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Alexander Mountbatten, Marquess
of Carisbrooke, (1886-1960)
Born 23 November 1886 Windsor Castle
Died 23 February 1960 London
Married 19 July 1917 London
Lady Irene Frances Adza Denison,
daughter of William
Francis Henry Denison, 2nd Earl of Londesborough
and Lady Grace Augusta Fane
Born 4 July 1890 London
Died 16 July 1956 London |
The early years of "Drino"'s childhood were spent happily at Windsor
and the other homes of his grandmother, Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria
spoiled Drino, his sister and brothers, to such an extent that when he
went to Wellington College he missed his grandmother more than he did his
mother.
These schooldays at Wellington were not the happiest of his life; the
other boys considered him conceited and precious, while he in turn regarded
them as bloodthirsty hooligans. Never having managed money before, he had
trouble with his finances and on one occassion was forced to write to his
grandmother for money. However, she refused and
told him to learn to live with his allowance. A few days later, Drino
wrote to Queen Victoria to tell his financial worries were over as he had
sold her letter to another boy.
From 1902 till 1908 he was in the Royal Navy, and later commissioned
in the Grenadier Guards during the First World War. However, being mentioned
in despatches did not impress his fellow grenadier, the Prince of Wales,
the future Edward VIII, who wrote
about Drino as "The completest dud I always think".
In 1917 all foreign titles were abolished and Prince Alexander von
Battenberg became Alexander Mountbatten, Marquess of Carisbrooke. In the
same year he married Lady Irene Denison, daughter of the Earl of Londesborough.
When Irene became pregnant, the Prince of Wales had another dig at Drino,
"I hear that Irene Carisbrooke has signs of a baby and that Drino has retired
to bed for a month's rest cure!"
After the First World War was over, Drino was the first member of the
royal family to go into business. Training as a junior clerk with the banking
house of Lazard Brothers, he was later offered the directorship of several
important companies, including an Oxford Street store where his duties
were described as "an adviser to buyers of decorative fabrics". He also
became Senior Steward of the Greyhound Racing Club. During the Second World
War he served in the Royal Air Force as a non-flying Pilot Officer.
Drino was an entertaining and popular figure who enjoyed music and
gossip. One of his guests once described him as "immaculately dressed in
a well-pressed check suit, padded shoulders, and jangling gold bracelets
and rings. He reminded me of an old spruce hen, cackling and scratching
the dust in a chicken-run".
Source: Leo van de Pas |
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