Arthur of Connaught
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
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.
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
- 1883-1938 His Royal Highness Prince Arthur of Connaught
- 1899 Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order ( GCVO )
- 1902 Royal Knight of the Garter ( KG )
- 1906 Royal Victorian Chain
- 1913 Knight of the Thistle ( KT )
- 1913 Knight of St. Patrick ( KP )
- 1913 Privy Councilor ( PC )
- 1915 Companion of the Bath ( CB )
- 1918 Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George ( GCMG )
- Bailiff Grand Cross of St John ( GCStJ )
- Grand Cross with Collane of the Order of Saint Olav (Norway)
- 1911 Knight of the Order of Hubert ( Bavaria )
- Grand Cross of the Order of Chrysanthemums (Japan)
Military rank
- 1901 2nd Lieutenant , 7th Queen's Own Hussars
- 1903 Lieutenant , 7th Queen's Own Hussars
- 1907 Captain , 2nd Dragoons; The Royal Scots Grays
- 1913 Brevet Major , 2nd Dragoons; The Royal Scots Grays
- 1915 Major, 2nd Dragoons; The Royal Scots Grays
- 1919 Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel , 2nd Dragoons; The Royal Scots Grays
Military honors
- 1920 Honorary Major-General
- 1921 Colonel-in-Chief The Royal Scots Grays
- 1937 Colonel-in-Chief Royal Army Pay Corps
Web links
literature
- Hugo Vickers: Arthur, Prince [Prince Arthur of Connaught] (1883-1938). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861351-2 ( online ).
- Ronald Allison and Sarah Riddell: The Royal Encyclopedia. Macmillan London 1991, ISBN 0-333-53810-2 .
- Marlene A. Eilers: Queen Victoria's Descendants. Atlantic International Publishing, New York 1987, ISBN 91-630-5964-9 .
- Alison Weir: Britain's Royal Families. The Complete Genealogy. Pimlico, London 1996, ISBN 0-7126-4286-2 .
personal data | |
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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 |