Prince Arthur Of Connaught

Prince Arthur of Connaught (Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert), born on 13 January 1883 at Windsor Castle, was a member of the British royal family and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He died on 12 September 1938. His father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His mother was Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.

He was baptized in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 16 February 1883. His godparents included Queen Victoria, the German Empress (his maternal great-grandaunt, represented by Princess Beatrice), Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia (represented by the German Ambassador), Princess Henry of the Netherlands (represented by the Countess of Münster), the Duke of Cambridge, and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Prince Arthur was educated at Eton College, but left early to attend the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, at the age of sixteen. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in May 1901 into the 7th (Queen’s Own) Hussars. His first active posting occurred in 1902, when he was stationed in South Africa after the Second Boer War, arriving in Cape Town aboard the SS Ortona in October 1902. He was stationed at Krugersdorp for several months.

In 1905, he served as aide-de-camp to King Edward VII. By 1907, he was promoted to 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, he served as aide-de-camp to Generals Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig, commanders of the British Expeditionary Force. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1919, with an honorary rank of major general granted in October 1920. He became a colonel in the reserves in 1922.

Prince Arthur performed various ceremonial duties, especially during his early years when the king’s children were too young for public roles. He notably opened the Scottish National Exhibition held in Edinburgh, which featured cultural displays including a French-speaking Senegal Village.

On 15 October 1913, he married Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, his first cousin once removed. She was the eldest daughter of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, and Louise, Princess Royal. They had one son, Alastair Windsor, who became the 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.

Following their marriage, the couple resided at multiple addresses in Mayfair, London, including 54 Mount Street, 17 Hill Street, 42 Upper Grosvenor Street, and ultimately at 41 Belgrave Square, which Arthur purchased in 1920. This address remained their residence until his death.

After King George V's accession, Prince Arthur and his father became among the most senior male members of the British royal family residing in the United Kingdom. He undertook royal duties on behalf of the monarch and served as a Counsellor of State during his cousin’s absences abroad.

He inherited approximately £48,000 from his mother’s estate in 1917. His diplomatic visit to Japan in 1918 included stops in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kyoto, and he traveled on the Japanese battlecruiser Kirishima from Japan to Canada. In 1920, he was appointed as Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of South Africa, serving until 1924, when he was succeeded by the Earl of Athlone.

Upon returning to Britain, Prince Arthur engaged in various charitable activities, including chairing the Middlesex Hospital’s board of directors and participating in Freemasonry as Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire. In 1935, he was appointed High Steward of Reading, Berkshire.

His appearance at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth occurred in May 1937. He died of stomach cancer at his London residence, 41 Belgrave Square, on 12 September 1938. His body was taken to Middlesex Hospital for lying in state, then interred at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, before being reburied in the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore. His estate was valued at approximately £109,418 (equivalent to about £4.9 million in 2022).

His son, Alastair Windsor (the Earl of MacDuff after 1917), succeeded his grandfather as the 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn in 1942 but died the following year. Prince Arthur was honored with numerous orders and medals, including the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, and various foreign decorations.

His heraldic arms as a male-line grandson of a British sovereign included, on his twenty-first birthday, the royal arms differenced by a label argent with specific charges; this was altered in 1917 by royal warrant.