The life of Prince Leopold of Battenberg, later Lord Leopold Mountbatten

According to Queen Victoria’s journal, at ‘10 m. past 2’ on 21st May 1889, Princess Beatrice of Battenberg ‘gave birth to a fine large Bay’ at Windsor Castle ‘without any difficulty’.

Known as ‘Leo’ by his family ‘Beatrice’s dear little Boy’ was baptised with the names Leopold Arthur Louis, on 29th June 1889 in the Nave at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. His godparents were: King Leopold II of Belgium; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught; Prince Louis of Battenberg; Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll; Princess Marie of Erbach-Schönberg; and Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany.

Growing up, Leopold was described as a ‘particularly pretty child’ by Queen Victoria. However, his health was far from pretty. Princess Beatrice was a carrier of the royal disease, haemophilia. Unfortunately, like many of his maternal cousins, Prince Leopold, too, inherited the illness. It had killed his namesake, Leopold, Duke of Albany, just five years earlier and would one day do the same to him. Due to this, his childhood was much more isolated than that of his siblings in order to prevent any uncontrollable bleeds. Then Leopold was aged just seven, his father died suddenly while away with the military.

Following his time at Magdalena College in Cambridge, Prince Leopold decided he wanted to join the military. Despite concerns over his health, in 1909, he joined his mother’s own Battalion, the 8th Isle of Wight Rifles, before transferring to the 60th Kings Royal Rifle Corps in 1911.

Soon after the outbreak of World War One, Leopold’s regiment was called to fight on the frontline. His position and health restricted him to a non-combat staff appointment, which later got him promoted to Captain, on 14th September 1916.

When King George V relinquished all German titles on 17th July 1917, the Battenberg family changed their surname to Mountbatten. As he had lost his princely titles, Leopold was later granted the rank and precedence of a younger son of a marquess; gaining him the title of ‘Lord’. After the war, Lord Leopold Mountbatten moved in with his mother at Kensington Palace and in April 1920, he made the difficult decision to step back from the army.

As he got older, he began to suffer from severe joint pain. He often spent winters travelling warmer countries to escape the cold British climate. However, all of this came to an end on 22nd April 1922, when he underwent hip surgery in his home at Kensington Palace. At first, he seemed to be recovering well but the following day he suffered an uncontrollable relapse. Leopold died aged just 32. Princess Beatrice was in Sicily at the time and rushed back for his funeral at St George’s Chapel, on 1st May. He was the second of her four children to die. His body was later moved to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, on 23rd October 1928.

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