Ancestral Trails 2016 » Helena Augusta Victoria von SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA (1846-1923)

Persoonlijke gegevens Helena Augusta Victoria von SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA 

• Zij is geboren op 25 mei 1846 in Buckingham Palace, The Mall, London, Middlesex.
• Titel: Princess of Schleswig-Holstein
• (Ancestry) : House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
• Zij is overleden op 9 juni 1923 in Schomberg House, London, Middlesex, zij was toen 77 jaar oud.
• Zij is begraven juni 1923 in Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, Windsor, Berkshire.
• Een kind van Albert von SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA en Victoria of ENGLAND

Gezin van Helena Augusta Victoria von SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA

Zij is getrouwd met Christian von SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN.

Zij zijn getrouwd op 5 juli 1866 te Private Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, zij was toen 20 jaar oud.

Kind(eren):

1. Christian Victor von SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN  
2. Albrecht von SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN  
3. Helena Victoria von SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN  
4. Marie Louise von SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN  

Notities over Helena Augusta Victoria von SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA

Princess Helena (Helena Augusta Victoria, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein by marriage;[1] (25 May 1846 - 9 June 1923) was the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Helena was educated by private tutors chosen by her father and his close friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar. Her childhood was spent with her parents, travelling between the variety of royal residences in Britain. The intimate atmosphere of the royal court came to an end on 14 December 1861, when her father died and her mother entered a period of intense mourning. In the early 1860s, Helena began a flirtation with Prince Albert's German librarian, Carl Ruland. Although the nature of the relationship is largely unknown, Helena's romantic letters to Ruland survive. After the Queen found out in 1863, she dismissed Ruland, who returned to his native Germany. Three years later, on 5 July 1866, Helena married the impoverished German Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. The couple remained in Britain, in calling distance of the Queen, who liked to have her daughters nearby, and Helena along with her youngest sister, Princess Beatrice, became the Queen's unofficial secretary. However, after Queen Victoria's death on 22 January 1901, Helena saw relatively little of her surviving siblings.

Helena was the most active member of the royal family, carrying out an extensive programme of royal engagements at a time when royalty was not expected to appear often in public. She was also an active patron of charities, and was one of the founding members of the Red Cross. She was founding president of the Royal School of Needlework, and president of the Workhouse Infirmary Nursing Association and the Royal British Nurses' Association. As president of the latter, she was a strong supporter of nurse registration against the advice of Florence Nightingale. She became the first member of her family to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary in 1916, but her husband died a year later. Helena outlived him by six years, and died aged 77 at Schomberg House on 9 June 1923.

Helena was born at Buckingham Palace, the official royal residence in London, on 25 May 1846, the day after her mother's 27th birthday. She was the third daughter and fifth child of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria, and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Albert reported to his brother, Ernest II, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, that Helena "came into this world quite blue, but she is quite well now". He added that the Queen "suffered longer and more than the other times and she will have to remain very quiet to recover." Albert and Victoria chose the names Helena Augusta Victoria. The German nickname for Helena was Helenchen, later shortened to Lenchen, the name by which members of the royal family invariably referred to Helena. As the daughter of the sovereign, Helena was styled Her Royal Highness The Princess Helena from birth. Helena was baptised on 25 July 1846 at the private chapel at Buckingham Palace. Her godparents were The Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, her first cousin once-removed by marriage; The Duchess of Orléans (Hélène, for whom The Queen's mother The Duchess of Kent stood proxy); and The Duchess of Cambridge.

Helena was a lively and outspoken child, and reacted against brotherly teasing by punching the bully on the nose. Her early talents included drawing. Lady Augusta Stanley, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, commented favourably on the three-year-old Helena's artwork.

Like her sisters, she could play the piano to a high standard at an early age. Other interests included science and technology, shared by her father Prince Albert, and horseback riding and boating, two of her favourite childhood occupations. However, Helena became a middle daughter following the birth of Princess Louise in 1848, and her abilities were overshadowed by her more artistic sisters.

Helena's father, Prince Albert, died on 14 December 1861. The Queen was devastated, and ordered her household, along with her daughters, to move from Windsor to Osborne House, the Queen's Isle of Wight residence. Helena's grief was also profound, and she wrote to a friend a month later: "What we have lost nothing can ever replace, and our grief is most, most bitter...I adored Papa, I loved him more than anything on earth, his word was a most sacred law, and he was my help and adviser...These hours were the happiest of my life, and now it is all, all over."

