The Children of Princess Beatrice of Battenberg
Prince Alexander, Leopold,and Maurice, and Princess Victoria Eugenie
Princess Beatrice was her mother Queen Victoria’s personal helper, and the Queen relied on her to constantly be with her. Therefore, Princess Beatrice was only allowed to marry the German Prince Henry of Battenberg if he agreed to move to England and live at court as well. The four children of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg grew up in the English court and were certainly more English than they were German. Although thoroughly English the family still had a German name, which they anglicized to Mountbatten amidst anti-German sentiments during World War I.
The “Battenberg kids” were a great source of comfort to the widowed Queen Victoria, and were allowed to run around the castle and burst in on their grandmother whenever they liked. The children were also greatly adored by their parents, particularly their father who had nothing better to do than see to their education. Sadly, Princess Beatrice was a carrier of the blood disease hemophilia, which she passed on to two of her sons and to her daughter as a carrier. Hemophilia had particularly tragic consequences for Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, who as Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain passed this disease on to the Spanish royal family.
Prince Alexander of Battenberg, Marquess of Carisbrooke (1886–1960)
Married (1917) Lady Irene Denison
Child: Lady Iris Mountbatten
Prince Alexander of Battenberg, also known as “Drino,” was named after a paternal uncle. When the family gave up their German titles after the war, he was made the Marquess of Carisbroke, in honor of Carisbroke Castle that his father had been governor of. He served in the Royal Navy and the Grenadier Guards during World War I and happily survived the war. He later became a banker.
Alexander’s marriage to Lady Irene Denison produced only a daughter who could not inherit her father’s Marquessate.
Princess Victoria Eugenie Ena of Battenberg, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain (1887–1969)
Married (1906) King Alfonso XIII of Spain
Children: Alfonso, Jaime, Beatriz, Maria Cristina, Juan, Gonzalo
Princess Victoria Eugenie was named after two important royal women, her grandmother Queen Victoria and her godmother Empress Eugenie of France. But she was usually known as Ena in honor of her Scottish birthplace. One of Queen Victoria’s prettiest granddaughters, she became engaged to the young King Alfonso XIII of Spain after they had known each other for only five days. After she converted to Catholicism, the couple married in the Church of San Jeronimo in Madrid. Tragically, the newlyweds were almost assassinated by a bomb on the way back to the palace, a bad beginning to what proved to be a bad marriage.
King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain were not well-suited and had a very unhappy marriage that ended in estrangement. Alfonso XIII was unfaithful to his wife and blamed her for the hemophilia that she passed on to their heir. She never fully settled into life in Spain and also blamed herself for the bad health of their children. Of their four sons, only the third was healthy. Their first and last were hemophiliacs, and the second was rendered a deaf-mute after a childhood illness. This difficulty in having a healthy heir destabilized the Spanish royal family and helped the revolutionaries, who finally overthrew the Spanish monarchy in 1931.
After the Spanish royal family was deposed, the former King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain separated permanently, with Ena finally dying in Switzerland. The Spanish royal family was finally brought back to power under King Juan Carlos, a grandson of Queen Victoria Eugenie through her third son Prince Juan.
Prince Leopold of Battenberg (1889–1922)
Prince Leopold of Battenberg was named after his maternal uncle Prince Leopold, and like his uncle had hemophilia. He fought for the Allies during World War I, but luckily survived the war. He then studied at Magdalen College. He was reputedly a very talented musician, particularly with the violin. He died young during an operation, probably due to complications involving his hemophilia.
Prince Maurice of Battenberg (1891–1914)
Prince Maurice of Battenberg was Queen Victoria’s fortieth and last grandchild. He also had hemophilia. Like his two brothers, he fought for the Allies during World War I. He died on the Belgian front lines in 1914.
Source:
Eilers, Marlene A. Queen Victoria’s Descendants. Falkoping, Sweden: Rosvall Royal Books, 1997.
Packard, Jerrold M. Victoria’s Daughters. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.
Princess Beatrice of Battenberg with Her Children
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Prince Alexander, Marquess of Carisbroke
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Lady Iris Mountbatten
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Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain
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Prince Maurice of Battenberg
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