Prince Arthur of Connaught (Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert; 13 January 1883 – 12 September 1938) was a British military officer and a grandson of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. He served as

Governor-General of the Union of South Africa The governor-general of the Union of South Africa ( af, Goewerneur-generaal van Unie van Suid-Afrika, nl, Goeverneur-generaal van de Unie van Zuid-Afrika) was the highest state official in the Union of South Africa between 31 May 1910 and 31 ...

from 20 November 1920 to 21 January 1924.

Early life

Prince Arthur was born on 13 January 1883 at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

. His father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of

and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His mother was the former Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. Arthur was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 16 February 1883, and his godparents were

(his paternal grandmother), the

German Empress The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

(his great-great aunt, for whom his paternal aunt

Princess Beatrice Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is a member of the British royal family. She is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of Charle ...

stood proxy),

Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia (german: Joachim Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Leopold; 14 November 1865 – 13 September 1931) was a son of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau, married in 1854. Family ...

(his maternal uncle, who was represented by the German Ambassador Count Münster), Princess Henry of the Netherlands (his maternal aunt, who was represented by Countess Münster), the

Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...

(the Queen's cousin), and the Duke of Edinburgh (his paternal uncle, whose brother the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

represented him). Arthur was the first British royal prince to be educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

. He was known to his family as "young Arthur" to distinguish him from his father.

Military career

Prince Arthur was educated at Eton College, but left there early to enter the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

at the age of sixteen years and two months. From there he was commissioned into the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars as a second lieutenant in May 1901. He saw his first active posting the following year. After the end of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

in June 1902, most of the British troops left South Africa, but the 7th Hussars were posted there to keep the peace. Prince Arthur and 230 men of his regiment left

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in the SS ''Ortona'' in October 1902, and arrived at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

later the same month. He spent several months stationed at

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the west ...

. In 1907, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys). He became the honorary Colonel-in-Chief of this regiment in 1920. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to Generals Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig, the successive commanders of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1919 and became a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the reserves in 1922. In October 1922, Prince Arthur was promoted to the honorary rank of major general and became an aide-de-camp to his first cousin,

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

. Since the king's children were too young to undertake public duties until after the First World War, Prince Arthur carried out a variety of ceremonial duties at home and overseas. This included opening the Scottish National Exhibition, which was held in Saughton Park,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. One of the attractions was the

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

Village with its French-speaking Senegalese residents, on show demonstrating their way of life, art and craft while living in beehive huts.

Marriage

On 15 October 1913, Prince Arthur married his first cousin once removed Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife (17 May 1891 – 26 February 1959) at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She was the eldest daughter and heiress of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife by his wife Princess Louise the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been se ...

, the eldest daughter of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

. They had one son Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.

Later life

After the accession of his cousin,

, Prince Arthur and his aging father were the most senior male members of the Royal Family over the age of 18 to reside in the United Kingdom. As such, he undertook a wide variety of royal duties on behalf of the King, and acted as a Counsellor of State during periods of the King's absence abroad. In 1906, by order of the King, he vested the

Meiji Emperor , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figure ...

of Japan with the Order of the Garter, as a consequence of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. In 1918, he was a guest aboard the Japanese battlecruiser when she voyaged from Japan to Canada. He visited Tokyo and then

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

and was welcomed at

Tsuruma Park Tsuruma Park (鶴舞公園) is a park located in Shōwa-ku, Nagoya city, Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a p ...

and the Buntenkaku, and then traveled on to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

. In 1920, Prince Arthur succeeded Viscount Buxton as governor-general and commander-in-chief in South Africa. The Earl of Athlone succeeded him in these posts in 1924. Upon returning to Britain, Prince Arthur became involved in a number of charitable organizations, including serving as chairman of the board of directors of

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

. Like his father, the Duke of Connaught, he was active in the Freemasons, becoming Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire in 1924. In May 1935, he was appointed

High Steward (civic) High steward is an honorary title bestowed by the councils or charter trustees of certain towns and cities in England. Originally a judicial office with considerable local powers, by the 17th century it had declined to a largely ceremonial role. Th ...

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

, a post which had been vacant since 1910. One of his last public appearances was at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937. Prince Arthur of Connaught died of stomach cancer at age 55 on 12 September 1938 at his London home - 41 Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London. His coffin was subsequently taken to the

, where Prince Arthur had been the Chairman, and his body lay-in-state in the private chapel, with nurses from the hospital keeping

vigil A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' ( Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become gener ...