The Queen relied on her second eldest daughter Princess Alice as an unofficial secretary, but Alice needed an assistant of her own. Though Helena was the next eldest, she was considered unreliable by Victoria because of her inability to go long without bursting into tears. Therefore, Louise was selected to assume the role in her place, Alice was married to Prince Louis of Hesse in 1862, after which Helena assumed the role-described as the "crutch" of her mother's old age by one biographer-at her mother's side. In this role, she carried out minor secretarial tasks, such as writing the Queen's letters, helping her with political correspondence, and providing her with company.

Marriage
Princess Helena began an early flirtation with her father's former librarian, Carl Ruland, following his appointment to the Royal Household on the recommendation of Baron Stockmar in 1859. He was trusted enough to teach German to Helena's brother, the young Prince of Wales, and was described by the Queen as "useful and able". When the Queen discovered that Helena had grown romantically attached to a royal servant, he was promptly dismissed back to his native Germany, and he never lost the Queen's hostility.

Princess Helena and Prince Christian, part of a series of photographs following their engagement in 1865
Following Ruland's departure in 1863, the Queen looked for a husband for Helena. However, as a middle child, the prospect of a powerful alliance with a European royal house was low. Her appearance was also a concern, as by the age of fifteen she was described by her biographer as chunky, dowdy and double-chinned. Furthermore, Victoria insisted that Helena's future husband had to be prepared to live near the Queen, thus keeping her daughter nearby. Her choice eventually fell on Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; however, the match was politically awkward, and caused a severe breach within the royal family.

Schleswig and Holstein were two territories fought over between Prussia and Denmark during the First and Second Schleswig Wars. In the latter, Prussia and Austria defeated Denmark, but the duchies were claimed by Austria for the Prince Christian's family. However, following the Austro-Prussian War, in which Prussia invaded and occupied the duchies, they became Prussian, but the title Duke of Schleswig-Holstein was still claimed by Prince Christian's family.

The marriage, therefore, horrified King Christian IX of Denmark's daughter, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, who exclaimed: "The Duchies belong to Papa." Alexandra found support in her husband, his brother Prince Alfred, and his second sister, Princess Alice, who openly accused her mother of sacrificing Helena's happiness for the Queen's convenience. Alice also argued that it would reduce the already low popularity of her sister, the crown princess of Prussia, at the German court in Berlin. However, and unexpectedly, the Prussian crown princess, who had been a personal friend of Christian's family for many years, ardently supported the proposed alliance. More than fifteen years later, in February 1881, Helena's nephew Kaiser Wilhelm II (son of the Prussian crown princess) would marry Christian's brother's daughter Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.

Despite the political controversies and their age difference-he was fifteen years her senior-Helena was happy with Christian and was determined to marry him. As a younger son of a non-reigning duke, the absence of any foreign commitments allowed him to remain permanently in Britain-the Queen's primary concern-and she declared the marriage would go ahead. Helena and Christian were actually third cousins in descent from Frederick, Prince of Wales. Relations between Helena and Alexandra remained strained, and Alexandra was unprepared to accept Christian (who was also a third cousin to Alexandra in descent from King Frederick V of Denmark) as either a cousin or brother-in-law. The Queen never forgave the Princess of Wales for accusations of possessiveness, and wrote of the Waleses shortly afterwards: "Bertie is most affectionate and kind but Alix [pet name for Alexandra] is by no means what she ought to be. It will be long, if ever, before she regains my confidence."

The engagement was declared on 5 December 1865, and despite the Prince of Wales's initial refusal to attend, Princess Alice intervened, and the wedding was a happy occasion. The Queen allowed the ceremony to take place at Windsor Castle, albeit in the Private Chapel rather than the grander St George's Chapel, and relieved her black mourning dress with a white mourning cap which draped over her back. The main participants filed into the chapel to the sound of Beethoven's Triumphal March, creating a spectacle only marred by the sudden disappearance of Prince George, the Duke of Cambridge, who had a sudden gout attack. Christian filed into the chapel with his two supporters, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar and Prince Frederic of Schleswig-Holstein, and Helena was given away by her mother, who escorted her up the aisle with the Prince of Wales and eight bridesmaids. Christian looked older than he was, and one guest commented that Helena looked as if she was marrying an aged uncle. Indeed, when he was first summoned to Britain, he assumed that the widowed Queen was inspecting him as a new husband for herself rather than as a candidate for one of her daughters. The couple spent the first night of their married life at Osborne House, before honeymooning in Paris, Interlaken and Genoa.

