Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Alfred Alexander William Ernest Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born October 15, 1874 in Buckingham Palace , London , † February 6, 1899 in Meran ) was Hereditary Prince and heir to the throne of the dual duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , designated 2nd Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Great Britain and Ireland . He came from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha .
Life
Childhood and youth
Alfred, called Young Affie, was the only son of Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince of Great Britain and Ireland, and Maria Alexandrovna , Grand Duchess of Russia. He was the grandson of the British Queen Victoria and the Russian Tsar Alexander II.
He grew up mostly with his sisters Marie , Victoria Melita , Alexandra and Beatrice in England for the first few years of his life . Alfred, who had been heir to the throne of Coburg-Gotha since his father took office in 1893, was a gifted but sensitive child. He received a strict, purely German upbringing from the tyrannical tutor Dr. Rolfs, who loved to humiliate the prince in front of witnesses. Alfred also suffered greatly from being separated from his sisters and his father, who was often absent as an active British naval officer. His mother, who was considered insensitive and strict, advocated the strict upbringing of her son. His childhood and youth in Coburg were unhappy and joyless, only far away from home he felt good and blossomed.
Later life and death
Prince Alfred joined the Prussian 1st Guard Regiment on foot in Potsdam as a lieutenant , but did not feel comfortable as a soldier either. More and more often he took refuge in love affairs with unworthy women. In 1897 he married Mabel Fitzgerald from Ireland. His mother, a daughter of the tsar, insisted on having the improper association canceled. Alfred then tried to shoot himself with a rifle. While his parents were celebrating the official silver wedding ceremony at the end of January 1899, he was seriously injured in a darkened room in the castle. Officially it was said that he had tuberculosis . His mother, who feared a public scandal, sent him to Meran to recuperate against the advice of the treating doctors . A week later, on February 6, 1899, he died. His body was brought back to Germany and buried in the ducal mausoleum in Coburg. Duke Alfred blamed his wife for the death of their son and separated from her. He drowned his grief in alcohol.
After the death of the Hereditary Prince, the succession to the throne in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha had to be reorganized. Since Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn , and the next younger brother of Duke Alfred, had refused for himself and his son, the fourteen-year-old son of the late common brother Leopold , Charles Edward, 2nd Duke of Albany , became the future Duke of Saxony -Coburg and Gotha definitely.
title
- 1874–1893: HRH Prince Alfred of Edinburgh
- 1893–1899: His Royal Highness the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
literature
- Harald Sandner: The House of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha: a documentation for the 175th anniversary of the parent company in words and pictures . 1826 to 2001. Neue Presse, Coburg 2001, ISBN 3-00-008525-4 (there pp. 153–158).
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Alfred Alexander Wilhelm Ernst Albert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hereditary Prince and heir to the throne of the dual duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 15, 1874 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Buckingham Palace , London |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 6, 1899 |
| Place of death | Meran |