The life of Prince Henry of Prussia

Upon waking up on 14th August 1862, Queen Victoria received the news that her third grandchild, “a strong big boy”, had been born at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin. Albert William Henry – known simply as Prince Henry – was the third child of Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Friedrich of Prussia (later Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia).

Growing up, Henry showed signs of physical weakness; possibly as a result of porphyria, which is believed to have been inherited from his mother. As a toddler he would constantly cry and struggled to walk, which caused much criticism from Victoria. When he was aged just three and a half, the Prince was sent to stay with Queen Victoria in England. The aim wasn’t just to give his parents a break from his crying but also to try and retrain his difficult behaviour, which the Crown Princess warned the Queen about in a note she sent with Henry. The note reads: “You do not know how much trouble we have had with Henry … He never spoke the truth … but, kicked and scratched the maids if they did not instantly do what he chose”.

Two years later, Henry began receiving lessons from his brother’s tutor, George Hinzpeter, who described the prince as “backward and slow”. Victoria, who was known for her intellect, also recognised her son as being “hopelessly lazy, drive and idle about his lessons”. However, despite her criticism, she also noted how he was “such a good natured boy”, who was liked by everyone – a contrast to earlier years.

In his early adolescence, Henry attended school in Kassel until he was fifteen, when he was entered into the German Imperial Navy Cadet program, which prepared him for a lifelong career of service. As part of the program, the prince went on a two year voyage around the world. Following his return in 1880, Henry sat the Naval Officer examination before attending the Naval Academy between 1884-1886. A year after leaving the academy Henry commanded a torpedo boat and the first Torpedo Boat Division. In 1888 he become one of the first members of the yacht club in Kiel, which had been established by a group of Naval officers in 1887. The Prince later acted as the club’s patron.

In 1888 Prince Henry became engaged to his maternal cousin, Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine. On 24th May that same year, two got married at the Chapel of Charlottenburg in Berlin. While it was a happy affair, the day was overshadowed by the recent death of Henry’s grandfather, as well as his father’s terminal cancer. Wanting to honour his father, Henry wore one of Friedrich’s full-dress uniforms, Hessian order and Order of the Garter Star for the ceremony. Following the celebrations, Henry and Irene left for their honeymoon, which they spent at Schloss Endmannsdorf in Silesia. Together, the couple would have a total of three sons, the first of which was born the following March.

As his naval career continued, Prince Henry served on several vessels. Between 1889-1890, he worked on board SMS Irene; the armoured costal defence ship, SMS Beowulf; the iron clas SMS Sachsen and the pre-dreadnaught battleship, SMS Wörth.

As their family continued to grow, in 1894, the couple sold their home, Königliches Schloss and purchased the Hemmelmark Estate in Eckerntörde, near to Henry’s naval port. Henry and Irene had a happy marriage and quickly became known as the the ‘very amiables’

In 1897 Henry became commander in the East Asia Squadron, through which he became the first European potentate to be received at the Chinese court. In 1903 he returned to Germany as the commander of the Baltic Sea Naval Station. From 1906 he was also the commander of the High Seas Fleet, which he stopped in 1909 when he was promoted to the highest rank in the German Navy, Grand Admiral.

Along with the Navy, Henry was passionate about motorsports. In 1908 he and his brother, Kaiser Wilhelm II, gave patronage to the German Automobile Club, which they helped to rename as ‘the Imperial Automobile Club’. On 24th March that same year, Henry was granted the first German patent for the window wiper; a manual device, which would be “attached to the side of the freestanding window and can be moved up and down by the car driver directly at any time”. However, Henry wasn’t the first person to come up with the idea, which has first been created and parents by David G. Richards in 1888. Also beginning in 1908 was the ‘Prince Henry Tours’. Named in the Prince’s honour, the long-distance races were 2,000km long and took place in 1908, 1909 and 1910. The purpose was to test the durability of the participating. In 19011, Vauxhall motors began production a model of the C-10, which was named the ‘Vauxhall Prince Henry’, once again in honour of the Prince. The model had originally been created to participate in the 1911 race but remained in production until 1914.

At the start of the First World War, Henry was named Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet and was charged with preventing the Russian Navy from attacking the German coast. His mission was successful and ended once hostilities with Russia came to an end. When the war ended and his brother abdicated, Henry stepped down from the Navy.

Following his retirement, Henry continued to participate in sailing regattas. It was during this time that he helped to popularise the ‘Prince Henry Cap’. Along with sailing and motorsports, Henry also took an interest in aviation and received one of the first pilot’s licenses in Germany.

Henry passed away, aged 66, at Hemmelmark on 20th April 1929 after battling throat cancer. His body was later buried in a specially built Russian-styled chapel in a field nearby to his home.

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