Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont
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| Princess Helena | |
|---|---|
| Duchess of Albany | |
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| Spouse | Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany |
| Issue | |
| Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone Charles, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
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| Full name | |
| Helena Frederica Augusta | |
| Titles and styles | |
| HRH The Duchess of Albany HSH Princess Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont |
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| Royal house | House of Windsor House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha House of Waldeck and Pyrmont |
| Father | George Victor of Waldeck-Pyrmont |
| Mother | Helene Wilhelmine of Nassau-Weilburg |
| Born | 17 February 1861 Arolsen, Germany |
| Died | 1 September 1922 (aged 61) Tyrol, Austria |
Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Helena Frederica Augusta; later Duchess of Albany; 17 February 1861 – 1 September 1922) was the daughter of George Victor of Waldeck-Pyrmont and his wife Helene Wilhelmine of Nassau-Weilburg, who became a member of the British Royal Family by marriage.
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[edit] Family
She was born in Arolsen, capital of Waldeck principality, in Germany. She was the sister of Friedrich, last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont; Marie, the first wife of William II of Württemberg; and of Queen Emma of the Netherlands (mother of Queen Wilhelmina and great-grandmother of Beatrix of the Netherlands).
Her maternal grandparents were Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau and his second wife Pauline of Württemberg. Pauline was a daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg and his wife Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Paul was a son Frederick I of Württemberg and his wife Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Augusta was the eldest daughter of Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales.
[edit] Marriage
Along with Emma and a third sister, Pauline, Helena was considered as a second wife for William III of the Netherlands. She later met with Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, youngest son of Queen Victoria upon suggestion from his mother. The two became engaged in November of 1881. Leopold was actually a third cousin of Helena's grandmother Pauline of Württemberg, as they were both great, great grandchildren of Frederick Prince of Wales. This also meant that Helena was in the line of succession to the British throne, but far down the list compared to Leopold. The "generational disparity" between Leopold and Helena can be attributed to the late age at which George III's sons starting producing legitimate children.
On 27 April 1882 in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, she married her third cousin twice removed HRH Prince Leopold George Duncan Albert of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow[1]. Helena's title was now Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Albany. After their wedding, Leopold and Helena resided at Claremont House. The couple had a brief, but happy marriage, ending in Leopold's death from a fall in Cannes, France, in March of 1884. At the time of Leopold's death, Helena was pregnant with their second child.
[edit] Personality and Social Work
According to the memoirs of Helena's daughter, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, Helena was very intelligent, had an extremely strong sense of duty and a genuine love of welfare work. Queen Victoria, initially worried that Helena may turn out to be a stereotypically remote German princess, remarked in a letter to her eldest daughter Vicky (German Empress, Queen of Prussia and Princess Royal) that she was pleased Helena liked 'to go among the people.' The Queen soon came to regard her young daughter-in-law with great respect and affection, notwithstanding her initial concerns upon hearing from the match-making Vicky that Helena was an "intellectual", being unusually well-educated for a princess. For example, before her marriage, Helena's father had made her superintendent of the infant schools in the principality and in this position the princess had devised the educational curriculum for the pupils. Helena particularly enjoyed solving mathematical problems and reading philosophy: during their tragically brief marriage, Prince Leopold proudly introduced his wife to the circle of academics he'd befriended at Oxford University. These friendships Helena maintained for the rest of her life.
During her widowhood, Helena became the founder of the Deptford Fund, an organization originally dedicated to helping find alternative work for women and girls employed in the dangerous cattle slaughter business. The Deptford Fund is still in existence today. Helena was also involved in charities for hospitals and those dedicated to ending human trafficking. During WWI she organised much of her charity work along with that of her sister-in-law Princess Beatrice, in order to avoid the not-uncommon problem of conflicting and occasionally misguided royal war-work projects.
[edit] Later life
After Leopold's death, Helena and her two children, Alice and Charles Edward, continued to reside at Claremont House. After the death of her nephew, Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1900, Helena's son, Charles Edward was selected as the new heir of the duchy. Helena and both of her children then moved to Coburg, Germany. Helena returned to Britain in later life.
In 1901, it was speculated that she would marry Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery[2]
Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont died on 1 September 1922 of a heart attack in Hinterriss in the Tyrol, in Austria, while visiting her son.
Through her son Charles Edward, Helena is the great-grandmother of Carl XVI Gustav, the current king of Sweden.
[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms
[edit] Titles and styles
- 17 February 1861 – 27 April 1882: Her Serene Highness Princess Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont
- 27 April 1882 – 1 September 1922: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Albany
[edit] Honours
CI: Companion of the Order of the Star of India
VA: Lady of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
RRC: Member of the Royal Red Cross
DJStJ: Dame of Justice of St John
[edit] Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Alice of Albany | 1883 | 1981 | later HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (sister-in-law to Queen Mary) |
| Prince Charles, Duke of Albany | 1884 | 1954 | Born four months after his father's death; known as 'Charlie'; Leopold Charles Edward George Albert; later reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Her bridesmaids were The Ladies Mary Campbell, Blanche Butler, Feodore Yorke, Florence Bootle-Wilbraham, Ermyntrude Russell, Alexandrina Vane-Tempest, Anne Lindsay and Florence Anson
- ^ Lord Rosebery to marry a Princess?, New York Times, July 11, 1901.
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