The Children of Prince Alfred of Edinburgh

Alfred, Marie, Victoria Melita, Alexandra, and Beatrice

Oct 1, 2009

Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria's son, and Grand Duchess Marie of Russia had five children, including the future Queen Marie of Romania.

The children of Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria’s second son, and Grand Duchess Marie of Russia spent their early life in Great Britain but were mostly raised in Coburg in anticipation of their father becoming the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Their mother in particular wanted to raise them as German as possible, so although they were English royalty they also had strong ties to Germany. The four Edinburgh daughters in particular were some of the most beautiful and bold princesses in Europe and made quite a place for themselves with their marriages into other important royal houses.

Prince Alfred of Edinburgh (1874–1899)

Prince Alfred of Edinburgh had a short, tragic life. He felt isolated from his parents and his siblings at the Coburg court. He made the dynastic mistake of falling in love with a commoner, the Irishwoman Mabel Fitzgerald. He may have even contracted a morganatic marriage with her, which his parents are rumored to have insisted he have annulled. Riddled with venereal disease and depression, he shot himself, dying about a week later. His tragic death caused a breach between his parents, as his father blamed Grand Duchess Marie for the suicide, and their marriage never recovered from this tragedy.

Princess Marie of Edinburgh (1875–1938)

Princess Marie of Edinburgh may be the Edinburgh’s most famous child, as she became internationally famous as the glamorous Queen Marie of Romania. After Grand Duchess Marie prevented her daughter from marrying her cousin, the future King George V, the seventeen-year-old Princess Marie married the future King Ferdinand of Romania. For the first ten years of her marriage she lived in the restrained and isolated court of her husband’s uncle, King Carol I of Romania, but after her husband ascended the throne she blossomed as a bold, artistic, passionately pro-Romanian queen.

Queen Marie of Romania was greatly loved by her people for the love and care she showed them. She even organized medical relief during the First Balkan War. She also was very concerned with forming familial alliances among other Balkan royal families, and married three of her children to other Balkan royals, including the kings of Greece and Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, these marriages were unhappy, but the present royal families of Romania and Yugoslavia are descended from Queen Marie of Romania.

Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh (1876–1936)

Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, called “Ducky,” was the most inflexible and unforgiving but also the most capable and conscientious of the four Edinburgh princesses. Her grandmother Queen Victoria was very supportive of her first marriage to her cousin Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine. Unfortunately, this marriage was very unhappy and the two divorced as soon as Queen Victoria died.

Princess Victoria Melita’s second marriage, to her maternal cousin Grand Duke Kirill of Russia, was happier but also more controversial. The couple initially lived in exile because Tsar Nicholas II disapproved of their marriage. They were later able to return to Russia, but fled again during the revolution in 1917.

Ironically, the descendants of this once-shunned couple are now the pretenders to the Russian imperial throne. After Tsar Nicholas II, his son, and his brother were assassinated, Grand Duke Kirill was next in line for the throne and dynastically became the Tsar. The Romanovs had been overthrown by then, but if they ever come back to power Princess Victoria Melita’s descendants will rule Russia.

Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh (1878–1942)

Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh had a happy, quiet life. She married a fellow German, Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and was able to live happily in the familiar atmosphere of a German principality. Her eldest son Prince Gottfried married Princess Margarita of Greece, a sister of Prince Philip, the present Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elisabeth II of Great Britain.

Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh (1884–1966)

Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh fell in love with Prince Alfonso of Spain, the Duke of Galliera, but this love match was not without its problems. Prince Alfonso, although a grandson of Queen Isabel II of Spain, was a member of the controversial d’Orleans branch of the Spanish royal family. Nevertheless, the head Spanish royals, including Princess Beatrice’s cousin Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain, supported this marriage. The couple married in secret, however, and because Princess Beatrice was a Protestant the government stripped Prince Alfonso of his royal titles and army commission. His royal titles were restored in 1912 and the couple spent most of their life in Seville. Unfortunately, their married life had problems, with Princess Beatrice meddling in the estrangement between King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie. But Princess Beatrice was devoted to Spain, and even insisted on staying during the revolution that deposed the Borbón royals.

Source:

Eilers, Marlene A. Queen Victoria’s Descendants. Falkoping, Sweden: Rosvall Royal Books, 1997.

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