Lord Leopold Mountbatten

Lord Leopold Arthur Louis Mountbatten (21 May 1889 – 23 April 1922) was a British Army officer and a member of the Mountbatten family. He was a grandson of Queen Victoria and belonged to the Battenberg family, which was of Hessian origin. His birth name was Prince Leopold of Battenberg, a title he held until 1917 when the British royal family changed its German-associated titles during World War I.

Early Life:

Leopold was born on 21 May 1889. His father was Prince Henry of Battenberg, who was the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Julia, Princess of Battenberg. His mother was Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. As he was descended from a morganatic marriage, Prince Henry of Battenberg adopted the style of Prince of Battenberg through his mother, Julia von Hauke, who was created Princess of Battenberg in her own right.

Leopold was styled as His Serene Highness Prince Leopold of Battenberg from birth, and in the United Kingdom, he was titled His Highness Prince Leopold of Battenberg under a royal warrant from Queen Victoria in 1886. He was baptized at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 29 June 1889. His godparents included Leopold II of Belgium, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Prince Louis of Battenberg, the Marchioness of Lorne, the Duchess of Albany, and Princess Marie of Erbach-Schönberg. His father died of malaria in 1896. He was a haemophiliac, inheriting the condition through his mother; his maternal uncle, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, also suffered from the disease.

Military Career:

Leopold was commissioned as a lieutenant (supernumerary) on 16 October 1909 in the 8th Battalion of the Isle of Wight Rifles, a Territorial Force unit. On 19 October 1912, he received a regular army commission in The King's Royal Rifle Corps. During World War I, he was promoted to temporary lieutenant on 15 November 1914, then to lieutenant on 30 April 1915, and to captain on 14 September 1916. On 7 April 1918, he was placed on the half-pay list due to ill health contracted during active service. From 23 July 1918 to 6 January 1919, he served as an extra aide-de-camp on the staff of the War Office. He resigned his commission on 14 April 1920 and was granted the honorary rank of major at the request of King George V.

Relinquishment of Titles:

During World War I, anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom prompted King George V to change the royal house's name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor and to renounce Germanic titles. As part of this process, Leopold renounced his title of Prince, his style His Highness, and the designation 'of Battenberg' by royal warrant on 14 July 1917. He then adopted the surname Mountbatten and was styled as Sir Leopold Mountbatten, a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. Further warrants on 11 September 1917 granted him the style and precedence of the younger son of a marquess, and he became Lord Leopold Mountbatten.

Death:

Lord Leopold died on 23 April 1922, aged 32, during a hip operation. Initially interred in the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, his remains were later moved to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore. A memorial tablet dedicated to him and his brother Maurice is located in Winchester Cathedral. His will was sealed in London following his death, and his estate was valued at £4,049, equivalent to approximately £160,600 in 2022 inflation-adjusted terms.

Honours:

He received several honors, including:

- Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) on 19 June 1911

- Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) on 1 January 1915

- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III from Spain on 27 May 1906

Ancestry:

Leopold descended from Queen Victoria, was related to various European royal families, and his ancestry includes connections to the Hesse-Kassel royal family through the Battenberg line.