Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine
Encyclopedia
Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (Irene Luise Maria Anna) (11 July 1866 – 11 November 1953) was the third child and third daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. Her paternal grandparents were Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elizabeth of Prussia
. She was the wife of Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia, her first cousin. Like her sister Alix
, Irene was a carrier of the haemophilia
gene. Two of her three sons were haemophiliacs.
Her younger sister, Alix
, become the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of their paternal second cousin Tsar
Nicholas II of Russia
. Her younger brother, Ernst, became Grand Duke of Hesse. Her eldest sister Victoria married their father's morganatic first cousin, Prince Louis of Battenberg (later Marquess and Marchioness of Milford Haven). Another sister, Elizabeth
(later canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as St. Elizabeth the Martyr), married their father's first cousin, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia
. The SS Prinzessin Irene, a liner of the North German Lloyd was named after her.
. Alice considered Irene an unattractive child and once wrote to her sister Victoria that Irene was "not pretty." Though not as pretty as her sister Elizabeth, Irene did have a pleasant, even disposition. Princess Alice brought up her daughters simply. An English nanny presided over the nursery and the children ate plain meals of rice puddings and baked apples and wore plain dresses. Her daughters were taught how to do housework, such as baking cakes, making their own beds, laying fires and sweeping and dusting their rooms. Princess Alice also emphasized the need to give to the poor and often took her daughters on visits to hospitals and charities.
The family was devastated in 1873 when Irene's haemophiliac younger brother Friedrich
, nicknamed "Frittie," fell through an open window, struck his head on the balustrade and died hours later of a brain hemorrhage. In the months following the toddler's death, Alice frequently took her children to his grave to pray and was melancholy on anniversaries associated with him. In the autumn of 1878 Irene, her siblings (except for Elizabeth) and her father became ill with diphtheria
. Her younger sister Princess Marie
, nicknamed "May," died of the disease. Her mother, exhausted from nursing the children, also became infected. Knowing she was in danger of dying, Princess Alice dictated her will, including instructions about how to bring up her daughters and how to run the household. She died of diphtheria on 14 December 1878.
Following Alice's death, Queen Victoria resolved to act as a mother to her Hessian grandchildren. Princess Irene and her surviving siblings spent annual holidays in England and their grandmother sent instructions to their governess regarding their education and approving the pattern of their dresses.
Empress Victoria
. As their mothers were sisters, Irene and Heinrich were first cousins. Their marriage displeased Queen Victoria because she had not been told about the courtship until they had already decided to marry. Heinrich's mother, Victoria, Empress Friedrich, was fond of Irene. However, Empress Friedrich was shocked because Irene did not wear a shawl or scarf to disguise her pregnancy when she was pregnant with her first son, the haemophiliac Prince Waldemar, in 1889. Empress Friedrich, who was fascinated by politics and current events, also couldn't understand why Heinrich and Irene never read a newspaper. However, the couple were happily married and they were known as "The Very Amiables" by their relatives because of their pleasant natures. The marriage produced three sons:
Their descendants also include two grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren.
Irene, raised to believe in a proper Victorian code of behaviour, was easily shocked by what she saw as immorality. When her sister Elizabeth
left the German Lutheran religion they had been raised in and converted to the Russian Orthodox Church
in 1891, Irene was deeply upset. She wrote to her father that she "cried terribly" over Elizabeth's decision. Later her sister Alix also converted to the Russian Orthodox Church when she married Nicholas II of Russia. Despite her disagreement with their choice of religion, she remained close to all of her siblings. In 1907, Irene helped arrange what later turned out to be a disastrous marriage between Elizabeth's ward, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
to Prince Vilhelm, Duke of Södermanland. Wilhelm's mother, the Queen of Sweden
was an old friend of both Irene and Elizabeth. Grand Duchess Maria later wrote that Irene pressured her to go through with the marriage when she had doubts. She told Maria that ending the engagement would "kill" Elizabeth. In 1912, Irene was a source of support to her sister Alix when Alexei nearly died of complications of haemophilia at the Imperial Family's hunting lodge in Poland.
, which put them on opposing sides of the war. When the war ended, she received word that Alix, her husband and children and her sister Elizabeth had been killed by the Bolsheviks. Following the war and the abdication of the Kaiser
, Germany was no longer ruled by the Prussian Royal Family, but Irene and her husband retained their estate, Hemmelmark, in northern Germany.
When Anna Anderson
surfaced in Berlin in the early 1920s, claiming to be the surviving Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
, Irene visited the woman, but decided that Anderson could not be the niece she had last seen in 1913. Princess Irene was not impressed.
