Up for auction "Queen Victoris's Daughter" Princess Alice Beatrice Cliupped Signature. This item is authenticated By Todd
Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity.
ES-9904
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom VA CI (Alice
Maud Mary; 25 April 1843 – 14 December 1878) was Grand
Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 13 June 1877 until her death
in 1878 as the wife of Grand Duke Louis IV. She
was the third child and second daughter of Queen
Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince
Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alice was the first of Queen
Victoria's nine children to die, and one of three to be outlived by their
mother, who died in 1901. Her life had been enwrapped in tragedy since her
father's death in 1861. Alice spent her early childhood in the company of her
parents and siblings, travelling between the British royal residences.
Her education was devised by Albert's close friend and adviser, Baron
Stockmar, and included practical activities such as needlework and
woodwork and languages such as French and German. When her father, Prince
Albert, became fatally ill in December 1861, Alice nursed him until his death.
Following his death, Queen Victoria entered a period of intense mourning and
Alice spent the next six months acting as her mother's unofficial secretary. On
1 July 1862, while the court was still at the height of mourning, Alice married
the minor German Prince Louis of Hesse,
heir to the Grand Duchy of Hesse. The
ceremony—conducted privately and with unrelieved gloom at Osborne House—was described by the Queen as "more of a
funeral than a wedding". The Princess's life in Darmstadt was unhappy as a result of impoverishment,
family tragedy and worsening relations with her husband and mother. Alice
showed an interest in nursing, especially the work of Florence Nightingale. When
Hesse became involved in the Austro-Prussian War,
Darmstadt filled with the injured; the heavily pregnant Alice devoted a lot of
her time to the management of field hospitals. One of her organisations, the Princess Alice
Women's Guild, took over much of the day-to-day running of the state's military
hospitals. As a result of this activity, Queen Victoria became concerned about
Alice's directness about medical and, in particular, gynaecological, matters.
In 1871, she wrote to Alice's younger sister, Princess Louise,
who had recently married: "Don't let Alice pump you. Be very silent
and cautious about your 'interior'". In 1877, Alice became Grand Duchess
upon the accession of her husband, her increased duties putting further strains
on her health. In late 1878, diphtheria infected the Hessian court. Alice nursed her
family for over a month before falling ill herself, dying later that year. Princess
Alice was the sister of Edward VII of the United
Kingdom and Empress Victoria of
Germany (wife of Frederick III),
mother of Empress
Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia (wife of Nicholas II), maternal
grandmother of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (the
last Viceroy of India), and
maternal great-grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh (consort of Elizabeth II of the United
Kingdom). Another daughter, Elisabeth, who married Grand Duke
Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, was, like Alexandra and her family,
killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.