. Following his funeral at

St George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

on 16 September 1938, his remains were interred in the Royal Vault, beneath St George's Chapel. On 22 September 1938, he was reburied privately in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. His will was sealed in London in 1939. His estate was valued at £109,418 (or £4.9 million in 2022 when adjusted for inflation). His father, the Duke of Connaught, survived him by four years. Prince Arthur's son, who used the courtesy title Earl of MacDuff after 1917, succeeded his paternal grandfather as 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex in 1942, but died the following year.

Honours and arms

Military ranks

*2Lt: 2nd Lieutenant, 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars (8 May 1901) *Lt: Lieutenant, 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars (14 January 1903) *Capt: Captain, 2nd Dragoons (The Royal Scots Greys) (27 April 1907) *Bvt Maj: Brevet Major (14 October 1913) *Maj: Major, 2nd Dragoons (The Royal Scots Greys) (19 August 1915) *Bvt LtCol: Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel (3 June 1919) * ''Retired from active service (31 December 1919)'' * Hon Maj-Gen: Honorary Major-General (27 October 1920) *Col: Colonel, Reserve of Officers (1 March 1922 to 13 January 1938)

Honours

;Orders and appointments"The Royal Lineage." ''Burke's Peerage''. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1949
p. cclxxviii
*KG: Royal Knight of the Garter (15 July 1902) *KT:

Knight of the Thistle A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

(Last reference to Prince Arthur's full titles) (14 October 1913) *PC:

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

(11 June 1910) *CB: Companion of the Order of the Bath (18 February 1915) * Royal Victorian Chain (15 May 1906) - for travelling to Japan and investing Emperor Meiji with the Order of the Garter *GCMG: Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (3 September 1918) *GCVO:

Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(24 May 1899) *ADC: Personal aide-de-camp to The King (30 June 1905) *GCStJ: Bailiff Grand Cross of St John (12 June 1926) **KJStJ: Knight of Justice of St John (25 July 1905) * Knight of St. Hubert (

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

) (1911) * Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) * Knight of the Elephant (Denmark) (10 May 1914) * Grand Cordon of the Order of Muhammad Ali (

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

) * Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur (France) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer (

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

) * Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order ( Hesse and by Rhine) (26 September 1901) * Knight of the Annunciation (

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

) (3 December 1904) * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum ( Japan) (14 February 1906) * Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St. Olav (Norway) (13 November 1906) * Grand Cross of the Red Eagle (

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

) (4 February 1901) * Knight of the Seraphim (Sweden) (14 June 1905) * Grand Cross of the Order of Carol I (

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

) * Knight of St. Andrew (

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

) * Knight 3rd Class with Swords of St. Vladimir (Russia) * Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Charles III (

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) (18 May 1907) ;Medals *

1914 Star The 1914 Star, colloquially known as the Mons Star, is a British World War I campaign medal for service in France or Belgium between 5 August and 22 November 1914. Institution The 1914 Star was authorised under Special Army Order no. 350 in No ...

(1917) * British War Medal (1919) * Victory Medal (1919) * Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal (1897) * King Edward VII Coronation Medal (1902) *

King George V Coronation Medal The King George V Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal instituted in 1911 to celebrate the coronation of King George V, that took place on 22 June 1911. Award It was the first British Royal commemorative medal to be awarded to people who w ...

(1910) * King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935) * King George VI Coronation Medal (1937)

Honorary military appointments

*Colonel-in-Chief: The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons), 8 November 1921 *Colonel-in-Chief: Royal Army Pay Corps, 11 May 1937

Arms

As a male-line grandchild of a British sovereign, Prince Arthur was awarded, on his twenty-first birthday, the use of the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, and differenced by a label argent, of five points, the outer pair and central point bearing crosses gules, and the inner pair fleur-de-lys azure. In 1917, the

inescutcheon In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the s ...

was dropped by royal warrant from

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

.Heraldica – British Royalty Cadency
/ref>

Ancestry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur of Connaught, Prince 1883 births 1938 deaths Connaught, Prince Arthur of British people of German descent Deaths from stomach cancer Connaught, Prince Arthur of Princes of the United Kingdom Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Heirs apparent who never acceded Burials at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Chancellors of the University of the Witwatersrand Knights of the Garter Knights of the Thistle Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John Companions of the Order of the Bath Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Royal reburials House of Windsor