Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 1850 – 16 January 1942) was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as Governor General of Canada, the tenth since Canadian Confederation and the only British prince to do so.
Prince Arthur
1 May 1850
Buckingham Palace, London, England
16 January 1942 (aged 91)
Bagshot Park, Surrey, England
23 January 1942
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (until 1917)
Windsor (from 1917)
1868–1942
Arthur was educated by private tutors before entering the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich at 16 years old. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the British Army, where he served for some 40 years, seeing service in various parts of the British Empire. During this time, he was also created a royal duke, becoming Duke of Connaught and Strathearn as well as Earl of Sussex. In 1900, he was appointed as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, which he regretted; his preference was to join the campaign against the Boers in South Africa.[1] In 1911, he was appointed as Governor General of Canada, replacing Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, as viceroy. He occupied this post until he was succeeded by Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, in 1916. He acted as the King's, and thus the Canadian Commander-in-Chief's, representative through the first years of the First World War.
After the end of his viceregal tenure, Arthur returned to the United Kingdom and performed various royal duties there and in Ireland, while also again taking up military duties. Though he retired from public life in 1928, he continued to make his presence known in the army well into the Second World War, before his death in 1942. He was Queen Victoria's last surviving son.
Death[edit]
Prince Arthur died on 16 January 1942 at Bagshot Park, at the age of 91 years, 8 months and 16 days, the same age as his elder sister, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, who had died two years and one month before. A funeral service for the Duke was held at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on 23 January, after which his body was placed temporarily in the Royal Vault beneath the chapel.[41] He was reburied on 19 March 1942 in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.[42] He was Queen Victoria's last surviving son.[43] His will was sealed in Llandudno after his death in 1942. His estate was valued at £150,677 (or £4.9 million in 2022 when adjusted for inflation).[44]
Named in his honour:
