarch, Queen Margrethe II

After the end of his viceregal tenure, Arthur returned to the United Kingdom and there, as well as in India, performed various royal duties, while also again taking up military duties. Though he retired from public life in 1928, he continued to make his presence known in the army well into the Second World War, before his death in 1942. He was Queen Victoria’s last surviving son.

Christening of future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. In the back on the far left is HRH the Duke of Connaught creating a link to history.

The life of Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Queen Consort of Denmark

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Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, Frederick-Francis III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchess, Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, King Christian IX of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark, King Frederik IX of Denmark, King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Knud of Denmark, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (December 24, 1879 –December 28, 1952) was Queen of Denmark as the spouse of King Christian X. She was also Queen of Iceland (where the name was officially Alexandría) from December 1, 1918 to June 17, 1944.

Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Family

Alexandrine was born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in the city of Schwerin, Germany. Her father was Friedrich-Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; her mother was Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, the second of the seven children of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and his wife, Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna (born Princess Cecilie of Baden). Alexandrine was also a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia

Duchess Alexandrine’s father, Friedrich-Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Duchess Alexandrine’s mother, Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia

She was a paternal first cousin of Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, the wife of Felix Yusupov, one of the murderers of Rasputin.

Cecilie, Alexandrine and Friedrich-Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with their mother Grand Duchess Anastasia.

Alexandrine’s only brother was Friedrich-Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1882-1945), while her only sister was Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1886-1954) wife of German Crown Prince Wilhelm, eldest son of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Marriage and issue

Duchess Alexandrine married Prince Christian of Denmark on April 26, 1898, in Cannes, France, when she was 18 years old. They had two children:

* Prince Frederik (1899–1972), later King Frederik IX of Denmark; married Princess Ingrid of Sweden.
* Prince Knud (1900–1976), later Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark; married Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark.

In 1902, the couple were given Marselisborg Palace, and the garden was to become one of her greatest interests. Alexandrine became crown princess in 1906 with the death of King Christian IX of Denmark and in 1912 she became Queen Consort of Denmark upon the death of King Frederik VIII and the accession of Alexandrine’s husband as King Christian X. As Queen, Alexandrine is not considered to have played any political role, but is described as being a loyal support to her spouse.

She was interested in music, and acted as the protector of the musical societies Musikforeningen i København and Den danske Richard Wagnerforening. She was known for her needlework, which she sold for charitable purposes. After the death of her mother-in-law, Louise of Sweden in 1926, she succeeded her as the official protector of the various charity organisations founded by Louise. She enjoyed golf and photography. During World War I, she founded Dronningens Centralkomité af 1914 (“The Queen’s Central Committee of 1914”) to the support of poor families. She survived the 1918 flu pandemic.

Prince Christian and Princess Alexandrine of Denmark with their eldest son Prince Frederik.

The couple was given great popularity as national symbols during the World War II occupation, which was demonstrated during a tour through the country in 1946. Before the occupation, she and her daughter-in-law were engaged in mobilising the Danish women. Her rejection of General Kaupisch on April 9, 1940 became a symbol for her loyalty toward Denmark before her birth country Germany.

When the General of the occupation forces first asked for an audience with the monarch, Christian was persuaded to receive him by his daughter-in-law as he would any other, which was supported by Alexandrine. He asked to do so alone, but Alexandrine told him she would interrupt them. When the General was about to leave, she came in; and when he greeted her, she said: “General, this is not the circumstance in which I expected to greet a countryman.”

It was reported, that although Alexandrine was seen as shy and disliked official ceremonies, she had a “sharp” intelligence, and she was, together with her daughter-in-law, Ingrid of Sweden, a true support of the monarch and a driving force for the resistance toward the occupation within the royal house.

It was also reported, that in contrast to the monarch himself and the Crown Prince, the Queen and the Crown Princess never lost their calm when the nation was attacked. As she was not the Head of the Royal House, she could show herself in public more than her spouse, who did not wish to show support to the occupation by being seen in public, and she used this to engage in various organisations for social relief to ease the difficulties caused by the occupation. Kaj Munk is quoted to describe the public appreciation of her during World War II with his comment: “Protect our Queen, the only German we would like to keep!”

King Christian X of Denmark with Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany

In 1947, she was widowed; on his death in Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, in 1947, Christian X was interred along other members of the Danish royal family in Roskilde Cathedral near Copenhagen. Their son succeeded as King Frederik IX of Denmark. Queen Alexandrine became the first queen dowager of Denmark to opt not to use that title. Instead she was known as Her Majesty Queen Alexandrine of Denmark. She was the paternal grandmother of the current reigning Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II.

Queen Alexandrine died in Copenhagen on December 28, 1952 and is interred next to her husband in Roskilde Cathedral.