Helena and Christian were devoted to each other, and led a quiet life in comparison to Helena's sisters. Following their marriage, they took up residence at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, the traditional residence of the Ranger of Windsor Great Park, the honorary position bestowed on Christian by the Queen. When staying in London, they lived at the Belgian Suite in Buckingham Palace. The couple had six children: Christian Victor in 1867, Albert in 1869, and Princesses Helena Victoria and Marie Louise in 1870 and 1872 respectively. Their last two sons died early; Harald died eight days after his birth in 1876, and an unnamed son was stillborn in 1877. Princess Louise, Helena's sister, commissioned the French sculptor Jules Dalou to sculpt a memorial to Helena's dead infants.

The Christians were granted a parliamentary annuity of £6000 a year, which the Queen requested in person. In addition, a dower of £30,000 was settled upon, and the Queen gave the couple £100,000, which yielded an income of about £4000 a year. As well as that of Ranger of Windsor Park, Christian was given the honorary position of High Steward of Windsor, and was made a Royal Commissioner for the Great Exhibition of 1851. However, he was often an absentee figurehead at the meetings, instead passing his time playing with his dog Corrie, feeding his numerous pigeons, and embarking on hunting excursions.

Helena, as promised, lived close to the Queen, and both she and Beatrice performed duties for her. Beatrice, whom Victoria had groomed for the main role at her side, carried out the more important duties, and Helena took on the more minor matters that Beatrice did not have time to do. In later years, Helena was assisted by her unmarried daughter, Helena Victoria, to whom the Queen dictated her journal in the last months of her life.

Helena's health was not robust, and she was addicted to the drugs opium and laudanum. However, the Queen did not believe that Helena was really ill, accusing her of hypochondria encouraged by an indulgent husband. Queen Victoria wrote to her daughter Victoria, Crown Princess of Prussia, complaining that Helena was inclined to "coddle herself (and Christian too) and to give way in everything that the great object of her doctors and nurse is to rouse her and make her think less of herself and of her confinement". Not all of her health scares were brought on by hypochondria; in 1869, she had to cancel her trip to Balmoral Castle when she became ill at the railway station. In 1870, she was suffering from severe rheumatism and problems with her joints. In July 1871, she suffered from congestion in her lungs, an illness severe enough to appear in the Court Circular, which announced that her illness caused "much anxiety to members of the royal family". In 1873, she was forced to recuperate in France as a result of illness, and in the 1880s she travelled to Germany to see an oculist for her eyes.

King Edward died in 1910, and the First World War began four years after his death. Helena devoted her time to nursing, and her daughter, Princess Marie Louise, recorded in her memoirs that requests for news of loved ones reached Helena and her sisters. It was decided that the letters should be forwarded to Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, as Sweden was neutral during the war. It was during the war that Helena and Christian celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1916, and despite the fact that Britain and Germany were at war, the Kaiser sent a congratulatory telegram to his aunt and uncle through the Crown Princess of Sweden. King George V and Queen Mary were present when the telegram was received, and the King remarked to Helena's daughter, Marie Louise, that her former husband, Prince Aribert of Anhalt, did her a service when he turned her out. When Marie Louise said she would have run away to Britain if she was still married, the King said, "with a twinkle in his eye", that he would have had to intern her.

In 1917, in response to the wave of anti-German feeling that surrounded the war, George V changed the family name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor. He also disposed of his family's German titles and styles, so Christian, Helena and their daughters simply became Prince and Princess Christian; Princess Helena Victoria and Marie Louise with no territorial designation. Helena's surviving son, Albert, fought on the side of the Prussians, though he made it clear that he would not fight against his mother's country. In the same year, on 8 October, Prince Christian died at Schomberg House. Her last years were spent arguing with Commissioners, who tried to turn her out of Schomberg and Cumberland Lodge because of the expense of running her households. They failed, as clear evidence of her right to live in those residences for life was shown.

Princess Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, died at Schomberg House on 9 June 1923. Her funeral, described as a "magnificently stage-managed scene" by her biographer Seweryn Chomet, was headed by King George. The regiment of her favourite son, Prince Christian Victor, lined the steps of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Although originally interred in the Royal Vault at St George's on 15 June 1923, her body was reburied at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, a few miles from Windsor, after its consecration on 23 October 1928.
SOURCE: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Helena_of_the_United_Kingdom

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