ALFRED, HEREDITARY PRINCE OF SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA

'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.

Contents

Early life

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Later life

Ancestors

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

See also

References

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.

Saxe-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.
He married Mabel Fitzgerald in Potsdam in 1898. However the marriage was contrary to the House laws and was void.
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 in the Tyrol. Alfred died there at a quarter past four on the afternoon of February 6 1899. He was 24 years old. Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 1826 bis 2001, , Harold, Sandner, Neue Presse GmbH, ,
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

'Alfred's ancestors in three generations'

'Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha'	'Father:' Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	'Paternal Grandfather:' Albert, Prince Consort	'Paternal Great-grandfather:' Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
			'Paternal Great-grandmother:' Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
		'Paternal Grandmother:' Victoria of the United Kingdom	'Paternal Great-grandfather:' Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
			'Paternal Great-grandmother:' Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
	'Mother:' Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia	'Maternal Grandfather:' Alexander II of Russia	'Maternal Great-grandfather:' Nicholas I of Russia
			'Maternal Great-grandmother:' Alexandra Feodorovna
		'Maternal Grandmother:' Maria Alexandrovna	'Maternal Great-grandfather:' Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse
			'Maternal Great-grandmother:' Wilhelmine of Baden

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

★ '1874-1893': ''His Royal Highness'' Prince Alfred of Edinburgh

★ '1893-1899': ''His Royal Highness'' The Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

See also

★ List of British princes

References