Princess Patricia of Connaught

Infobox British Royalty|royal
name = Lady Patricia Ramsay
title = Princess Patricia of Connaught


caption = Princess Patricia, photographed by W & D Downey
spouse = Sir Alexander Ramsay
issue = Alexander Ramsay of Mar
full name = Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth
titles = "Lady" Patricia Ramsay
"HRH" Princess Patricia of Connaught
royal house = House of Windsor
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
father = Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught
mother = Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught
date of birth = birth date|1886|3|17|df=y
place of birth = Buckingham Palace, London
date of christening = 1 May 1886
place of christening = Bagshot Park, Surrey
date of death = Death date and age|1974|1|12|1886|2|17|df=yes
place of death = Windlesham, Surrey
place of burial = Frogmore, London|

Princess Patricia of Connaught (Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth; later Lady Patricia Ramsay; 17 February 1886 – 12 January 1974) was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She relinquished her title of a British princess and the style of "Her Royal Highness" upon her marriage to the commoner Alexander Ramsay.

The Canadian Forces infantry regiment, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was named in her honour.

Early life

Princess Patricia — "Patsy" to family and friends — was born on 17 March 1886, St Patrick's Day, at Buckingham Palace in London. Her father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her mother was Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia. She had two elder siblings, Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Margaret of Connaught, later Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden. She was christened "Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth" at Bagshot Park on 1 May 1886 and her godparents were Queen Victoria, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Prince Albrecht of Prussia. She was named Victoria after Queen Victoria; Patricia, after Saint Patrick, the saint of her birthday; and Helena, in honour of her father's sister.

Canada

Princess Patricia travelled extensively in her early years. Her father, the Duke of Connaught, was posted to India with the army, and the young Princess spent two years living there. Connaught Place, the central business locus of New Delhi, is named for the Duke. In 1911, the Duke was appointed Governor General of Canada. Princess Patricia accompanied her parents to Canada, and she became extremely popular there.

She was named Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on 22 February 1918 and held that appointment until her death. The regiment was named after her. Princess Patricia personally designed the badge and colours for the regiment to take overseas to France. As the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, she played an active role until her death. She was succeeded in 1974 by her cousin and goddaughter Patricia (the Rt. Hon. Lady Brabourne), who became the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who asked that the men and women of her regiment discount her titles and refer to her in honour of her predecessor as Lady Patricia.

Marriage

House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|albertgThe question of Patricia's marriage was a hot topic of conversation in Edwardian times. She was matched with various foreign royals, including the King of Spain and the future King of Portugal; the future Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz [cite news | title = PRINCESS PAT" ENGAGED?; Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Said to be Her Fiance. | pages =4 | publisher = New York Times | date =1913-06-30 ] and Grand Duke Michael of Russia, younger brother of Tsar Nicholas II.

In the end, however, Patricia chose a commoner rather than a husband of royal blood. She married naval Commander (later Admiral) The Hon. Alexander Ramsay (29 May 1881 – 8 October 1972), one of her father's aides de camp, and third son of the Earl of Dalhousie. She was married at Westminster Abbey on 27 February 1919. On her wedding day, Princess Patricia of Connaught voluntarily relinquished the style of Royal Highness and the title of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and assumed the style of "Lady" Patricia Ramsay with precedence immediately before the Marchionesses of England.

Cdr Alexander Ramsay and Lady Patricia Ramsay had one child:
*Alexander Ramsay of Mar (21 December 1919 – 20 December 2000), married, 1956, Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun, and had issue.

Later life

Despite her relinquishment of her royal title, Lady Patricia remained a member of the British Royal Family, remained in the line of succession, and attended all major royal events including weddings, funerals, and the coronations of George VI and Elizabeth II in 1937 and 1953 respectively.

Lady Patricia was an accomplished artist specializing in watercolours. Much of her work was inspired by her travel in tropical countries. Her style was influenced by Gauguin and Van Gogh, because she had studied under A.S. Hartrick who had known the artists. She died at Ribsden Holt, Windlesham, Surrey before her 88th birthday and a year and a half after her husband. She was the younger one of only two surviving female grandchildren of Queen Victoria. Lady Patricia Ramsay and Admiral Alexander Ramsay are buried at Frogmore Royal Burial Ground, directly behind the Royal Mausoleum of her grandparents Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, in Windsor Great Park.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

*17 March 1886 – 27 February 1919: "Her Royal Highness" Princess Patricia of Connaught
*27 February 1919 – 12 January 1974: "Lady" Patricia Ramsay

Honours

*CI: Companion of the Crown of India, "1911"
*GCStJ: Dame Grand Cross of St John, "1934"
*Canadian Forces Decoration, "1934"

Arms

with a label for difference, blazoned thus: "Quarterly (by quarters):

:1st and 4th, Gules three Lions passant guardant in pale Or (England). (The first and fourth quarters display the three lions, representing England.) :2nd quarter is of a lion rampant within a Double Tressure flory counterflory Gules (Scotland). (The second quarter displays a red lion in a yellow field with a double border coloured red with red fleurs-de-lys, representing Scotland.): 3rd, Azure a Harp Or stringed Argent (Ireland). (The third quarter shows a golden harp with silver strings against a blue background, representing Ireland.)

The whole differenced by a Label of five points Argent, first and fifth with a "cross gules", the others "fleurs-de-lys azure". [ [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/cadency.htm Heraldica – British Royalty Cadency] ]

Ancestry

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1= 1. Princess Patricia of Connaught
2= 2. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
3= 3. Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia
4= 4. Albert, Prince Consort
5= 5. Victoria of the United Kingdom
6= 6. Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia
7= 7. Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt
8= 8. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
9= 9. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
10= 10. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
11= 11. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
12= 12. Prince Charles of Prussia
13= 13. Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar
14= 14. Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt
15= 15. Princess Frederica of Prussia
16= 16. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
17= 17. Princess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
18= 18. Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
19= 19. Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
20= 20. George III of the United Kingdom
21= 21. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
22= 22. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 16)
23= 23. Princess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf (= 17)
24= 24. Frederick William III of Prussia
25= 25. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
26= 26. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
27= 27. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
28= 28. Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
29= 29. Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Homburg
30= 30. Prince Louis Charles of Prussia
31= 31. Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

References

*Marlene A. Eilers, "Queen Victoria's Descendants," (New York: Atlantic International Publishing, 1987).
*Allison Weir, "Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy" (London: Palmico, 1996).
*"Obituary: Lady Patricia Ramsay, Granddaughter of Queen Victoria," "The Times," 14 January 1974, p. 14.