Prince Charles | |
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Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine
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Born |
Darmstadt |
23 April 1809
Died | 20 March 1877 Darmstadt |
(aged 67)
Spouse | Princess Elizabeth of Prussia |
House | Hesse-Darmstadt |
Father | Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse |
Mother | Wilhelmine of Baden |
Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine (23 April 1809 - 20 March 1877) was the second surviving son of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse and Wilhelmine of Baden.
In 1836, Charles married Princess Elisabeth of Prussia (1815 - 1885), daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (brother of Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia) and Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg. They were unhappy together as Charles preferred life in the military to spending time with his family.
On 19 March 1877, Queen Victoria received a telegram from her daughter Alice, wife of Charles' son Louis, saying that they "feared the worst". The following evening, news reached the Queen from Alice that Charles had "passed away quite peacefully after 6." The Queen appears to have been affected by Charles' death, referring to him in her journal upon his death as "dear excellent Prince Charles of Hesse", later repeating, "So grieved and feel deeply for poor Prince Charles."
Charles's eldest son, Louis, would become Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine upon the death of Charles's childless brother, Louis III, in 1877.