| Princess Patricia | |
|---|---|
| Princess Patricia, photographed by W & D Downey | |
| Spouse | Sir Alexander Ramsay |
| Issue | |
| Alexander Ramsay of Mar | |
| Full name | |
| Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth | |
| House | House of Windsor House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| Father | Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught |
| Mother | Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia |
| Born | 17 March 1886 Buckingham Palace, London |
| Died | 12 January 1974 (aged 87) Windlesham, Surrey |
| Burial | Frogmore, London |
Princess Patricia of Connaught (Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth; later Lady Patricia Ramsay; 17 March 1886 – 12 January 1974) was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She relinquished her title of a British princess and the style of Her Royal Highness upon her marriage to the commoner Alexander Ramsay.
A Canadian Forces infantry regiment, the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was named in her honour.
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Princess Patricia — "Patsy" to family and friends — was born on 17 March 1886, St Patrick's Day, at Buckingham Palace in London. Her father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her mother was Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. She had two elder siblings, Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Margaret of Connaught, later Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden. She was christened Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth at Bagshot Park on 1 May 1886 and her godparents were: Queen Victoria (her paternal grandmother); the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (her paternal granduncle, who was represented by her paternal uncle Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein); the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg (her maternal aunt); Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (her cousin, for whom the German Ambassador, Count Hatzfeldt, stood proxy); Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (her paternal aunt); and Prince Albert of Prussia (her cousin, for whom her maternal uncle the Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg stood proxy).[1] She was named Victoria after Queen Victoria; Patricia, after Saint Patrick, the saint of her birthday; and Helena, in honour of her father's sister.
Princess Patricia travelled extensively in her early years. Her father, the Duke of Connaught, was posted to India with the army, and the young Princess spent two years living there. Connaught Place, the central business locus of New Delhi, is named for the Duke. In 1911, the Duke was appointed Governor General of Canada. Princess Patricia accompanied her parents to Canada, and she became popular there.
She was named Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on 22 February 1918 and held that appointment until her death. The regiment was named after her. Princess Patricia personally designed the badge and colours for the regiment to take overseas to France. As the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, she played an active role until her death. She was succeeded in 1974 by her cousin and goddaughter Patricia (the Rt. Hon. Lady Brabourne), who became the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who asked that the men and women of her regiment discount her titles and refer to her in honour of her predecessor as Lady Patricia.
The question of Patricia's marriage was a hot topic of conversation in Edwardian times. She was matched with various foreign royals, including the King of Spain and the future King of Portugal; the future Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz[2] and Grand Duke Michael of Russia, younger brother of Tsar Nicholas II.
In the end, however, Patricia chose a commoner rather than a husband of royal blood. She married naval Commander (later Admiral) The Hon. Alexander Ramsay (29 May 1881 – 8 October 1972), one of her father's aides de camp, and third son of the Earl of Dalhousie. She was married at Westminster Abbey on 27 February 1919. On her wedding day, Princess Patricia of Connaught voluntarily relinquished the style of Royal Highness and the title of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and assumed the style of Lady Patricia Ramsay with precedence immediately before the Marchionesses of England.
Cdr Alexander Ramsay and Lady Patricia Ramsay had one child:
Despite her relinquishment of her royal title, Lady Patricia remained a member of the British Royal Family, remained in the line of succession, and attended all major royal events including weddings, funerals, and the coronations of George VI and Elizabeth II in 1937 and 1953 respectively.
Lady Patricia was an accomplished artist specializing in watercolours, in 1959 she was made an honorary member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. Much of her work was inspired by her travel in tropical countries. Her style was influenced by Gauguin and Van Gogh, because she had studied under A.S. Hartrick who had known the artists. She died at Ribsden Holt, Windlesham, Surrey, before her 88th birthday and a year and a half after her husband. At the time of her death, she was the younger of only two surviving female grandchildren of Queen Victoria; the other one being Princess Alice, who lived to the age of 97. Lady Patricia Ramsay and Admiral Alexander Ramsay are buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, directly behind the Royal Mausoleum of her grandparents Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, in Windsor Great Park.
Upon her marriage in 1919, Lady Patricia was granted arms as a male-line grandchild of a British monarch. Her arms are those of the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom with a label for difference, blazoned thus: Quarterly (by quarters):
The whole differenced by a Label of five points Argent, first and fifth with a cross gules, the others fleurs-de-lys azure.[3]
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