Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Helen Frederica Augusta; 17 February 1861 – 1 September 1922), later Duchess of Albany, was a member of the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

by marriage. She was the fifth daughter and child of

George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont George Victor (14 January 1831 – 12 May 1893) was the 3rd sovereign Prince of the German state of Waldeck and Pyrmont. George Victor was born in Bad Arolsen the son of George II, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his wife Princess Emma of ...

, and his first wife,

Princess Helena of Nassau Princess Helena of Nassau (; 18 August 183127 October 1888) was a daughter of William, Duke of Nassau, and consort of George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Early life Helena was born at Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau. She was the ninth chi ...

. Encyclopedia.com website, ''Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1861-1922)''
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Family

Helen was born in

Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck (state), Waldeck-Pyr ...

, capital of the

Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and ...

, in Germany. She was the sister of

Friedrich Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

, last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont;

Marie Marie may refer to the following. People Given name * Marie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** List of people named Marie * Marie (Japanese given name) Surname * Jean Gabriel-Marie, French compo ...

, the first wife of

William II of Württemberg William II (; 25 February 1848 – 2 October 1921) was the last King of Württemberg. He ruled from 6 October 1891 until the dissolution of the kingdom on 30 November 1918. He was the last German ruler to abdicate in the wake of the November Rev ...

; and of Emma, queen consort of

William III of the Netherlands William III (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until ...

(and mother of

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as ...

Marriage

Along with Emma and a third sister, Pauline, Helen was considered as a second wife for

. She later met with

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (Leopold George Duncan Albert; 7 April 185328 March 1884) was the eighth child and youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow. He ...

, youngest son 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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, at the suggestion of his mother. The two became engaged in November 1881. On 27 April 1882, Leopold and Helen married in

St George's Chapel St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar (a church und ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. After their wedding, Leopold and Helen resided at

Claremont House Claremont, also known historically as 'Clermont', is an 18th-century Palladian mansion less than a mile south of the centre of Esher in Surrey, England. The buildings are now occupied by Claremont Fan Court School, and its landscaped gardens ar ...

. The couple had a brief, but happy marriage, ending in the

hemophiliac Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

Leopold's death from a fall in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France, in March 1884. At the time of Leopold's death, Helen was pregnant with their second child. The couple had two children: * Princess Alice of Albany (1883–1981), later Countess of Athlone * Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany (1884–1954), later Duke of

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ( ), was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to ...

Personality and social work

According to the memoirs of Helen's daughter, Princess Alice, Helen was very intelligent, had a strong sense of duty, and a genuine love of welfare work.

, initially worried that Helen might turn out to be a stereotypically remote German princess, remarked in a letter to her eldest daughter, German Crown Princess Victoria, that she was pleased Helen liked "to go among the people". The Queen soon came to regard her young daughter-in-law with great respect and affection, notwithstanding her initial concerns upon hearing from the match-making Vicky that Helen was an 'intellectual', being unusually well-educated for a princess. Before her marriage, Helen's father had made her superintendent of the infant schools in his principality, and in this position the Princess had devised the pupils' educational curriculum. Helen particularly enjoyed solving mathematical problems and reading philosophy: during their tragically brief marriage, Prince Leopold proudly introduced his wife to the circle of academics he had befriended at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. Helen maintained these friendships for the rest of her life. In 1894, Helen was one of the founders of the Deptford Fund, which instigated many projects to help the local community in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

. In 1899, Helen opened the Albany Institute. This later expanded into a combined community/performance centre with the theatre venue known as the Albany Empire. A centre of 1970s anti-fascist activity and

Rock Against Racism Rock Against Racism (RAR) was a political and cultural movement which emerged in 1976 in reaction to a rise in racist attacks on the streets of the United Kingdom and increasing support for the far-right National Front at the ballot box. Betwe ...

, the Empire and Institute buildings were destroyed in an arson attack in 1978. A new

Albany Theatre The Albany is a multi-purpose arts centre in Deptford, south-east London. Facilities include a flexible performance space holding up to 300 seated or 500 standing and a bar, two studio theatres, a performance cafe and rehearsal / meeting rooms. ...

was opened by

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

in 1982. Helen was also involved in several hospital charities and with those dedicated to ending human trafficking. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, she organised much of her charity work along with that of her sister-in-law

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 King Ch ...

and niece

Princess Marie Louise Marie Louise or Marie-Louise is a French feminine compound given name. In other languages, it may take one of several alternate forms: * Maria Luiza (Bulgarian, Portuguese) * Maria Luisa (Italian, Spanish) * Maria Luise (German) * Maria Louisa ...

to avoid the not-uncommon problem of conflicting (and sometimes misguided) royal war-work projects.

Later life

After Leopold's death, Helen and her two children, Alice and Charles Edward, continued to reside at Claremont House. After the death of her nephew, the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1899, Helen's sixteen-year-old son was selected as the new heir to the German duchy, and was parted from his mother and sister in order to take up residence there. When the First World War broke out 14 years later, Charles Edward found himself fighting in the German Army. As a result, he was stripped of his British titles by an act of Parliament in 1917. By contrast, Helen's daughter

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

remained in England and by marriage to

Prince Alexander of Teck Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George; born Prince Alexander of Teck; 14 April 1874 – 16 January 1957), was a member of the extended British royal family, as a great-grandson of King Georg ...

in 1904 became a sister-in-law of Queen Mary. Helen died on 1 September 1922 of a heart attack in Hinterriss in

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, while visiting her beloved son, Charles Edward. Through her son, she is the great-grandmother of the Swedish king

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

. On her death her estate was valued at £177,312 (resworn £183,053 and equivalent to £7.2 million in 2022). The Chiswick streets Waldeck Road and Pyrmont Road were named in honour of her.

Issue

Ancestry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helen Of Waldeck And Pyrmont, Princess 1861 births 1922 deaths 19th-century British people 20th-century British people 19th-century British women 20th-century British women People from Bad Arolsen People from the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (United Kingdom) House of Windsor Wives of British princes Albany Ladies of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert Companions of the Order of the Crown of India Members of the Royal Red Cross Dames of Justice of the Order of St John House of Waldeck and Pyrmont Princesses of Waldeck and Pyrmont Daughters of princes regnant Mothers of Saxon monarchs Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany