Early life

The last of Victoria and Albert’s nine children, Beatrice was known affectionately as ‘Baby’ well into adult life. She had in many ways a sad and solitary childhood, growing up in the aftermath of Prince Albert’s early death in 1861, which left Victoria grief-stricken. Her nearest sibling in age, Leopold, was a sickly child, and without other children as playmates Beatrice grew up to be quiet and reserved.

But Victoria and Albert indulged Beatrice more than her siblings, and she could be naughty. In the summer of 1862 she shut her governess in the barracks at the children’s miniature fort in the grounds at Osborne, and demanded that she bark like a dog to be released.

Her intended role was clearly to be her mother’s companion and helper, and marriage seemed unlikely. When in 1884 the 27-year-old Beatrice fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg, Victoria initially reacted frostily, determined, it seems, to keep her daughter by her side. After Beatrice unofficially announced her intention to marry Henry, the queen did not speak to her for months. However, she eventually allowed the marriage, on condition that Prince Henry resigned his commission in the Prussian army and that the couple made their home with her.

Beatrice at Carisbrooke

After Queen Victoria died at Osborne in 1901, the main house – which Beatrice’s brother, Edward VII, had no interest in – became a convalescent home, with part of the ground floor opened to the public. Princess Beatrice initially remained at Osborne Cottage. However, the traditional residence of the Isle of Wight’s governors was at Carisbrooke Castle. When it became vacant after the death of the last deputy governor in 1913, Princess Beatrice decided to make the governor’s residence there her summer home.

Princess Beatrice already had strong links with Carisbrooke Castle before she took up residence there. In 1898 she opened a museum in the gatehouse, which had been restored as a memorial to her husband. It became the first home of the Carisbrooke Castle Museum, which at that time focused mainly on Charles I, who had been held prisoner there in 1647–8.

Beatrice moved in after making some alterations, such as adding a bathroom, to make the castle more up to date. She had the medieval hall range and the adjacent chamber block, the Constable’s Lodging, adapted for her use – many internal fittings, such as panelling and window seats, survive from her time. The L-shaped range in the south-east corner of the castle was adapted to provide accommodation for her staff, and a tunnel was built between it and Beatrice’s apartments to allow them easy access.

Princess Beatrice also supported the restoration work on the Chapel of St Nicholas at Carisbrooke Castle. In 1919 a decision was made to transform it into a memorial to the men of the island who had died in the First World War. The names of the 2,000 island men killed in both the First and Second World Wars are inscribed on stone panels between the windows, while Princess Beatrice commissioned the altar painting in memory of her youngest son, Maurice, who was killed at Ypres in 1914.

For 25 years, until 1938, Princess Beatrice’s personal standard flew over the Carisbrooke Castle keep when she was in residence. She died at the age of 87 at her last home, Brantridge Park, Sussex, in 1944, and was buried beside her husband at Whippingham.