“Darling Liko”: The life of Prince Henry of Battenberg

Born in Milan in 5th October 1858, Prince Henry of Battenberg was the favourite son-in-law of Queen Victoria. But how did this little known royal become such a prominent member of the royal family?

Prince Henry Maurice, lovingly known ‘Liko’ by his family, was the fourth of five children and was the product of a morganatic relationship. This meant that his father, Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, ranked higher than his mother, Julia, Countess of Battenberg. This meant that Alexanders title couldn’t be passed onto his children, and, as a result, Henry was born under the style of ‘Count Henry of Battenberg’. However, this changed when his mother was promoted to ‘Princess’ of Battenberg, allowing Henry to assume the title of ‘Prince’.

Growing up, Henry received a military education and was first commissioned as lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of the Rhenish Hussars in the Prussia Army. He later went on to serve in the Prussian Garde du Corps, where he served as a bodyguard to the King of Prussia. Eventually, the prince was appointed as Honorary Colonel of the 1st Infantry Regiment of Bulgaria, where his brother, Alexander, was Prince.

In April 1884, Henry attended the wedding of his older brother, Prince Louis, and Princess Victoria of Hesse. During the celebrations, Henry became acquainted with Queen Victorias youngest child, Princess Beatrice, with whom he instantly fell in love. Upon returning to England, Beatrice informed her mother that she and Henry wished to get married. Having always expected ‘Baby’ to remain her unmarried companion, Victoria was in shock and, instead of discussing the matter, she sprang into a state of silence. That’s right, Victoria was so “heartbroken” that she only communicated with Beatrice through written notes for a shocking six months! Fortunately for Beatrice and Henry, Victoria finally came round to the idea of the match and agreed to their marriage on the condition that Henry gave up his German nationality and military career in order to move to Britain so he and Beatrice could live with her! Despite this, Henry was determined to be with Beatrice and agreed to the Queen’s terms.

On 22nd July 1885, Queen Victoria created Henry a Knight Companion of the Garter and granted him the style of ‘Royal Highness’ within the United Kingdom. The couple got married the following day at St Mildred’s Church on the Isle of Wight. That’s same day a bill was passed to naturalise Henry as a British subject. Following the celebrations at Osborne House, the couple spent their honeymoon at Quarr Abbey House in Ryde before returning permanently to the Queen’s side.

Henry and Beatrice’s marriage was incredibly happy and many courtiers described how their relationship had reignited the atmosphere at court to what it had been during Prince Albert’s lifetime. Henry’s relationship with the Queen had also improved and she now thought of him as a son – although she often treated him better than she did her eldest son and heir, Bertie! Over a year after their wedding, on 23rd November, Beatrice gave birth to the couples first child, Prince Alexander. They would go on to have another two sons and one daughter.

Despite his happy marriage, Henry soon found himself bored with his new life at court and longed to resume his military career. Hoping to give the prince a sense of purpose, Queen Victoria arranged for Henry to be appointed as the first Honorary Colonel of the 5th (Isle of Wight Princess Beatrice’s) volunteer Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. In 21st June 1887 he was also made Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army. Recognising that Henry was still struggling with his limited workload, in 1889 Victoria appointed him as Governor of the Isle of Wight. While the title was of little to no significance, it offered Henry a purpose. On 20th November 1894, he was also appointed to the Queens Privy Council.

As time passed, the queens restraints on Henry and Beatrice began to ease and eventually the young family of six were allowed to take small trips to see Henry’s family in Germany. Now in the queens good books, Henry knew how to win his mother-in-law round to his way of thinking. In November 1895 he somehow managed to persuade the Queen to allow him to fight in the Ashanti expedition of the Anglo-Ashanti war.

On 6th December that same year, Henry embraced his beloved wife one final time before beginning his journey to west Africa. Following his arrival on 25th December, the prince served as military secretary to Colonel Sir Francis Scott, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces. When the expedition reached Prahsu (approximately 30 miles from Kumasi) on 10th January, Henry fell ill with malaria. It was decided that the prince should be sent home to England to recover, however, he tragically passed away ten days later on board HMS Blonde, just off the coast of Sierra Leone. Aged just 37, the princes body was transferred onto the cruiser, HMS Blenheim, at the Canary Islands. From there, he was transported back to England.

On 22nd January, Princess Beatrice was waiting for Henry to arrive at Madeira when she received a telegram informing her of his passing. Beatrice was understandably devastated by her husbands passing and opened a Museum at Carisbrooke Castle (the official residence of their Governor of the Isle of Wight) in his memory.

Henry’s funeral took place on 5th February 1896 at St Mildred’s Church, where he and Beatrice had got married eleven years earlier. His body was then interred near the altar, which would later become known as the Battenberg Chapel.

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