Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and By Rhine, surrounded by his sisters
Ernest was always given a lot of support by his sisters, probably because of the trauma he underwent when his little brother Frittie died while playing with him and because of the death of his mother, who, as per the sources, caught diphtheria after giving him a kiss to console him for the death of his sister May of the same disease. Later on, he lost his little daughter Elizabeth which must have been devastating for him. But he had the love and support of his sisters, and Nicholas II seems to have also been very fond of him. As we know, there were further losses down the road. His beautiful sisters Grand Duchess Elizabeth (wearing her nun's habit in the photo) and Empress Alexandra, were murdered by the Bolsheviks.
Ernie might have been born into a life of privilege and riches, but the extent of the tragedy he experienced in his life is unimaginable.
In addition to Elizabeth and Alexandra, his sisters Irene (Princess Heinrich) and Victoria appear in the photograph.
And since all Romanov roads lead to Prince Phillip, please note that Victoria Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven, born Victoria of Hesse, and By Rhine (older sister of Empress Alexandra) was Prince Phillip's maternal grandmother. So he had Hessian blood as well.
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Queen Victoria's Currently living Eldest Decendants and Eldest Ever Descendants
This list is as of 19 April 2024
CURRENTLY LIVING
The Lady Pamela Hicks (19 April 1929) (95 years, 0 months, 0 days)
Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (12 February 1932) (92 years, 2 months, 7 days)
Count Bertram Friedrich zu Castell-Rüdenhausen (12 July 1932) (91 years, 9 months, 7 days)
Mrs. Anne Mary Sibylla Liddell-Grainger (28 July 1932) (91 years,8 months, 22 days)
Princess Caroline Mathilde Adelheid Sibylla Marianne Erika von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (5 April 1933) (91 years, 0 months, 14 days)
Princess Dorothea Charlotte Karin of Hesse (24 July 1934) (89 years, 8 months, 26 days)
Princess Margaretha Désirée Victoria, Mrs. Ambler (Sweden, 31 October 1934) ( 89 years, 5months, 13 days)
Countess Viktoria Adelheid Clementine Louise von Castell-Rüdenhausen-Von Huntington-Whiteley (26 Februrary 1935)(89 years, 1 months, 24 days)
Prince Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick, The Duke of Kent (9 October 1935) (88 years, 6 months, 10 days)
Miss Elizabeth Alice Abel Smith (5 September 1936) (87 years, 7 months, 14 days)
Eldest LIVED Descendants:
On 12 June 2025, Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner will join this list if she is still living.
Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh (10 June 1921-9 April 2021) ( 99 years, 10 months, 11 days)
Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone (25/02/1883-03/01/1981) (97 years, 10 months, 10 days)
Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom (21 April 1926-8 September 2022) ( 96 years, 4 months, 18 days)
King Mihai I of Romania (25/10/1921-05/12/2017) ( 96 years, 1 month, 11 days)
Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg (Sweden) (31/10/1916-05/05/2012) (95 years, 6 months, 5 days )
The Lady Pamela Hicks (19 April 1929) (95 years, 0 months, 0 days)
Count Sigvard Bernadotte af Wisborg (of Sweden) (07/06/1907-04/02/2002) (94 years, 7 months, 28 days )
Lady Katherine Brandram (Princess of Greece and Denmark) (04/05/1913 02/10/2007) ( 94 years, 4 months, 27 days )
Infanta Dona Beatriz Isabel Federica Alfonsa Eugénie Cristina Maria Teresia Bienvenida Ladislàa of Spain, The Princess of Civitella-Cesi (22/06/1909-22/11/2002) (93 years, 5 months, 1 day)
Patricia Edwina Victoria Mountbatten- Knatchbull , The 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (14/02/1924-13/06/2017) ( 93 years, 4 months)
FACTS:
The Duke of Edinburgh is the husband and third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, first cousin of Lady Katherine Brandram, The Countess Mountbatten of Burma & Lady Pamela (Mountbatten) Hicks & uncle to Princess Dorothea Charlotte Karin of Hesse. He is also a 1st cousin 1x removed of Queen Sofia of Spain, King Constantine II of the Helenes and Princess Irene of Greece & Denmark and The Duke of Kent (The Duke of Kent’s mother Marina was The Duke of Edinburgh’s first cousin).
Queen Elizabeth II is a 3rd cousin of The Countess Mountbatten of Burma, Lady Pamela Mountbatten, The Duke of Edinburgh. She is the wife of The Duke of Edinburgh. Through her marriage, she is an aunt to Princess Dorothea Charlotte Karin of Hesse. She is a first cousin of The Duke of Kent.
Lady Pamela Hicks is a 3rd cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, a first cousin of The Duke of Edinburgh, her big sister was The Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner is a third cousin of The Countess Mountbatten of Burma, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II & Lady Pamela Hicks.
The Countess of Althorne was the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria. By her marriage, The Countess of Althorne was also a great aunt of Queen Elizabeth II-she married QEII’s grandmother’s brother
King Mihai I of Romania was the last monarch of Romania, he was also a great grandchild of Queen Victoria twice-once through his mother (via Victoria, Princess Royal) and once through his father (via Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)
Sweden’s Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg & Count Sigvard Bernadotte af Wisborg were brothers as well as uncles to King Carl XVI Gustaf, Princess Margareta, Mrs. Ambler, Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern, Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld, Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Princess Benedikte of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg & Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.
Countess Viktoria Adelheid Clementine Louise von Castell-Rüdenhausen-Von Huntington-Whiteley was a great granddaughter of Prince Leopold, The Duke of Albany, thus a great great granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She is also the younger sister of Count Bertram Friedrich zu Castell-Rüdenhausen.
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The Husbands of the Four Graces
Some time ago, I read a very interesting book about Queen Victoria's Hessian Granddaughters (Victoria, Elizabeth, Irene, and Alix.) The title was "The Four Graces," and ever since I read it, that is the way I think about the daughters of Grand Duke of Louis IV of Hesse and by Rhine and the beautiful princess Alice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, second daughter of Queen Victoria.
These young women were among the most marriageable princesses of their generation. They were beautiful, accomplished and Queen Victoria's granddaughters. There was no need to look for husbands for them. Among their suitors could be found future Kaisers, Tsars and Kings of England even though it was well known that any or all of the princesses could be carriers of hemophilia (inherited from their august grandmother Victoria.) Their sons might be bleeders. One of their brother's had been, therefore Princess Alice, their mother, had been a carrier.
The four men they married appear in the first photograph above; one marquess, one prince, one grand duke, and one Emperor (all of them very handsome):
👑Louis Mountbatten, first Marques of Milford Heaven (the man all the way to the left on the picture) married Princess Victoria Alberta Elisabeth Mathilde Marie of Hesse and By Rhine. Victoria and Louis had two sons and neither one of them had hemophillia.
👑The Hohenzollern Prince and brother of the German Keiser, Prince Heinrich of Prussia (the man to the right of Mountbatten in the photograph) married Princess Irene Luise Marie Anne of Hesse and By Rhine. They were first cousins since Heinrich was the son of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, the Princess Royal, who was the older sister of Princess Alice. They had three sons. Two out of the three had hemophilia. One died in childhood of causes related to that disease.
👑 Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (the man to the right of Prince Heinrich) married Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse and by Rhine. Sergei and Elizabeth had no children.
👑The soon-to-be Tsar Nicholas II of Russia married Alix Viktoria Helene Luise Beatrix. Alix had one son, and he had hemophilia. (gcl)
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