Mountbatten family

The Mountbatten family is a British dynasty that originated as a British branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted on 14 July 1917, three days before the British royal family changed its name from "Saxe-Coburg and Gotha" to "Windsor", by members of the Battenberg family residing in the United Kingdom, due to rising anti-German sentiment among the British public during World War I. The name is a direct Anglicisation of the German Battenberg, or Batten mountain, the name of a small town in Hesse. The titles of count and later prince of Battenberg had been granted in the mid-19th century to a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, itself a cadet branch of the House of Hesse.

"Mountbatten" redirects here. For other uses of Mountbatten or Mount Batten, see Mount Batten (disambiguation).

Mountbatten
German-British noble family
Blazon: Quarterly, 1st and 4th: Azure, a Lion rampant double-queued Barry of ten Argent and Gules and ducaly crowned Or, within a Bordure compony of the second and third (Hesse); 2nd and 3rd: Argent, two pallets Sable (Battenberg).
Parent familyBattenberg branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt
Place of originGrand Duchy of Hesse
Founded14 July 1917 (1917-07-14)
Current headGeorge Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven
Titles
Connected members
Connected families
Cadet branches

The family includes the Marquesses of Milford Haven (and formerly the Marquesses of Carisbrooke), as well as the Earls Mountbatten of Burma. The late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II, adopted the surname of Mountbatten from his mother's family in 1947, being a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg by patrilineal descent. Lady Louise Mountbatten became Queen Consort of Sweden after marrying Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden.

Origins

The Mountbatten family are a branch of the German house of Battenberg. The Battenberg family was a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, rulers of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in Germany. The first member of the House of Battenberg was Julia Hauke, whose brother-in-law Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse created her Countess of Battenberg with the style Illustrious Highness (HIllH) in 1851, on the occasion of her morganatic marriage to Grand Duke Louis' brother Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine. Julia was elevated in her title to Princess of Battenberg with the style Serene Highness (HSH) in 1858.[1]

Two of Alexander and Julia's sons, Prince Henry of Battenberg and Prince Louis of Battenberg, became associated with the British Royal Family. Prince Henry married The Princess Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria. Prince Louis married Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, and became the First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy. Due to anti-German feelings prevalent in Britain during World War I, Prince Louis, his children, and his nephews (the living sons of Prince Henry), renounced their German titles and changed their name to the more English sounding Mountbatten. (They rejected an alternative translation, "Battenhill".)[2] Their cousin George V compensated the princes with British peerages. Prince Louis became the 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, while Prince Alexander, Prince Henry's eldest son, became the 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke.[1][3]

Members

Marquesses of Milford Haven
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven

The marquessate of Milford Haven was created in 1917 for Prince Louis of Battenberg, the former First Sea Lord, and a relation to the British Royal family. He was at the same time made Earl of Medina and Viscount Alderney, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[3] Princess Alice of Battenberg never took the name Mountbatten as she married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903; her son, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, took the name upon becoming a naturalised British citizen.[4]

The heir apparent to the marquessate is the present holder's son Henry Mountbatten, Earl of Medina (b. 1991)

The 1st Marquess's youngest daughter, Lady Louise Mountbatten, married the crown prince of Sweden in 1923. On his accession in 1950 as Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Louise became Queen consort of Sweden.[5][6]

Earls Mountbatten of Burma
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

Earl Mountbatten of Burma is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1947 for Rear Admiral Louis Mountbatten, 1st Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, youngest son of the 1st Marquess of Milford Haven and the last Viceroy of India. The letters patent creating the title specified the following special remainder to his daughters. The subsidiary titles of the Earldom are Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, of Romsey in the County of Southampton, created 1946, and Baron Romsey, of Romsey in the County of Southampton, created in 1947. Both of these titles, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, have the same special remainder as the Earldom.[7]

The heir apparent to the earldom is the present holder's son, Nicholas Knatchbull, Lord Brabourne (born 1981).

Marquess of Carisbrooke
Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke

Marquess of Carisbrooke was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1917 for Prince Alexander of Battenberg, eldest son of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg. He was made Viscount Launceston, in the County of Cornwall, and Earl of Berkhampsted at the same time, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[3] The titles became extinct upon Lord Carisbrooke's death in 1960, as he had no sons.

