Arthur of Connaught

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Arthur of Connaught in the robe of the Order of the Garter

Prince Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert of Connaught (born January 13, 1883 in Windsor Castle , † September 12, 1938 in East Sheen Lodge, Richmond , London ) was a member of the British royal family and from November 20, 1920 to January 21, 1924 Governor General in South Africa . He fought as an officer in various British colonial wars. He came from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha .

Life

Family of Connaught, ca.1890

Arthur was the only son of Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850-1942), and his wife Princess Luise Margareta of Prussia (1860-1917), daughter of Field Marshal Prince Friedrich Karl and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau . His paternal grandparents were the British Queen Victoria and her Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . The prince was baptized on February 16, 1883 in the private chapel at Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria, Empress Augusta , Princess Marie of Orange-Nassau , George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge , Duke Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia acted as godparents . As the grandson of the British Queen, he was born his Royal Highness Prince Arthur of Connaught .

His childhood revolved around perfect behavior and social representation. Initially he was tutored at home by governesses and tutors with the help of his father's library . Prince Arthur was the first member of the royal family to attend elite Eton College . After four years of study, he completed military training at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in the south of England . During the Second Boer War , Prince Arthur served in the 7th Queen's Own Hussars Regiment , where he was promoted to captain in 1907.

Wedding picture, 1913

On October 15, 1913, Prince Arthur of Connaught married his second niece Alexandra Duff, 2nd Duchess of Fife (1891-1959), eldest daughter of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and Louise, Princess Royal, at St James's Palace in London . The marriage, which all reports said was a happy one, had a son, Alastair Arthur, Earl of MacDuff (1914-1943).

During World War I , Prince Arthur served as personal aide-de-camp under Sir John French , Sir Douglas Haig and Sir Charles Monro , the successive commanders of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium . In 1919 he was promoted to Brevet - Lieutenant Colonel and in 1922 he was promoted to Colonel of the Reserve . In October 1922, he rose to major general and adjutant of his cousin (first degree), King George V on. Prince Arthur played a central role in representing the king in public and acted as a state councilor in the absence of the king. Like almost all members of the royal family, he was Honorary Colonel of a large number of units in all branches of the armed forces in the United Kingdom and in other Commonwealth countries .

Prince Arthur was Governor General of South Africa between 1920 and 1923 . After his return to the UK, he supported several charitable organizations, including as chairman of the board of directors of Middlesex Hospital . Like his father, he was an active Freemason , becoming a Grand Master for the province of Berkshire in 1924 .

The 55-year-old Prince Arthur died in 1938 of complications from gastric cancer ; one of his last public appearances was at the coronation of King George VI. and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, in May 1937. The title of Duke of Connaught and Strathearn passed from his father to his son Alastair four years after the death of Prince Arthur.

Titles and awards

Military rank

Military honors

  • 1920 Honorary Major-General
  • 1921 Colonel-in-Chief The Royal Scots Grays
  • 1937 Colonel-in-Chief Royal Army Pay Corps

Web links

Commons : Prince Arthur of Connaught  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature
personal data
SURNAME Connaught, Arthur of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Connaught, Prince Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert of (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Member of the British Royal Family and Governor General in South Africa (1920–1923)
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Windsor Castle
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 1938
Place of death East Sheen Lodge, Richmond , London