Prince Maurice of Battenberg

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Prince Maurice of Battenberg
Ypres Town War Cemetery
FamilyBattenberg
FatherPrince Henry of Battenberg
MotherPrincess Beatrice of the United Kingdom
OccupationSoldier
Freemason
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
RankLieutenant
UnitKing's Royal Rifle Corps
Battles/warsWorld War I

Prince Maurice of Battenberg

Mountbatten
.

Early life

Prince Maurice of Battenberg circa 1900–1905

Prince Maurice was born on 3 October 1891. He was given the name Maurice after his father

Albert, Prince Consort
.

As he was the child of a

Julia Hauke, who was created Princess of Battenberg in her own right. As such, Maurice was styled as His Serene Highness Prince Maurice of Battenberg from birth. In the United Kingdom, he was styled His Highness Prince Maurice of Battenberg under a royal warrant passed by Queen Victoria in 1886.[1] He was baptised in the Drawing Room at Balmoral on 31 October 1891. His godparents were the Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn (represented by Queen Victoria), the Princess of Leiningen (represented by Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein), the Duke of Clarence and Avondale (represented by Sir Henry Ponsonby), Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg (represented by Sir Fleetwood Edwards) and the Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse.[2]

The youngest of his four siblings, Maurice most resembled his father, who died when the Prince was only four, the same age his mother was when her own father died. He was his mother's favourite out of his brothers. He was educated at

His elder sister

Alfonso XIII of Spain
and was Queen Consort of Spain between 1906 and 1931.

Later life

Maurice attended

Wellington College and was a member of Benson House. Prince Maurice was made a Freemason in the Old Wellingtonian Lodge No. 3404 (the Lodge of the Old Wellingtonians) on 21 June 1912 and was installed Master of the Twelve Brothers Lodge, No. 785 Southampton on 22 April 1914.[4]

Grave of Prince Maurice of Battenberg in Ypres, Belgium.
Winchester Cathedral, memorial to Prince Maurice and his brother Leopold

The Prince served in World War I as a Lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and was killed in action at Zonnebeke,[5] in the Ypres Salient, on 27 October 1914.[6]

The 1st Battalion war diary states, "During the advance eastwards from the ridge the battalion came under terrific shell fire as well as rifle fire… Poor [Prince] Maurice was killed outright just on top of the ridge."[5]

Word of the prince's death was passed to Brigadier-General Fanshawe, commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade. He in turn passed the news to 2nd Division Commander Major-General CC Munro. Munro spoke with the Brigadier at 23.30 before informing 1st Army Corps Commander Lieutenant-General Douglas Haig. Haig was sent the message that the prince "was killed by a shell whilst gallantly leading his company forward to attack across a ridge, east of Zonnebeke". Haig shared the news with GHQ at 7.00 the next morning. He said, "By the death of H.H. Prince Maurice of Battenberg the Army loses a most gallant and valuable officer. In peace and war he has done his duty to King and Country". The final word was sent to the War Office by Sir John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force, "with deep regret".[5]

His mother, Princess Beatrice, declined the offer of

Imperial War Graves Commission headstone.[7] It bears the inscription: GRANT HIM WITH ALL THY FAITHFUL SERVANTS A PLACE OF REFRESHMENT AND PEACE.[6] His estate was valued at £3,147 in 1917 (or £152,400 in 2022 when adjusted for inflation).[8]

A memorial tablet to him and his brother Leopold is in Winchester Cathedral.[9]

Honours

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ "No. 25655". The London Gazette. 14 December 1886. p. 6305.
  2. ^ Queen Victoria's Journals – Saturday 31st October 1891
  3. ^ "Artist celebrates old boys with exhibition". Hemel Today. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Lieutenant H.H. Prince Maurice Victor Donald of Battenberg, KCVO". Masonic Great War Project. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e Pearsall, Mark (27 October 2014). "Death of a Prince". The National Archives blog. The National Archives. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Casualty Details: Battenberg, Prince Maurice Victor Donald". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  7. .
  8. ^ Evans, Rob; Pegg, David (18 July 2022). "£187m of Windsor family wealth hidden in secret royal wills". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  9. Imperial War Museums
    . Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  10. ^ "No. 28505". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 June 1911. p. 4595.

External links