User:PeterSymonds/Princess Helena of the United Kingdom
Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Princess Helena (Helena Augusta Victoria; Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein by marriage;[1] 25 May 1846 – 9 June 1923) was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Princess Helena | |||||
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Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein | |||||
Burial | |||||
Spouse | Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein | ||||
Issue | Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein Albert, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein Princess Helena Victoria Princess Marie Louise Prince Harold | ||||
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House | House of Oldenburg House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha | ||||
Father | Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | ||||
Mother | Victoria |
Helena was educated by private tutors chosen by her father and his close friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar. Her childhood was spent with her parents, travelling between the variety of royal residences in England and Scotland. The intimate atmosphere of the royal court came ended December 14 1861, when her father died, and her mother entered a period of intense mourning.
In her teenage years, Helena began a flirtation with Prince Albert's German librarian, Carl Ruland. Although the nature of the relationship is largely unknown, Helena's romantic letters to Ruland survive. After the Queen found out, she dismissed Ruland in 1863 and he moved back to his native Germany. Three years later, on July 5 1866, she married the impoverished German Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. The couple remained in England, in calling distance of the Queen, who liked to have her daughters nearby, and Helena became the Queen's helpmeet with her youngest sister, Princess Beatrice. However, after Queen Victoria died, on 22 January 1901, she saw relatively little of her surviving siblings.
Helena was the most active member of the royal family, carrying out an extensive programme of royal engagements at a time when royalty was not expected to appear so often in public. She was also an active patron of charities, and was one of the founding members of the Red Cross. She was also founding president of the Royal School of Needlework, and president of the Royal British Nurses' Association. As president of the latter, she was a strong supporter of nurse registration against the advice of Florence Nightingale.[2] She became the first member of her family to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary in 1916, but her husband died a year later. Helena outlived him by six years, and died aged 77 at Schomberg House, on 19 June 1923.