13 Facts About Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, The Amiable Princess

Prince and Princess Heinrich of Prussia with their two sons. 

Irene Luise Marie Anne, Princess of Hesse and by Rhine, was born on July 11, 1866 at Das Neues Palais in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse in western Germany. The third child and third daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and his wife, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, she married her first cousin, Prince Heinrich of Prussia. Although relatively overshadowed in fame and beauty by her two sisters, Elizabeth (Grand Duchess of Russia) and Alix (Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, she nevertheless had a happy marital life and she was well-loved by her family and relations. Here are some facts about Princess Irene of Hesse, Princess Heinrich of Prussia. 

1. Her first name was derived from the Greek word “eirene”, which means “peace”, as she was born at the conclusion of the Austro-Prussian War.

2. Her mother thought she was “not pretty” as evidenced by the letter she wrote to Irene’s sister, Victoria.

3. She had always been overshadowed by her sisters Elisabeth and Alix for she always preferred to stay out of the spotlight.

4. In what has been considered as the first tragedy that afflicted the family, her younger brother Friedrich died in 1873 after falling through an open a window. Frittie, who was hemophiliac, smashed his head onto the balustrade and eventually died of brain hemorrhage.

From left to right: Princesses Irene, Victoria, Elizabeth and Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, c1885.

5. The whole family was struck by diphtheria in the autumn of 1878, and though the then 12-year-old Irene survived the disease, her mother and her young sister Princess May unfortunately did not.

6. Irene married her first cousin (son of her mother’s sister), Prince Heinrich of Prussia, on May 24, 1888 at the chapel of the Schloss Charlottenburg in Berlin, Germany. The union produced three sons.

7. Queen Victoria was initially not happy about Irene’s and Heinrich’s marriage as she never knew about the courtship and only learned about the relationship the day the lovers decided to marry.

8. Irene and Heinrich never read the newspaper, something which Empress Alexandra, who was fascinated by current events and politics, could never understand.

The wedding of Prince and Princess Heinrich of Prussia, 1888.

9. Irene, just like her mother Princess Alice, was a hemophilia carrier, and transmitted the disease to her two sons, Waldemar and Heinrich. The latter died in February of 1904 at just four years old after suffering from brain hemorrhage that resulted from a fall.

10. Because of their unassuming and quiet demeanor, Irene and Heinrich earned the moniker, “The Very Amiables”. They were perfectly content with just being at home with their family that they were, at the time, considered as the least royal amongst all Prussian royals.

11. Following the murder of her sisters Elisabeth and Alix and their families by the Bolsheviks, a certain Anna Anderson surfaced and claimed to be her niece, the Grand Duchess Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. When she met her, she was unimpressed. “I saw immediately that she could not be one of my nieces. Even though I had not seen them for nine years, the fundamental facial characteristics could not have altered to that degree, in particular the position of the eyes, the ear, etc.,” she said of the encounter. It was later proven through DNA evidence that Anna’s claims were false.

12. Irene was utterly upset about Anna Anderson that her husband ordered never to mention her name whenever her wife was around.

13. Irene died On November 11, 1953 at the Schloss Hemmelmark in Barkelsby, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. She was 87 years old, and at the time of her death was the only surviving child of her parents. She was buried beside her husband and youngest son in the chapel located on the grounds of the Hemmelmark estate.