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna commented on the visit of Princess Irene,
Irene's husband, Heinrich, said that the mention of Anderson upset Irene too much and ordered that no one was to discuss Anderson in his presence. Heinrich died in 1929. Anna Anderson biographer Peter Kurth alleged that several years later, Irene's son (Prince Sigismund) posed questions to Anderson through an intermediary about their shared childhood and declared that her answers were all accurate. Irene later adopted Sigismund's daughter, Barbara, born in 1920, as her heir after Sigismund left Germany to live in Costa Rica
during the 1930s. Sigismund declined to return to Germany to live after World War II. Irene grieved terribly when her haemophiliac eldest son, Waldemar, became ill in 1945 and died due to the lack of blood for a transfusion. Irene herself died in 1953, leaving her estate to her granddaughter. At her death, she was the last surviving child of Princess Alice
and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
The Princess Alice was a member of the British royal family, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.Alice's education was devised by Albert's close friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar...
and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. Her paternal grandparents were Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elizabeth of Prussia
Princess Elizabeth of Prussia
Princess Elizabeth of Prussia was the second daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg, granddaughter of Frederick William II of Prussia...
. She was the wife of Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia, her first cousin. Like her sister Alix
Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse
Alix of Hesse and by Rhine later Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova , was Empress consort of Russia as spouse of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire...
, Irene was a carrier of the haemophilia
Haemophilia
Haemophilia is a group of hereditary genetic disorders that impair the body's ability to control blood clotting or coagulation, which is used to stop bleeding when a blood vessel is broken. Haemophilia A is the most common form of the disorder, present in about 1 in 5,000–10,000 male births...
gene. Two of her three sons were haemophiliacs.
Her younger sister, Alix
Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse
Alix of Hesse and by Rhine later Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova , was Empress consort of Russia as spouse of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire...
, become the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of their paternal second cousin Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
. Her younger brother, Ernst, became Grand Duke of Hesse. Her eldest sister Victoria married their father's morganatic first cousin, Prince Louis of Battenberg (later Marquess and Marchioness of Milford Haven). Another sister, Elizabeth
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia canonized as St. Elizabeth Romanova was a German princess of the House of Hesse, and the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, fifth son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and the Rhine...
(later canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as St. Elizabeth the Martyr), married their father's first cousin, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia...
. The SS Prinzessin Irene, a liner of the North German Lloyd was named after her.
Early life
She received her first name, which was taken from the Greek word for "peace," because she was born at the end of the Austro-Prussian WarAustro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
. Alice considered Irene an unattractive child and once wrote to her sister Victoria that Irene was "not pretty." Though not as pretty as her sister Elizabeth, Irene did have a pleasant, even disposition. Princess Alice brought up her daughters simply. An English nanny presided over the nursery and the children ate plain meals of rice puddings and baked apples and wore plain dresses. Her daughters were taught how to do housework, such as baking cakes, making their own beds, laying fires and sweeping and dusting their rooms. Princess Alice also emphasized the need to give to the poor and often took her daughters on visits to hospitals and charities.
Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine
Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine , , was the haemophiliac second son of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, thus he is a grandson of Queen Victoria...
, nicknamed "Frittie," fell through an open window, struck his head on the balustrade and died hours later of a brain hemorrhage. In the months following the toddler's death, Alice frequently took her children to his grave to pray and was melancholy on anniversaries associated with him. In the autumn of 1878 Irene, her siblings (except for Elizabeth) and her father became ill with diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
. Her younger sister Princess Marie
Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine , , was the youngest daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Ludwig IV, the Grand Duke of Hesse. Her mother was the second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
, nicknamed "May," died of the disease. Her mother, exhausted from nursing the children, also became infected. Knowing she was in danger of dying, Princess Alice dictated her will, including instructions about how to bring up her daughters and how to run the household. She died of diphtheria on 14 December 1878.
Following Alice's death, Queen Victoria resolved to act as a mother to her Hessian grandchildren. Princess Irene and her surviving siblings spent annual holidays in England and their grandmother sent instructions to their governess regarding their education and approving the pattern of their dresses.
Marriage
On 24 May 1888, Irene married Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia, the third child and second son of German Emperor Friedrich III and GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Empress Victoria
Victoria, Princess Royal
The Princess Victoria, Princess Royal was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. She was created Princess Royal of the United Kingdom in 1841. She became German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III...
. As their mothers were sisters, Irene and Heinrich were first cousins. Their marriage displeased Queen Victoria because she had not been told about the courtship until they had already decided to marry. Heinrich's mother, Victoria, Empress Friedrich, was fond of Irene. However, Empress Friedrich was shocked because Irene did not wear a shawl or scarf to disguise her pregnancy when she was pregnant with her first son, the haemophiliac Prince Waldemar, in 1889. Empress Friedrich, who was fascinated by politics and current events, also couldn't understand why Heinrich and Irene never read a newspaper. However, the couple were happily married and they were known as "The Very Amiables" by their relatives because of their pleasant natures. The marriage produced three sons:
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Waldemar Wilhelm Ludwig Friedrich Viktor Heinrich of Prussia Prince Waldemar of Prussia (1889-1945) Prince Waldemar of Prussia was the eldest son of Prince Heinrich of Prussia and his wife, Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine.-Biography:-Marriage:... |
20 March 1889 | 2 May 1945 | |
| Prince Wilhelm Viktor Karl August Heinrich Sigismund of Prussia Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1896-1978) Prince Sigismund of Prussia , was the second son of Prince Heinrich of Prussia and his wife, Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine... |
27 November 1896 | 14 November 1978 | |
| Prince Heinrich of Prussia | 9 January 1900 | 26 February 1904 |
Their descendants also include two grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren.
