Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught

Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (Louise Margaret Alexandra Victoria Agnes; later Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn; 25 July 1860 - 14 July 1917) was a German princess, and later a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. She also served as the Viceregal Consort of Canada, when her husband served as the Governor General of Canada from 1911 to 1916.

Early life
Princess Luise Margarete was born at Marmorpalais (Marble Palace) near Potsdam, Germany. Her father was Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828-1888), the son of Karl of Prussia (1801-1883) and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar (1808-1877). Her mother was Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt (1837-1906), daughter of Leopold IV of Anhalt-Dessau. Her father, a nephew of the German Emperor Wilhelm I, distinguished himself as a field commander during the Battle of Metz and the campaigns west of Paris in the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War.

Marriage
On 13 March 1879, Princess Luise Margarete married Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught at St. George's Chapel Windsor. Prince Arthur was the 7th child and 3rd son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. After her marriage she was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Connaught and her name was anglicized as Louise Margaret.

Duchess of Connaught
The Duchess of Connaught spent the first twenty years of her marriage accompanying her husband on his various deployments throughout the British empire. The Duke and Duchess of Connaught acquired Bagshot Park in Surrey as their country home and after 1900 used Clarence House as their London residence. She accompanied her husband to Canada in 1911, when he began his term as governor general. In 1916, she became colonel-in-chief of the 199th Canadian (Overseas) Infantry Battalion (The Duchess of Connaught's Own Irish-Canadian Rangers), CEF. In 1885, she became chief of the 64th (8th Brandenburg) Regiment of Infantry "Field Marshal General Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia", Prussian Army.

Later life
The Duchess of Connaught died of influenza and bronchitis at Clarence House, a casualty of the 1917-18 influenza epidemic. She was buried in the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor. The Duke of Connaught survived her by almost twenty-five years.

Titles

 * 1860-1879: Her Royal Highness Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia
 * 1879-1917: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Connaught

Honours

 * CI: Companion of the Crown of India, March 1879
 * VA: Royal Order of Victoria and Albert (First Class), 1893
 * DStJ: Dame of Justice of St. John, 1888
 * RRC: Member of the Royal Red Cross, 1883

Legacy
The maternity wing attached to Aldershot's former military hospital, the Cambridge Military Hospital was also named in her honor as the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital.

Lluïsa Margarida de Prússia Luise Margareta von Preußen Louise Margaretha van Pruisen ルイーゼ・マルガレーテ・フォン・プロイセン Luiza Małgorzata, księżna Connaught Luise av Preussen