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The Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, (Louise Caroline Alberta; 18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939) was a member of the British Royal Family, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. She served as Canadian Viceregal Consort, when her husband, then the Marquess of Lorne, was the Governor General of Canada.
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Early life
Princess Louise was born on 18 March 1848 at Buckingham Palace, London. Her mother was the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria, a grandchild of King George III through his fourth son, Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent. Her father was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As a daughter of the sovereign, Princess Louise was styled Her Royal Highness from birth. She was christened in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace by John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 13 May 1848. Her godparents were Duke Gustav of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (for whom Prince Albert stood proxy), The Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen (for whom Queen Adelaide stood proxy), and The Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (for whom The Duchess of Cambridge stood proxy). Louise was educated by a governess at Windsor Castle and later attended the Kensington National Art Training School when she was 20.
Potential husbands
Her mother, the Queen, wished for her daughter to marry and a hunt began for a suitable husband. The Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra) proposed her own brother, Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark as a possible candidate, but the Queen firmly opposed another Danish marriage that could annoy Prussia (see Second War of Schleswig for details of the conflict between the two countries). Louise's eldest sister the Crown Princess of Prussia, proposed her own candidate, the tall and rich Prince Albrecht of Prussia, her husband's cousin. However, he was reluctant to settle in England as requested. Victoria then proposed the idea that Louise marry a member of the British nobility. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), disapproved of this idea (in most of Europe it would have been out of the question at that time for a sovereign's daughter to marry a non-mediatized noble).
Marriage
Eventually a suitable candidate was chosen, the Marquess of Lorne, heir to the title of Duke of Argyll. The Marquess's parents were known to the Queen, and they approved of the proposed union. The Marquess was also a Member of Parliament at this time. Princess Louise married the Marquess of Lorne on 21 March 1871 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Canada
In 1878, the Marquess was offered the position of Governor General of Canada. On 14 November 1878, Lord Lorne and Princess Louise departed from Liverpool Harbour on the long journey to Canada. Princess Louise extensively toured the country, as well as visiting the neighbouring United States. Princess Louise was the most attractive of her sisters.[1] Her artistic talents were also more than polite accomplishments. Her ability in the arts, for what it may have been worth, matched or exceeded those of many subsequent members of the Royal Family. She was an accomplished writer, sculptor and artist. She painted in both oils and watercolours. A door she painted with sprigs of apple blossoms can still be seen in the Monck wing corridor at Rideau Hall. The enduringly popular Marquess of Lorne gave the name Regina (Latin for Queen) to the capital of the North-West Territories (after 1905 of the province of Saskatchewan), and both the district of Alberta in the Northwest Territories (later the province of Alberta) and Lake Louise in that district in her honour. Although she was often unwell, she was reputed to be a compassionate woman who, during an epidemic of scarlet fever, reportedly personally nursed the sick.
On 14 February 1880, she was seriously injured when the viceregal sleigh overturned on the streets of Ottawa, Ontario, an incident which provoked the anger of her mother, the Queen. Louise, though she made a full recovery, "was not the most popular chatelaine that Rideau Hall had known; her boredom with the capital was the subject of public comment"[2] and she returned to England, leaving Lord Lorne to discharge their Vice-Regal duties alone for another two years. What was perhaps not widely known at the time, however, was there had been warnings of attempts on her life by Fenians and it may not have been entirely invidious at the time for her to retreat from Canada to England.[3] Lord Lorne of course remained and attended to his duty to the end of the Lornes' five-year term. Princess Louise visited the Toronto General Hospital on three documented occasions: 10th September 1879 and 13th September 1883, accompanied by Lord Lorne, and 29th May 1880 accompanied by H.R.H. Prince Leopold. On each of these occasions she simply signed the hospital's Visitor Register as "Louise". [4] These visits, along with her caring for members of the Rideau Hall household who had contracted Scarlet fever, when the maids refused, illustrated the Princess's concern for health and medicine.[5]
Duchess of Argyll
On 24 April 1900, the 8th Duke of Argyll died, and the Marquess of Lorne became the 9th Duke of Argyll, and Louise, the Duchess of Argyll. The Duke died in 1914 from pneumonia. Princess Louise, now a widow, spent World War I visiting Canadian Army units coming to fight in France. She survived until the beginning of World War II, dying on 3 December 1939 at Kensington Palace, when she was ninety-one years old. At her own request, her body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium in North London and her ashes were buried at Royal Cemetery at Frogmore, where her parents are also buried. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll did not have any children. According to one scholar, the Princess was sterile as the result of a teenage bout with meningitis. In various biographies, however, there has been much discussion over the Duke's sexuality. It is certain that he preferred the company of men to that of his wife and that he and Princess Louise were often separated for long periods of time ostensibly for reasons of temperament.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
- 18 March 1848 – 21 March 1871: Her Royal Highness The Princess Louise
- 21 March 1871 – 24 April 1900: Her Royal Highness The Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne
- 24 April 1900 – 3 December 1939: Her Royal Highness The Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
Honours
- CI: Companion of the Order of the Crown of India, (1878)
- VA: Lady of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, (1893)
- RRC: Member of the Royal Red Cross
- D.St.J: Dame of Grace of St. John
- GCVO: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- GBE: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Arms
In 1858, Louise and the three younger of her sisters were granted use of the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, and differenced by a label argent of three points. On Louise's arms, the outer points bore cantons gules, and the centre a rose gules. In 1917, the inescutcheon was dropped by royal warrant from George V.[6]
Legacy
Three Canadian regiments still honour Princess Louise in their names:
- 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's)
- The Princess Louise Fusiliers
- The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)
Ancestors
Notes
- ^ Stocker. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll. Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
- ^ Pierre Berton, The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1885 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1971), p.118.
- ^ Hubbard, R.H.; ‘’Rideau Hall’’; McGill-Queen’s University Press; Montreal and London; 1977; p. 53
- ^ Source: Visitors Register, file TG 1.8.1. Toronto General Hospital fonds. University Health Network Archives [1]
- ^ Hubbard
- ^ Heraldica – British Royalty Cadency