Family relationships
Irene transmitted the haemophilia gene to her elder and younger sons, Waldemar and Heinrich. Waldemar's health worried her from early childhood. She was later devastated when the youngest child, four-year-old Heinrich, died after he fell and bumped his head in February 1904. Six months after little Heinrich's death, Alix gave birth to a haemophiliac son, Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia. Her first cousin, Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, also had two haempohiliac sons. Her other first cousin, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, also had a haemophiliac son.Irene, raised to believe in a proper Victorian code of behaviour, was easily shocked by what she saw as immorality. When her sister Elizabeth
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia canonized as St. Elizabeth Romanova was a German princess of the House of Hesse, and the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, fifth son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and the Rhine...
left the German Lutheran religion they had been raised in and converted to the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
in 1891, Irene was deeply upset. She wrote to her father that she "cried terribly" over Elizabeth's decision. Later her sister Alix also converted to the Russian Orthodox Church when she married Nicholas II of Russia. Despite her disagreement with their choice of religion, she remained close to all of her siblings. In 1907, Irene helped arrange what later turned out to be a disastrous marriage between Elizabeth's ward, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1890-1958)
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, known as "Maria Pavlovna the Younger" was the daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich and Alexandra Georgievna of Greece by marriage Princess of Sweden...
to Prince Vilhelm, Duke of Södermanland. Wilhelm's mother, the Queen of Sweden
Victoria of Baden
Victoria of Baden was a Queen consort of Sweden by her marriage to King Gustaf V of Sweden. She was politically active in a conservative fashion during the development of democracy and known as a pro-German during the First World War.-Birth:Princess Viktoria was born on 7 August 1862 at the castle...
was an old friend of both Irene and Elizabeth. Grand Duchess Maria later wrote that Irene pressured her to go through with the marriage when she had doubts. She told Maria that ending the engagement would "kill" Elizabeth. In 1912, Irene was a source of support to her sister Alix when Alexei nearly died of complications of haemophilia at the Imperial Family's hunting lodge in Poland.
Later life
Irene's ties to her sisters were disrupted by the advent of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, which put them on opposing sides of the war. When the war ended, she received word that Alix, her husband and children and her sister Elizabeth had been killed by the Bolsheviks. Following the war and the abdication of the Kaiser
William II, German Emperor
Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe...
, Germany was no longer ruled by the Prussian Royal Family, but Irene and her husband retained their estate, Hemmelmark, in northern Germany.
When Anna Anderson
Anna Anderson
Anna Anderson was the best known of several impostors who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia...
surfaced in Berlin in the early 1920s, claiming to be the surviving Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna....
, Irene visited the woman, but decided that Anderson could not be the niece she had last seen in 1913. Princess Irene was not impressed.
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna commented on the visit of Princess Irene,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
during the 1930s. Sigismund declined to return to Germany to live after World War II. Irene grieved terribly when her haemophiliac eldest son, Waldemar, became ill in 1945 and died due to the lack of blood for a transfusion. Irene herself died in 1953, leaving her estate to her granddaughter. At her death, she was the last surviving child of Princess Alice
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
The Princess Alice was a member of the British royal family, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.Alice's education was devised by Albert's close friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar...
and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.
Titles
- 11 July 1866-25 May 1888 - Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine
- 25 May 1888-11 November 1953 - Her Royal Highness Princess Heinrich of Prussia
Ancestry
Books and Articles
- Kurth, Peter (1983). Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson. Little, Brown, and Company. ISBN 0-316-50717-2.
- Grand Duchess Marie (1930). Education of a Princess: A Memoir. Viking Press.
- Mager, Hugo (1998). Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia. Carroll and Graf Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-7867-0678-3
- Massie, Robert K. (1995). The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. Random House. ISBN 394-58048-6
- Mironenko, Sergei, and Maylunas, Andrei (1997). A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-48673-1.
- Pakula, Hannah (1995). An Uncommon Woman: The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84216-5.
- Queen Victoria (1975). Advice to my granddaughter: Letters from Queen Victoria to Princess Victoria of Hesse. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0671222422
- Vorres, I, The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, Charles Scribners and Sons, New York, 1964.