22/08/2025
On 26th October 1944, Princess Beatrice, youngest child of Queen Victoria, passed away aged 87 at Brantridge Park in West Sussex.
Devoted to her mother, Beatrice rarely left the Queens side; even during her marriage to Prince Henry of Battenberg, who sadly passed away in 1896. Following Queen Victorias death in 1901, Beatrice dedicated the next thirty years to editing and rewriting hundreds of volumes of her mother’s journals, ready to one day be published.
Although the King gifted Osborne House to the nation, Beatrice was allowed to keep Osborne Cottage, which had been allocated to her by Victoria. However, she later sold it in 1913 so she could move into Carisbrook Castle, home to Governor of the Isle of Wight (a position that Beatrice held).
As she aged, Beatrice began suffering immensely with arthritis, which eventually led to her to becoming a permanent wheelchair user.
When the Second World War broke out, Beatrice found herself too frail, and the circumstances too dangerous, to travel to Carisbrooke Castle. With other residence, Kensington Palace, deemed too high risk, Beatrice moved into her final home, Brantridge Park in West Sussex. The house was owned by Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, and his wife (Beatrice’s niece) Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, who were living in Canada at the time. It was here at Brantridge Park that Beatrice passed away on 26th October 1944. She was buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor on 3rd November and was later moved inside a joint tomb with Prince Henry, at St Mildred’s Church, Isle of Wight, on 27th August 1945.
You can learn more about Beatrice’s life over on my website - link in bio!
✍🏻©️Queen.Victoria.Roses / Shannon McInulty
📸 Queen Victoria and Princess Beatrice, May 1879 ©️Royal Collection Trust
