Tuesday, June 9, 2009

King's aunt, Princess Christian is dead



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 June 9, 1923

The AP reports today that Princess Christian, the aunt of King George V, died this morning. Princess Helena Augusta Victoria was born May 25, 1846, the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was married on July 5, 1866, at Windsor castle, to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.

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Prince Christian, who became a British subject at the time of the marriage, died in 1917.

Princess Christian is survived by her son, Albert, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, who served in the Prussian army during the war, and two daughters, Princess Helena Victoria and Marie Luise.

The death of Princess Christian "will not be permitted by the King to throw more gloom over the London season than is absolutely necessary," according to the New York Times.

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 The court will go into mourning for a month, but the royal family will continue to carry out their official engagements. King George "realizes that these, even when they are purely of a social nature, generally have a public importance, and to abandon them even on the account of personal bereavement would be unfair and inconvenient to considerable numbers of people."


Today King George and Queen Mary visited one of the poorest neighborhoods in East London, and the Prince of Wales opened a new public golf course in Richmond Park. The Prince of Wales will also be spending three days in the Midlands, carrying out official engagements.

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Arrangements for Ascot will continue, and "court mourning is not to effect what the public wear at courts and at Ascot."

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