Princess Julia of Battenberg

Countess Julia Hauke
Princess of Battenberg
Julia Hauke, Princess of Battenberg
Born	(1825-11-24)24 November 1825 Warsaw, Congress Poland
Died	19 September 1895(1895-09-19) (aged 69) Heiligenberg Castle, Jugenheim, Hesse
Spouse	Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine
Issue	Marie, Princess of Erbach-Schönberg Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria Prince Henry Prince Francis Joseph
Full name Julie Therese Salomea Hauke
Father	Count John Maurice Hauke
Mother	Sophie Lafontaine

Julia, Princess of Battenberg (24 November [O.S. 12 November] 1825 – 19 September 1895) was the wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the mother of Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria, and ancestress to the current generations of the British and Spanish royal families.

Julie (or Julia) Therese Salomea Hauke was born in Warsaw (Congress Poland), then ruled in personal union by the Tsar of Imperial Russia. She was the daughter of John Maurice Hauke, a German soldier, and his wife Sophie (née Lafontaine). Julie was rumored to be of Jewish descent.

Julia's father had fought in Napoleon's Polish Legions in Austria, Italy, Germany and the Peninsular War. After his service in the Polish army since 1790 and the army of the Duchy of Warsaw from 1809 to 1814, he entered the ranks of the army of Congress Poland, became a full-fledged general in 1828 and was awarded a Polish title of nobility. Recognizing his abilities, Tsar Nicholas I appointed him Deputy Minister of War of Congress Poland and elevated him and his family in 1829 to the rank of counts, automatically making Julia a countess. In the November Uprising of 1830 led by rebelling army cadets, Grand Duke Constantine, Poland's de facto viceroy, managed to escape, but Julia's father was shot dead by the cadets on a Warsaw street. Her mother died of shock shortly afterwards, and their children were made wards of the Tsar.