| Prince Leopold | |
|---|---|
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| Successor | Prince Charles Edward |
| Spouse | Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont |
| Issue | |
| Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
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| Full name | |
| Leopold George Duncan Albert | |
| House | House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| Father | Albert, Prince Consort |
| Mother | Queen Victoria |
| Born | 7 April 1853 Buckingham Palace, London |
| Died | 28 March 1884 (aged 30) Cannes |
| Burial | St George's Chapel, Windsor |
The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (Leopold George Duncan Albert; 7 April 1853 – 28 March 1884) was the eighth child and fourth son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow. He had haemophilia, which led to his death at age 30.
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Leopold was born on 7 April 1853 at Buckingham Palace, London. During labour, Queen Victoria chose to use chloroform and thus sanctioned the use of anesthesia in childbirth, recently developed by Professor James Young Simpson. The chloroform was administered by Dr. John Snow.[1] As a son of the British sovereign, the newborn was styled His Royal Highness The Prince Leopold at birth. His parents named him Leopold after his grand-uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium.
He was baptised in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace on 28 June 1853 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Bird Sumner. His godparents were his first cousin once removed, King George V of Hanover; his fourth cousin once removed, Princess William of Prussia; his first cousin once removed, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge; and his maternal uncle by marriage, Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
Leopold inherited the disease haemophilia from his mother, Queen Victoria, and was a delicate child. Evidence exists that Leopold also suffered mildly from epilepsy, like his grand-nephew Prince John of the United Kingdom.
In 1872, Prince Leopold, entered Christ Church at Oxford University where he studied a variety of subjects and became president of the Oxford University Chess Club. He left the university with an honorary doctorate in civil law (DCL) in 1876. Prince Leopold travelled in Europe. In 1880, he toured Canada and the United States with his sister, Princess Louise, whose husband John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne was the Governor General of Canada. Incapable of pursuing a military career because of his illness, Prince Leopold instead became a patron of the arts and literature, and served as an unofficial secretary to his mother. Later he pursued vice-regal appointments in both Canada and Australia, but was rejected in part due to his health problems.
Prince Leopold was created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow on 24 May 1881.[2]
Prince Leopold, stifled by the desire of his mother, Queen Victoria, to keep him at home, saw marriage as his only hope of independence. Due to his haemophilia, he had difficulty finding a wife. Heiress Daisy Maynard was one of the women he considered as a possible bride. He was acquainted with Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford for whom Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and was godfather of Alice's second son, who was named for him. It has been suggested that he considered marrying her, though others suggest that he preferred her sister Edith.
Leopold also considered his second cousin Princess Frederica of Hanover for a bride; they instead became lifelong friends and confidantes.[3] Other brides he pursued included Victoria of Baden and Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.[3]
After rejection from these women, Victoria stepped in to bar what she saw as unsuitable possibilities. Insisting that the children of British monarchs should marry into other reigning Protestant families, Victoria suggested a meeting with Princess Helene Friederike, the daughter of Georg Viktor, reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont. On 27 April 1882, Leopold and Helena were married, at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Leopold and Helena enjoyed a happy (although brief) marriage. In 1883, Leopold became a father when his wife gave birth to a daughter, Alice. He died shortly before the birth of his son, Charles Edward.
Prince Leopold had haemophilia, diagnosed in childhood and in early years had various physicians in permanent attendance, including John Wickham Legg. In February 1884, Leopold went to Cannes on doctor's orders: joint pain is a common symptom of haemophilia and the winter climate in England was always difficult for him. His wife, pregnant at the time, stayed home but urged him to go. On 27 March, at his Cannes residence, the 'Villa Nevada', he slipped and fell, injuring his knee. This aggravated his joint pains, and he was given a large dose of morphine. He died in the early hours of the next morning, apparently from the effects of the morphine and the claret he drank at supper. He was buried in the Albert Memorial Chapel at Windsor. His posthumous son, Prince Charles Edward, succeeded him as 2nd Duke of Albany upon birth four months later.
Having died six years after his older sister Alice, he was the second of Queen Victoria's children to die. His mother outlived him by 17 years, by which time she had outlived a third child, Alfred.[4]
In 1900, Charles Edward succeeded his uncle Alfred as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
His passing was lamented by the Scottish "poet and tragedian" William McGonagall in the poem "The Death of Prince Leopold".
Through Charles Edward, Leopold is the great-grandfather of Carl XVI Gustaf, the current King of Sweden.
The haemophilia gene is carried on the X chromosome, and is normally passed through female descent, as few haemophiliac men survive to beget children. Any daughter of a haemophiliac is a carrier of the gene. Leopold's daughter Alice inherited the haemophilia gene, and passed it to her son Rupert - one of the few known cases of haemophilia inherited through a male ancestor.
In 1856, at the age of three, Prince Leopold was granted a personal coat of arms — the arms of the kingdom, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony (representing his father), and all differenced by a label argent of three points, the first and third bearing hearts gules, and the second a cross gules.[6]
| Image | Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Alice of Albany | 25 February 1883 | 3 January 1981 | later HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (sister-in-law to Queen Mary). Last grandchild of Queen Victoria to die. | |
| Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany | 19 July 1884 | 6 March 1954 | Born four months after his father's death; known as 'Charlie'; Leopold Charles Edward George Albert; later reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha |
In the romantic comedy film, Kate & Leopold, the latter is a British Duke who goes to New York. He also holds the title Duke of Albany. However, his family surname is Mountbatten, a surname which only entered the royal family through the husband of the present queen. However, it was first borne by Leopold's niece. Bizarrely, the Leopold character is credited with having invented the passenger lift, and having a butler called Otis. Leopold is also frequently mentioned in stories based on Alice in Wonderland, such as the Looking Glass Wars trilogy.
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Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 7 April 1853 Died: 28 March 1884 |
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| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by New Creation |
Duke of Albany 1st Duke, 7th creation 1881–1884 |
Succeeded by Prince Charles Edward |
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