Lord Leopold Mountbatten
Lord Leopold Mountbatten | |||||
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Born |
21 May 1889 Windsor Castle | ||||
Died |
23 April 1922 32) Kensington Palace | (aged||||
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Family |
Battenberg Mountbatten | ||||
Father | Prince Henry of Battenberg | ||||
Mother | Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom |
Lord Leopold Mountbatten, GCVO (Leopold Arthur Louis; 21 May 1889 – 23 April 1922) was a descendant of the Hessian princely Battenberg family and the British Royal Family, a grandson of Queen Victoria. He was known as Prince Leopold of Battenberg from his birth until 1917, when the British Royal Family relinquished their German titles during World War I, and the Battenberg family changed their name to Mountbatten.
Early life
Prince Leopold was born on 21 May 1889. His father was Prince Henry of Battenberg, the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Julie Therese née Countess of Hauke. His mother was Princess Henry of Battenberg (née The Princess Beatrice), the fifth daughter and the youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
As he was the product of a morganatic marriage, Prince Henry of Battenberg took his style of Prince of Battenberg from his mother, Julia von Hauke, who was created Princess of Battenberg in her own right.
![](../I/m/Winchester_Cathedral%2C_memorial_to_Leopold_(1889-1922)_and_Maurice_(1981-1914)_Battenberg_Mountbatten.jpg)
As such, Leopold was styled as His Serene Highness Prince Leopold of Battenberg from birth. In the United Kingdom he was styled His Highness Prince Leopold of Battenberg under a Royal Warrant passed by Queen Victoria in 1886.[1]
Leopold was a haemophiliac, a condition he inherited from his mother.
Relinquishment of titles
During World War I, anti-German feeling in the United Kingdom led Leopold's first cousin, George V to change the name of the Royal House from the Germanic House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the more English-sounding House of Windsor. The King also renounced all his Germanic titles for himself and all members of the British Royal Family who were British citizens.
In response to this, Leopold renounced his title, through a Royal Warrant from the King, dated 14 July 1917, of a Prince of Battenberg and the style His Highness and became Sir Leopold Mountbatten, by virtue of him being a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. Under a further Royal Warrant in September 1917 he was granted the style and precedence of the younger son of a Marquess, and became Lord Leopold Mountbatten.[2]
Death
Lord Leopold died on 23 April 1922 (aged 32), during a hip operation.[3] He is buried in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. A memorial tablet to him and his brother Maurice is in Winchester Cathedral.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
![](../I/m/Coat_of_Arms_of_Lord_Leopold_Mountbatten.svg.png)
Titles
- 21 May 1889 – 14 July 1917: His Highness Prince Leopold of Battenberg
- In Germany: His Serene Highness Prince Leopold of Battenberg
- 14 July – September 1917: Sir Leopold Mountbatten
- September 1917 – 23 April 1922: Lord Leopold Mountbatten
Honours
- KCVO: Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, 1911
- GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 1915
Military
- 16 October 1909: Lieutenant (supernumerary), 8th (Isle of Wight Rifles, Princess Beatrice's) Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment (Territorial Force)[4]
- 19 October 1912: Second Lieutenant, The King's Royal Rifle Corps[5]
- 15 November 1914: Lieutenant (temporary), The King's Royal Rifle Corps[6]
- Capt: Captain, British Army
Ancestry
References
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25655. p. 6305. 14 December 1886.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 30374. pp. 11592–11594. 9 November 1917. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ↑ Leopold Arthur Louis Mountbatten profile, rodovid.org; retrieved 5 June 2010.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28297. p. 7567. 15 October 1909.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28654. p. 7687. 18 October 1912.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29001. p. 10559. 8 December 1914.