Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine

Prince Friedrich
Prince Friedrich, ca. 1872.
Born (1870-10-07)7 October 1870
New Palace, Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire
Died 29 May 1873(1873-05-29) (aged 2)
New Palace, Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire
Full name
Friedrich Wilhelm August Victor Leopold Ludwig
House Hesse-Darmstadt
Father Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse
Mother Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
Religion Lutheran
Grand Ducal Family of
Hesse and by Rhine
Louis IV
Children
Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven
Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna of Russia
Irene, Princess Heinrich of Prussia
Ernest Louis
Prince Friedrich
Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia
Princess Marie

Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine (Friedrich Wilhelm August Victor Leopold Ludwig; 7 October 1870 – 29 May 1873) was the haemophiliac second son of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, one of the daughters of Queen Victoria. He was also a maternal great-uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh through his eldest sister Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine.

Life

Friedrich, called "Frittie" in the family, was a cheerful and lively child despite his illness. "Leopold" was added as one of his names in honor of his mother's hemophiliac brother, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, who was Friedrich's godfather.

Death

His haemophilia was first diagnosed in February 1873, a few months before his death, when he cut his ear and bled for three days. Bandages could not stanch the flow of blood.[1] In late May 1873, Friedrich and his older brother Ernst were playing together in their mother's bedroom. Ernst ran to another room, which was set at right angles to Alice's bedroom and peered through the window at his younger brother. Alice ran to get Ernst away from the window. When she was out of the room, Friedrich climbed onto a chair next to an open window in his mother's bedroom to get a closer look at his brother. The chair tipped over and Friedrich tumbled through the window, falling twenty feet to the balustrade below. Friedrich survived the fall and might have lived had he not been a haemophiliac. He died hours later of a brain hemorrhage.[1]

Aftermath

Following Friedrich's death, his distraught mother often prayed at his grave and marked anniversaries of small events in his life. His brother Ernst told his mother he wanted all of the family to die together, not alone "like Frittie." Two of Friedrich's sisters, Irene and Alix, also had haemophiliac sons.[2]

Ancestry

Notes

  1. 1 2 Mager (1998), p. 45
  2. ↑ Mager (1998), p. 46

References

  • Mager, Hugo (1998). Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia. Carroll and Graf Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-7867-0678-3
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