Princess Alice, Grand Duchess Louis of Hesse (1843-1878)
Artist: George Koberwein (Austrian, 1820-1876)
Date: 1862
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Royal Collection Trust / Osborn House, London, United Kingdom
Description
Princess Alice (1843-1878) was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Known for her sweet nature, she often took on the role of peacekeeper in the royal household. The marriage of her older sister, Princess Victoria, in 1858 left Alice as the eldest daughter at home, and the Queen and Prince Albert both turned to her for company. In a popular edition of Alice's letters to the Queen, published in 1885, Princess Helena, her sister, described her as ‘loving Daughter and Sister, the devoted Wife and Mother, and a perfect, true Woman’. In 1862 she married Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.
