Battenberg [key], German princely family, issued from the morganatic union of Alexander, a younger son of Louis II, grand duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, and Countess Julia von Hauke, who was created (1858) princess of Battenberg. Their oldest son, Louis (1854–1921), an admiral in the British navy, married a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. During World War I he renounced (1917) his German title and anglicized his name as Mountbatten, whereupon he was created marquess of Milford Haven. His daughter Louise married Gustavus VI, king of Sweden. Another daughter, Alice, married Prince Andrew of Greece, third son of King George I of Greece; their son Philip was created duke of Edinburgh and married (1947) Princess Elizabeth of England (later Queen Elizabeth II). Louis Mountbatten was the son of the 1st marquess of Milford Haven. The second son of Prince Alexander of Hesse-Darmstadt, also named Alexander, was (1879–86) prince of Bulgaria. A third son, Henry, married Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England; their daughter, Victoria, married Alfonso XIII of Spain.
See A. Hatch, The Mountbattens (1965); E. Spiro, From Battenberg to Mountbatten (1966).
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