Beatrice (1857–1944)

Princess of England. Name variations: Beatrice of Battenberg; Princess of Battenberg; Princess Henry of Battenberg; Beatrice Saxe-Coburg; Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg. Born Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodora (or Feodore), April 14, 1857, at Buckingham Palace, London, England; died Oct 26, 1944, in Balcombe, West Sussex, England; 5th and youngest dau. of Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg; sister of King Edward VII of England; m. Prince Henry Maurice of Battenberg, July 23, 1885 (died 1896); children: Alexander Mountbatten, marquess of Carisbrooke (1886–1960); Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (1887–1969, who m. Alphonso XIII, king of Spain, and was known as Queen Ena); Leopold Mountbatten; Maurice Mountbatten.

Of all Queen Victoria's children, was the closest to her mother; became her confidante, secretary, factotum and nurse—until the day that she fell in love with a Prussian, Prince Henry of Battenberg, causing her mother's fury; agreed to live in the royal household after marriage; after Henry joined the British Expeditionary Force sent to quell the angry Ashanti and died of malaria (1896), returned to mother's side and remained there; also took on husband's duties as governor of the Isle of Wight; following mother's death (1901), spent next 30 years editing her mother's letters and journals, sometimes rewriting total passages and striking out anything that might put Victoria in a bad light, then burned the originals.

See also Women in World History.