Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine (Friedrich Wilhelm August Victor Leopold Ludwig), (October 7, 1870 – May 29, 1873), was the haemophiliac second son of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom

The Princess Alice was a member of the British royal family, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.Alice's education was devised by Albert's close friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar...

, thus he is a grandson of Queen Victoria. He died at the age of two and a half.

Life

Friedrich, called "Frittie" in the family, was a cheerful and lively child despite his illness. "Leopold" was added as one of his names in honor of his mother's haemophiliac brother, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany

The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany was the eighth child and fourth son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow...

, who was Friedrich's godfather.

Death

His haemophilia was first diagnosed in February 1873, a few months before his death, when he cut his ear and bled for three days. Bandages could not staunch the flow of blood. In late May 1873, Friedrich and his brother Ernst were playing together in their mother's bedroom. Ernst ran to another room, which was set at right angles to Alice's bedroom and peered through the window at his younger brother. Alice ran to get Ernst away from the window. When she was out of the room, Friedrich climbed onto a chair next to an open window in his mother's bedroom to get a closer look at his brother. The chair tipped over and Friedrich tumbled through the window, falling twenty feet to the balustrade below. Friedrich survived the fall and might have lived had he not been a haemophiliac. He died hours later of a brain hemorrhage.

Aftermath

Following Friedrich's death, his distraught mother often prayed at his grave and marked anniversaries of small events in his life. His brother Ernst told his mother he wanted all of the family to die together, not alone "like Frittie." Two of Friedrich's sisters, Irene

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine was the third child and third daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert...

 and Alix

Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse

Alix of Hesse and by Rhine later Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova , was Empress consort of Russia as spouse of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire...

, also had haemophiliac sons.

Ancestry