Source:
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Above: Princess Helena of the United Kingdom and Schleswig-Holstein, photographed by Alexander Bassano.
Above: Lady Georgina Cowell, photographer unknown.
(image courtesy of royaltyhistory)
The 700th post on this blog!
Princess Helena of the United Kingdom VA CI GBE RRC (born Helena Augusta Victoria on May 25, 1846, died June 9, 1923) was the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Helena was educated by private tutors chosen by her father and his close friend and advisor, Baron Stockmar. Her childhood was spent with her parents, travelling between a variety of royal residences in Britain. The intimate atmosphere of the royal court came to an end on December 14, 1861, when her father died and her mother entered a period of intense mourning. Afterwards, in the early 1860s, Helena began a flirtation with her father's German librarian, Carl Ruland. Although the nature of the relationship is largely unknown, Helena's romantic letters to him survive. After Queen Victoria found out in 1863, she dismissed Ruland, who returned to his native Germany. Three years later, on July 5, 1866, Helena married the impoverished Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. The couple remained in Britain, in calling distance of the Queen, who liked to have her daughters nearby. Helena, along with her youngest sister, Princess Beatrice, became the Queen's unofficial secretary. However, after Queen Victoria's death on January 22, 1901, Helena saw relatively little of her surviving siblings, including King Edward VII.
Helena was the most active member of the royal family, carrying out an extensive programme of royal engagements. She was also an active patron of charities, and was one of the founding members of the British Red Cross. She was founding president of the Royal School of Needlework, and president of the Workhouse Infirmary Nursing Association. As president of the latter, she was a strong supporter of nurse registration, against the advice of Florence Nightingale. In 1916 she became the first member of her family to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary, but her husband died a year later. Helena outlived him by six years, dying on June 9, 1923 at the age of 77.
The letter:
CUMBERLAND LODGE
WINDSOR CT PARK.
Friday night
Dearest Lady Cowell -
I write a line to say that I will call tomorrow at ½ fr. 3 at yr. house in the hopes of [illegible] perhaps being able to see me.
Affec..tly yrs.
Helena.
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