Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (April 14, 1857 - October 26, 1944) was the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was also the last of Queen Victoria's children to die, nearly 66 years after the first, her elder sister Alice. She was the great-grandmother of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
Beatrice's childhood coincided with Queen Victoria's grief following the death of her husband in December 1861. As her elder sisters married and left their mother, the Queen came to rely on the company of her youngest daughter, whom she called "Baby" for most of her childhood. Beatrice was the shyest of all of Queen Victoria's children. However, because she accompanied her mother almost wherever she went, she became among the best known. Despite her shyness, she was an able actress and dancer as well as a keen artist and photographer. Beatrice was brought up to stay with her mother always and she soon resigned herself to her fate. The Queen was so set against her youngest daughter marrying that she refused to discuss the possibility, but Beatrice fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg, the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Julia von Hauke and brother-in-law of her niece Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, and after a year of persuasion, the Queen, whose consent was required pursuant to the Royal Marriages Act, finally agreed to the marriage, which took place at Whippingham on the Isle of Wight in July 1885. Queen Victoria consented on condition that Beatrice and Henry make their home with her and that Beatrice continue her duties as the Queen's unofficial secretary. The Prince and Princess had four children: Alexander, Victoria Eugenie, Leopold and Maurice. Beatrice was devoted to her children and was concerned when they misbehaved at school. Devastated by the death of her favourite son, Maurice, during the First World War in 1914, she began to retire from public life. To those who enjoyed her friendship, she was loyal and had a sense of humour, and as a public figure she was driven by a strong sense of duty. Beatrice remained at her mother's side until Queen Victoria died in 1901. She devoted the next 30 years to editing Queen Victoria's journals as her designated literary executor and continued to make public appearances. She died in her sleep in 1944, aged 87.
9 сен 2024
