Alice, Grand Duchess, consort of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1843-1878

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom; Alice Maud Mary; Born 25 April 1843, Buckingham Palace, London, England; Died 14 December 1878 (aged 35), New Palace, Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire; She was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Alice was the first of Queen Victoria's nine children to die, and one of three to be outlived by their mother, who died in 1901; She was christened "Alice Maud Mary" in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace by The Archbishop of Canterbury, William Howley, on 2 June 1843. Her gender was greeted with mixed feelings from the public, and even the Privy Council sent a message to Albert expressing its "congratulation and condolence" on the birth of a second daughter; Her godparents were the King of Hanover (her great-uncle; for whom the Duke of Cambridge stood proxy), the Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (her aunt; for whom the Duchess of Kent stood proxy), the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (her uncle; for whom the Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz stood proxy) and Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester (her cousin); Alice's compassion for other people's suffering established her role as the family caregiver in 1861; Alice was engaged to Prince Louis of Hesse on 30 April 1861, following the Queen's consent; The Queen persuaded the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, to vote Alice a dowry of £30,000 (£2.75 million as of 2019); On 1 July 1862, Alice and Louis were married privately in the dining room of Osborne House, which was converted into a temporary chapel. The Queen was ushered in by her four sons, acting as a living screen blocking her from view, and took her place in an armchair near the altar. Alice was given away by her uncle, Albert's brother Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was flanked by four bridesmaids: her younger sisters, Princesses Helena, Louise and Beatrice, as well as Louis's sister Princess Anna; Alice and Louis arrived at Bingen on 12 July 1862 and were greeted by cheering crowds gathered in spite of pouring rain; In 1866, Austria called for Prussia to hand over administration of Schleswig-Holstein, which had until that point been jointly administered by the two powers, to the Duke of Augustenberg. Prussia refused, and Otto von Bismarck sent troops into Austrian-administered Holstein. This provoked war between Austria and Prussia, with Hesse siding with the Austrians, technically making Alice and her sister Victoria enemies; However, by Saturday, 14 December, the anniversary of her father's death, she became seriously ill with the diphtheria caught from her son. Her last words were "dear Papa", and she fell unconscious at 2:30 am. Just after 8:30 am, she died. Alice was buried on 18 December 1878 at the Grand Ducal mausoleum at Rosenhöhe outside Darmstadt, with the Union Flag draped over her coffin. A special monument of Alice and her daughter Marie was erected there by Joseph Boehm; Alice founded the Alice-Hospital in Darmstadt in 1869, to treat the city's sick and wounded; children: Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven; Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia; Princess Irene; Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse; Prince Friedrich; Alix, Empress of Russia; Princess Marie