Princess Irene Of Hesse And By Rhine

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (Irène Luise Marie Anne), born on 11 July 1866 and deceased on 11 November 1953, was a member of European royalty with familial ties to the British royal family, the Hesse and by Rhine ducal family, and the German imperial family. She held the title Princess Henry of Prussia following her marriage to Prince Henry of Prussia.

Her parents were Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her paternal grandparents belonged to Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia.

Princess Irene was the third child among her siblings, which included Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. She was a carrier of the hemophilia gene, a trait shared with her sister, the Russian empress, and her other siblings, Princess Alix and Princess Elisabeth, died in Russia due to Bolshevik persecution.

Born in the context of the ending of the Austro-Prussian War, her name Irene was derived from the Greek word for "peace." Her childhood was characterized by a simple upbringing under the supervision of her mother, Princess Alice, who emphasized modest living and philanthropy, including visits to hospitals and charities. Her early years were marked by tragedy; her younger brother Friedrich, who was hemophiliac, died in 1873 after falling from an open window.

In 1878, Princess Alice contracted diphtheria while caring for her children and died from the disease on 14 December of that year. Following her mother's death, Queen Victoria took an active role in the upbringing of Irene and her siblings, overseeing their education and holiday arrangements in England.

On 24 May 1888, Irene married her first cousin, Prince Henry of Prussia, at Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin. The marriage was held during a period of political transition, as her father-in-law, Emperor Frederick III, was terminally ill, and her brother-in-law, Wilhelm II, ascended the German throne shortly thereafter. Queen Victoria was displeased that she was not informed beforehand about the courtship and marriage.

The marriage produced three sons, although specific details of their lives are not provided in the source material. Princess Irene transmitted the hemophilia gene to her eldest and youngest sons, Waldemar and Heinrich. Her son Heinrich died at the age of four in 1904 after falling and hurting his head.

Throughout her life, Irene maintained close relationships with her siblings, despite political tensions arising from World War I, which separated her from her sisters in opposition. Her sister Alix was married to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and Irene was present at significant family events, including the wedding of her sister to the Russian imperial family and the funeral of her brother-in-law.

After the Russian Revolution and the execution of her sisters and their families, Irene’s connections remained strained, and she witnessed the upheaval of her family's monarchy. She traveled to Berlin in the early 1920s to meet Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Tsarevich Alexei's surviving sister, Anastasia Nikolaevna. Irene's assessment was that Anderson was not her niece based on facial features observed during their encounter.

Her husband Heinrich died in 1929. In her later years, Irene adopted her grandson Barbara, born in 1920, after her son Sigismund left Germany for Costa Rica during the 1930s and declined to return after World War II.

Princess Irene died on 11 November 1953 at Gut Hemmelmark. Her granddaughter Barbara was present at her death. She was buried there in the family chapel, alongside her husband and youngest son. At the time of her death, she was the last surviving child of Princess Alice and Prince Louis of Hesse.