Georg Donatus of Hesse, and his family

[Lisa]

Georg Donatus, Cecilia, Ludwig and Alexander of Hesse in 1934:

[Lisa]

Georg and Cecila of Greece at their wedding:


Cecilia was a grand daughter of Victoria of Milford Haven, wasn't she? or am I wrong?

[Louise]

You are right! She was also the daughter of Princess Alice and Prince Andrew of Greece.

Louise

[Lisa]

So, her husband was also her uncle...

[Louise]

Oh gosh, I have to think about this. No Georg would not be her uncle. He would be her cousin. Victoria and Ernest were brother and sister....Victoria had Alice, who had Cecila. Ernest had Georg....Yup cousins. I need to get out the family tree again. I hope this is the right info. It gets so confusing trying to keep the marriages and children and family trees straight.

:-/

Louise

[grandduchessella]

You are right! She was also the daughter of Princess Alice and Prince Andrew of Greece.

Louise

Let's see:
Alice--Victoria--Alice--Cecile
Alice--Ernst--George Donatus

Yes, she and George Donatus were were first cousins once removed (he being her mother's 1st cousins). He wasn't her uncle. Didn't all the Battenberg/Greek daughters marry relatives of some degree or not? Except maybe Theodora and the Prince of Baden. Sophie even did it twice (and to cousins themselves!
QV--Alice--Victoria--Alice--Sophie
QV--Vicky--Mossy--Christopher (1)
QV--Vicky--William--Victoria Louise--George William (2)

QV--Alice--Victoria--Alice--Margherita
QV--Alfred--Alexandra--Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenberg

Forgive me if I've switched Theodora and Margherita, I sometimes have trouble keeping their marriages straight and I'm doing this off the top of my head.

[Louise]

It's kinda fun eh? It gives your brain an exercise in see if you can get the relationships correct.

Louise

[Lisa]

Oh, oui, Louise!

The relationships in the royal families are quite complicated!

[Lisa]

Cecile of Hesse:

[otmafan]

I don't know if this is the right place, but does anyone know about the Grand Duchess of Hesse's adopted daughter Johanna who died young of meningitis? I saw a picture of her in Queen Victoria's Family by Charlotte Zeepvat.  

[grandduchessella]

Poor little thing--one more link in the Hesse chain of tragedies.    She was the daughter of George Donatus of Hesse (Ernie's oldest son) and Cecile of Greece (Alice Battenberg's daughter & Prince Philip's sister). She was the 3rd child and only girl. Because of her age (or she was sick, I don't recall exactly), she wasn't on board the airplane with her grandmother, father, pregnant mother & 2 brothers when it crashed at Ostend and killed all on board. Her only surviving Hesse relative, Ludwig & his new wife Margaret (whose wedding the family was headed to) adopted her as their own. Sadly, she died just a few years later--of meningitis I think. Ludwig & Margaret 'Peg' Hesse had no children of their own and thus the male line  died out and passed to the next Hesse branch.

[Maria_Pavlovna]

That is soo Sad. Poor kid and every other Hesse members who died.

[grandduchessella]

Does anyone know if this is true?
Hereditary Grand Duke Georg his wife Princess Cecilia, two sons and mother Princess Eleoner were killed in an aeroplane accident near Ostende. Cecilia was eight months pregnant at the time of the crash and the baby's body was discovered amongst the wreckage. The party were on their way to Croydon Airport to attend the wedding of his brother.Some doubt is cast regarding the birth/death of this baby as the supporting evidence is somewhat lacking.

[LisaDavidson]

I'm not sure what you are asking about. Yes, the family of George Donatus died in 1937 in an airplane accident. Yes, his wife, who was also Prince Philip's sister, was also pregnant and her child was stillborn after the accident.

Did that answer your question?

[grandduchessella]

I'm not sure what you are asking about. Yes, the family of George Donatus died in 1937 in an airplane accident. Yes, his wife, who was also Prince Philip's sister, was also pregnant and her child was stillborn after the accident.

Did that answer your question?

Sorry, I had listed the whole quote. I know about the crash--I've posted on it--I was wondering about the story of the stillborn child being found at the accident site. I had read Cecile was pregnant, but never knew how far along, etc...If true, I was surprised that a woman that far along would fly even a short distance. Nowadays they won't let you fly w/o a release, doctor's note and sometimes not then even. Of course, the various health risks might not have been known then. I also thought it was just an added layer of tragedy if true.