Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Infobox British Royalty|royal
name =Prince Alfred
title =Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha


full name =Alfred Alexander William Ernest Albert
titles ="HRH" The Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
"HRH" Prince Alfred of Edinburgh
royal house =House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
father =Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
mother =Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
date of birth =birth date|1874|10|15|df=y
place of birth =Buckingham Palace, London
date of christening =27 November 1874
place of christening =Buckingham Palace, London
date of death =Death date and age|1899|02|06|1874|10|15|df=yes
place of death =Sanitorium Martinnsbrunn, Meran (Merano), Austria (now Italy)
place of burial =Friedenstein Castle, Germany|

Hereditary Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Alfred Alexander William Ernest Albert; 15 October 1874 – 6 February 1899) was born a member of the British Royal Family.

Early life

Prince Alfred of Edinburgh was born on 15 October 1874 at Buckingham Palace, London.

His father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His mother was Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, a daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. He was baptised in the Lower Bow Room of Buckingham Palace November 27 1874 by Archibald Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury and his godparents were Queen Victoria, the Tsar of Russia, the German Emperor and German Crown Princess, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the Prince of Wales.

axe-Coburg and Gotha

In 1893, his granduncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, brother of his paternal grandfather, died without an heir. Being ineligible under Duchy law to occupy the ducal throne, The Prince of Wales had previously renounced his claim to the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, therefore the vacant duchy fell to Alfred's father, the Duke of Edinburgh. Alfred thus became styled "HRH The Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha".

Prince Alfred had lived in Clarence House in the early years of his life with his parents and sisters - after his father's accession to the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he moved to Schloss Rosenau at Coburg.

Later life

By 1899, Alfred began exhibiting severe symptoms of the syphilis he had acquired as a young and wild Guards officer.

It was rumoured that Alfred married Mabel Fitzgerald in Potsdam in 1898, but according to Marlene Eilers König in her book about Queen Victoria's descendants, this was untrue.cite book |last=Eilers König|first=Marlene |title=Queen Victoria's Descendants |origyear=1987 |publisher= Genealogical Publishing Co. |location=Baltimore, Maryland:|language= English |quote= ]

Sandner also notes that he was suffering from syphilis when he was absent from his parents’ silver wedding celebrations on 22 January 1899. The reason given was nervous depression. However he had attempted suicide by shooting himself with a revolver. For three days he was looked after at Schloss Friedenstein before being sent - badly wounded – to the Sanitorium Martinnsbrunn in Gratsch bei Meran (Merano) in the Tyrol. Alfred died there at a quarter past four on the afternoon of February 6 1899. He was 24 years old.cite book |last=Sandner |first=Harold |others=Andreas, Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (preface) |title=Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 1826 bis 2001 |origyear=2004 |publisher= Neue Presse GmbH |location=96450 Coburg |language= German |isbn=3000085254 |pages=155-156 |chapter=II.4.2 Erbprinz Alfred |quote= ]

His death meant the throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha would pass to his uncle, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. However, the Duke of Connaught renounced his claim to the Duchy on behalf of himself and his only son, Prince Arthur of Connaught. The Dukedom passed to Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany (the posthumous son of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Queen Victoria's fourth son).

Ancestors

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1= 1. Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
2= 2. Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
3= 3. Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
4= 4. Albert, Prince Consort
5= 5. Victoria of the United Kingdom
6= 6. Alexander II of Russia
7= 7. Marie of Hesse
8= 8. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
9= 9. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
10= 10. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
11= 11. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
12= 12. Nicholas I of Russia
13= 13. Charlotte of Prussia
14= 14. Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse
15= 15. Princess Wilhelmine of Baden
16= 16. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
17= 17. Princess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
18= 18. Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
19= 19. Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
20= 20. George III of the United Kingdom
21= 21. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
22= 22. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 16)
23= 23. Princess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf (= 17)
24= 24. Paul I of Russia
25= 25. Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
26= 26. Frederick William III of Prussia
27= 27. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
28= 28. Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse
29= 29. Landgravine Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
30= 30. Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden
31= 31. Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

*15 October 1874–23 August 1893: "His Royal Highness" Prince Alfred of Edinburgh
*23 August 1893–6 February 1899: "His Royal Highness" The Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

British arms

As a male-line grandson of the British Sovereign, young Alfred bore the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, all differenced by a label argent of five points, the odd bearing crosses gules and even anchors azure. [ [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/cadency.htm Heraldica – British Royalty Cadency] ]

Honours

British Honours
*KG: Knight of the Garter, "1894"

References