His siblings were:

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the son of Princess Alice of Battenberg and grandson of the 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, took the name Mountbatten when he became a naturalised British subject. Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten married Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI of the United Kingdom, on 20 November 1947. In 1952, on the accession of his wife as Queen Elizabeth II, there was some dispute regarding the dynasty to which descendants of Elizabeth and Phillip would belong. Queen Mary (the new Queen's grandmother) expressed to Prime Minister Winston Churchill her aversion to the idea of the House of Mountbatten succeeding the House of Windsor as the royal dynasty, and so it remained Windsor.[4]

Mountbatten-Windsor
Main article: Mountbatten-Windsor

Mountbatten-Windsor is the personal surname of some of the descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh under an Order in Council issued in 1960, which has not been applied consistently. While the order specifically applies the surname "Mountbatten-Windsor" to Elizabeth's male-line descendants not holding royal styles and titles, "Mountbatten-Windsor" has been formally used by some of her descendants who do hold royal styles. The surname was first officially used by Princess Anne in 1973, in the wedding register for her marriage to Mark Phillips.[8] Prince William and his wife Catherine used the names "Monsieur et Madame Mountbatten-Windsor" when filing a French lawsuit against the French magazine Closer.[9][10] Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife Meghan named their children Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor from birth,[11][12] although the children formally became a prince and princess on the accession of their grandfather to the throne on 8 September 2022.[13]

Mountbatten-Windsor differs from the official name of the British royal family or royal house, which remains Windsor. The adoption of the Mountbatten-Windsor surname applies only to members of the royal family who are descended from Elizabeth, and not, for example, to her cousins, or descendants of her sister, Princess Margaret.[8]

Legacy

The city of Ottawa, Ontario, erected Mountbatten Avenue in memory of the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. A Royal Canadian Sea Cadets corps, RCSCC No. 134 Admiral Mountbatten, was named after him in 1946.[14] A 9 ft 5 in (2.9 m) bronze statue by Franta Belsky of Lord Mountbatten of Burma was erected in 1983 outside the Foreign Office, overlooking Horse Guards Parade. The earl is dressed in the uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet.[15]

The Mountbatten Institute (formerly known as the Mountbatten Internship Programme), an organization based in New York and London dedicated to fostering work experience and cultural exchange by placing international graduate students abroad to earn postgraduate and degrees was set up by his eldest daughter, Patricia, 2nd Countess Mountbatten. It was named in honour of the countess's father, the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma.[16]

Despite the family's well-known connections with the Royal Navy, the Mount Batten Peninsula, overlooking the Royal Naval Base of Devonport, England, is not named after them but after Sir William Batten, a 17th-century Surveyor of the Navy.

Coats of arms

Family tree

Genealogical Table of the Battenberg, Mountbatten and Mountbatten-Windsor Family


Battenberg/
Mountbatten		House of Hesse-DarmstadtBritish Royal FamilyHouse of Romanov
(Russia)		Greek Royal FamilySwedish Royal FamilySpanish Royal Family

Louis II
(1777–1848)
Grand Duke of Hesse and by the Rhine
1830—1848


Victoria
Albert, Prince Consort

 Prince Charles of Hesse and by the Rhine
(1809–1877)
Louis III
(1806–1877)
Grand Duke of Hesse and by the Rhine
1848—1877
 Prince Alexander of Hesse and by the Rhine
(1823–1888)		Julia v. Hauke
[lower-alpha 1]
(1825–1895)
Countess, later Princess of Battenberg

Marie
(1824–1880)
Empress Maria Alexandrovna
Alexander II
(1818–1881)
Emperor of
All Russia
1855—1881

Edward VII
Alice
(1843–1878)
Grand Duchess of Hesse and by the Rhine

Louis IV
(1837–1892)
Grand Duke of Hesse and by the Rhine
1877—1892
Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom
(1857–1944)

Prince Henry of Battenberg
(1858–1896)


Prince Alexander of Battenberg
(1857–1893)
Prince of Bulgaria
(1879–1886)
Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg
(1861–1924)
Alexander III
(1845–1894)
Emperor of All Russia
1881—1894

George I
(1845–1913)
King of Greece
1863—1913

George V

Ernest Louis
(1868–1937)
Grand Duke of Hesse and by the Rhine
1892—1918
Alix
(1872–1918)
Empress of Russia

Nicholas II
(1868–1918)
Emperor of All Russia
1894—1917
Victoria
(1863–1950)
Prince Louis of Battenberg[lower-alpha 2]
(1854–1921)

from 1917 Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven
Alexander
(1886–1960)

from 1917 Alexander Mountbatten, Marquess of Carisbrooke		Leopold
(1889–1922)
from 1917 Lord Leopold Mountbatten		Prince Maurice of Battenberg
(1891–1914)		Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
(1887–1969)



Queen of Spain,1906 –1931
Alfonso XIII
(1886–1941)
King of Spain
1886—1931

Constantine I
(1868–1923)
King of Greece
1913-17 &
1920-22

George VI
Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse
(1906–1937)		Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine
(1908–1968)		Princess Alice of Battenberg
(1885–1969)
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
(1882–1944)
Louise Mountbatten
(1889–1965)
Queen of Sweden

Gustaf VI Adolf
(1882–1973)
King of Sweden
1950—1973

George
(1892–1938)

2nd Marquess of Milford Haven
Lord Louis Mountbatten[lower-alpha 3]
(1900–1979)

1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma		Infante Juan
Count of Barcelona
(1913–1993)

