Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (Louise Margaret Alexandra Victoria Agnes; later Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn; 25 July 1860 – 14 March 1917) was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and of the British royal family. She served as the viceregal consort when her husband, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, served as the governor general of Canada from 1911 to 1916.

Princess Louise Margaret
Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn
Viceregal consort of Canada
Term	13 October 1911 – 11 November 1916
Monarch	George V
Born	(1860-07-25)25 July 1860 Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	14 March 1917(1917-03-14) (aged 56) Clarence House, London
Burial	19 March 1917 St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle 23 October 1928 Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore
Spouse	Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn ​ ( m. 1879)
Issue	Margareta, Crown Princess of Sweden Prince Arthur Princess Patricia
Full name English: Louise Margaret Alexandra Victoria Agnes German: Luise Margarete Alexandra Viktoria Agnes
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia
Mother	Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau

Early life

Princess Luise Margarete was born at Marmorpalais (Marble Palace) near Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia. Her father was Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828–1885), the son of Karl of Prussia (1801–1883) and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1808–1877). Her mother was Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt (1837–1906), daughter of Leopold IV of Anhalt-Dessau. 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. Her father was a double cousin of the German Emperor Friedrich III, the husband of her sister-in-law, Victoria, Princess Royal.

Marriage

See also: Wedding dress of Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

On 13 March 1879, Princess Luise Margarete married Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn at St. George's Chapel Windsor.[1] Prince Arthur was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The couple received a great number of expensive gifts; the Queen's gift consisted of a diamond tiara, a pearl and diamond pendant.[1] Many members of England and Germany's royal families attended; these included the Prince and Princess of Wales.[1] After her marriage, Princess Louise was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn and her name was Anglicised as Louise Margaret.

Duchess of Connaught

Louise, Duchess of Connaught, John Singer Sargent, 1908

The Duchess of Connaught spent the first twenty years of her marriage accompanying her husband on his various deployments throughout the British Empire. The Duke and Duchess of Connaught acquired Bagshot Park in Surrey as their country home and after 1900 used Clarence House as their London residence. She accompanied her husband to Canada in 1911, when he began his term as governor-general. 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.

Death and legacy

The Duchess of Connaught died of influenza and bronchitis at Clarence House. She became the first member of the British royal family to be cremated. This was done at Golders Green Crematorium. The procedure of burying ashes in an urn was still unfamiliar at the time, and her urn was transported in an ordinary coffin during the funeral ceremonies. Her ashes were eventually buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. The Duke of Connaught survived her by almost twenty-five years.

The maternity hospital adjacent to the Cambridge Military Hospital at Aldershot was named in her honour as the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 25 July 1860 – 13 March 1879: Her Royal Highness Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia
• 13 March 1879 – 14 March 1917: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn

Honours

• CI: Companion of the Crown of India, March 1879
• VA: Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, 1st Class, 1893
• DStJ: Lady of Justice of St. John, 1888
• RRC: Member of the Royal Red Cross, 1883
•  Empire of Japan: Grand Cordon of the Precious Crown, 8 May 1890[2]

Arms

Issue

Image	Name	Birth	Death	Notes
	Princess Margaret of Connaught	15 January 1882	1 May 1920	married, 15 June 1905, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden; had issue
	Prince Arthur of Connaught	13 January 1883	12 September 1938	married, 15 October 1913, Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife; had issue
	Princess Patricia of Connaught	17 March 1886	12 January 1974	married, 27 February 1919, Captain Sir Alexander Ramsay, renouncing her title and becoming Lady Patricia Ramsay; had issue

Ancestry

Ancestors of Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

8. Frederick William III of Prussia 4. Prince Charles of Prussia 9. Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 2. Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia 10. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 5. Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 11. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia 1. Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia 12. Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau 6. Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt 13. Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Homburg 3. Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau 14. Prince Louis Charles of Prussia 7. Princess Frederica of Prussia 15. Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

References

1. "Royal Marriage Bells" (PDF), The New York Times, London, 13 March 1879
2. 刑部芳則 (2017). 明治時代の勲章外交儀礼 (PDF) (in Japanese). 明治聖徳記念学会紀要. p. 157.

Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia House of Hohenzollern Born: 25 July 1860 Died: 14 March 1917
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Countess Grey	Viceregal Consort of Canada 1911–1916	Succeeded by The Duchess of Devonshire