Paul
(1901–1964)
King of Greece
1947—1964

Elizabeth II
(1926–2022)

Philip[lower-alpha 4]
(1921–2021)
Duke of Edinburgh
Prince
Gustaf Adolf
Duke of
Västerbotten
(1906—1947)

David Mountbatten
(1919–1970)
3rd Marquess of Milford Haven		Lady Pamela Hicks
(1929–)
Patricia Knatchbull
(1924–2017)
2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma
m. John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne
Juan Carlos I
(1938—)
King of Spain
1975—2014
Sophia
(1938—)
Queen of Spain
1975—2014

Constantine II
(1940—2023)
King of Greece
1964–73

Charles III
(1948–)


Anne, Princess Royal
(1950–)

Prince Andrew, Duke of York
(1960–)

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
(1964–)

Carl XVI Gustaf
(1946–)
King of Sweden
1973—

George Mountbatten
(1961–)
4th Marquess of Milford Haven		Lord Ivar Mountbatten
(1963–)
Norton Knatchbull
(1947–)
3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma
6 others
Felipe VI
(1968–)
King of Spain
2014—
Pavlos
Crown Prince
(1967—)

Notes
  1. This coat of arms is reported in the "Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe", by Jiri Louda and Michael Maclagan, Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. Publishers, New York, 1981, p216, table 109. While these arms are virtually the same as the city of Mainz, it is a common heraldic law that identical arms are allowed when the bearers are of different nations, but within a nation they are not (see for England, Warbelton v Gorges and Scrope v Grosvenor). However, Wikipedia reports a different set of arms for the family at the article on Hauke-Bosak (. However, these arms are for the family in Russia, and the reference given is an expired page in the Polish Wikipedia. There is no reference for the family seen in the Rietstap Armorial General.
  2. Admiral of the Fleet, RN
    GCB, GCVO, KCMG, PC
    First Sea Lord, RN (1912–1914)
  3. Admiral of the Fleet, RN
    KG GCB OM GCSI GCIE GCVO DSO PC FRS
    Chief of Combined Operations, Chiefs of Staff Committee (UK) and Combined Chiefs of Staff (US & UK) (1941–1943)
    Supreme Allied Commander,  South East Asia Command(1943–1946)
    Viceroy and Governor-General of India(1947)
    Governor-General of India(1947–1948)
    Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, RN (1952–1954)
    Fourth Sea Lord, RN (1950–1952)
    First Sea Lord, RN (1955–1959)
    Chief of the Defence Staff (1959–1965)
  4. Prince Philip was born a member of the Danish and Greek Royal House of Glucksborg and was known as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.
    On his marriage he became a naturalized British subject, disclaimed his Greek and Danish titles, and adopted his mother's maiden name of Mountbatten as his surname. As documented in the Mountbatten family and Mountbatten-Windsor articles, the dynastic name of the British Royal Family remains Windsor. However, the personal surname of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles is Mountbatten-Windsor (e.g. James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex and Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor).
    Philip was created Duke of Edinburgh on his marriage. In 1957, Queen Elizabeth created him a British Prince.

See also

References
  1. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (1973). Burke's Guide to the Royal Family. London: Burke's Peerage. pp. 303–304. ISBN 978-0220662226.
  2. Hough, Richard (1984). Louis and Victoria: The Family History of the Mountbattens. Second edition. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 317. ISBN 0-297-78470-6.
  3. "No. 30374". The London Gazette. 9 November 1917. p. 11594.
  4. Bousfield, Arthur; Toffoli, Garry (2002). Fifty Years the Queen. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Dundurn Press. p. 101. ISBN 1550023608.
  5. Aronson, Theo (1973). Grandmama of Europe: the crowned descendants of Queen Victoria, Part 352. Cassell. ISBN 9781910198049.
  6. Judd, Denis (1976). Eclipse of kings: European monarchies in the twentieth century. Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 9780685701195.
  7. "No. 44059". The London Gazette. 21 July 1966. p. 8227.
  8. "The Royal Family name". The British Monarchy. n.d. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  9. Lichfield, John (19 September 2012). "William and Kate win legal battle – but lose war to keep topless photos under wraps". Independent. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  10. "Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre referes Judgement de Refere Rendu le 18 Septembre 2012" (PDF). Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre. 18 September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  11. "Royal baby: Duke and Duchess of Sussex name son Archie". BBC. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  12. Foster, Max; Said-Moorhouse, Lauren (6 June 2021). "Meghan and Prince Harry welcome second child". CNN. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  13. "Harry and Meghan's daughter Princess Lilibet Diana christened in US". BBC News. 8 March 2023.
  14. "Mountbatten Avenue". National Inventory of Military Memorials. National Defence Canada. 16 April 2008. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015.
  15. Baker, Margaret (2002). Discovering London Statues and Monuments. Bucks, UK: Shore Publications Ltd. p. 20. ISBN 0747804958.
  16. "About Us". Mountbatten Institute. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
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