The Battenberg - Mountbattens
 

I saw the film "Kate and Leopold" on tv this weekend, and got a bit of a shock. The male character, the Duke of Albany, Leopold (and he had a lot of other names as well) Mountbatten, had through a hole in the fabric of time as he put it, shifted from N.Y 1876 to contemporary N.Y.

So I reacted to the fact that this character had the last name of Mountbatten. Because Mountbatten is an anglification of the German Battenberg. And I know that the British Royal family had some names changing from German-sounding to English-sounding sometime in between the wars.

So my questions are, what is the history of the name Mountbatten? Is it likely that this character could have had this last name in 1876 in the USA? And what about the history of the family names of other royal families?

I've read somewhere that the Battenberg family living in UK during the First World War changed its name in Mountbatten to sound more English(and not German anymore)..It was between 1914 and 1918, so in 1876, the name was still Battenberg.

Since Mountbatten is a straight translation from the German which was done in the 20th century, it's quite possible that the surname didn't exist in English-speaking countries before 1917, when, in order to get rid of their German-sounding names, the royal family and its relations anglicised their names and in some cases (the princesses of Schleswig-Holstein) dropped them altogether (or at least stopped using them). Prince Louis of Battenberg became Louis Mountbatten (and the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha became the house of Windsor and the Duke of Teck became the Marquess of Cambridge).

Leopold Duke of Albany (in real life) was called Leopold George Duncan Albert, which is different from the string of names in the movie. He was born in 1853, and in 1882 he married Princess Helen of Waldeck (the sister of Queen Emma of the Netherlands). He died in 1884. So I suppose he'd have been adult and single in 1876. However, he wasn't a Battenberg, so the Mountbatten surname is a bit incongruous. He was a Saxe-Coburg-Gotha prince, as the son of Prince Albert, and so his anglicised name would have been Leopold Windsor. But there's Hollywood for you... :rolleyes:

Absolutely none of the Battenbergs were made dukes, nor were any of the Battenbergs children of a sovereign.

No, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is already anglicized. The German form is Sachsen for Saxe.

The Name Battenberg comes from a small area in Hessen Germany.

1841 the young Marie of Hesse Darmstadt marries the Tsarevich Alexander of Russia, the later Alexander II. With her, she brings her brother Alexander of Hesse Darmstadt to Russia to comfort her in her new Home Country. Here Alexander falls in Love with Julia Haucke, Lady in Waiting to his Sister Marie.
Against the Wishes of the Russian imperial Family and his own he marries Julia Haucke morganatically on 28 October 1851. After this Julia is created from the Hessen Darmstadt Family to be a Countess of Battenberg and so be all her Descendants.

Alexander and Julia have 5 children:

1. Marie 1852 - 1923 ( married to the Count of Erbach)
2. Ludwig 1854 - 1921 ( married to Victoria of Hesse Darmstadt, the eldest Sister of the last Tsarina. They are the Parents of Alice of Battenberg and the famous Louis Battenberg, Georg and Luise)
3. Alexander 1857 - 1893 ( married to the actress Johanna Loisinger after a long courtingship for Victoria of Prussia- Bismarck had forbidden the match in the End)
4. Heinrich 1858 - 1896 ( married to Victorias I youngest daughter Beatrice and was the Father of 5 sons and Daughter Victoria Eugenie, the famous " Ena" of Spain)
5. Franz Joseph 1861 - 1924 ( married to Anna of Montenegro)

Here are some Pictures:

I remember watching the "Making of the film" and they actually had him down as a Windsor, but decided that it would be meet with some 'uncertainty", so they changed it to Mountbatten in the hope that the royal surname would still throw itself back to Victorian England.

Robert Ebert mentioned the real Duke of Albany in his review of Kate & Leopold:I have here a precautionary message from Will Shank of Toronto, Ontario, who writes that before I review "Kate & Leopold" there are a couple of things I should know: "Prince Leopold, the duke of Albany, was a hemophiliac and, although he has been described as daring and high-spirited, would not have been foolish enough to participate in the dangerous stunts seen in the trailer. He was sickly all his life and his mother, Queen Victoria, expressed surprise that he lived long enough to be married and have a child. Also, Victoria and her children spoke German among themselves, not English. People who knew them related that when they did speak English, it was with a strong German accent." Thanks, Will. The next time I meet James Mangold, I'll ask him why he didn't make "Kate & Leopold" the story of a hemophiliac with a German accent who was afraid to jump off bridges. Sounds like a movie we are all waiting to see.
Full review here: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...112250304/1023

Lord Brabourne (of the Mountbatten clan) Has Died (1924-2005)
 

There's an article on the BBC website under "entertainment". I'm sorry, I couldn't figure out the proper way to type the link.

Brabourne was the husband of Countess Mountbatten of Burma, thus the son-in-law of "Uncle Dickie." He was the producer of movies like Murder onthe Orient Express, Death on the Nile, A Passage to India and Sink the Bismarck!

His son has succeeded him as Lord Brabourne.

Death on the Nile producer dies

Lord Brabourne, producer of such films as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and A Passage to India, has died at the age of 80.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...lm/4275336.stm

I extend my sympathies to the Mountbatten and Brabourne families.

Norton and Penelope are now Lord and Lady Brabourne.

It should also be noted that he was a moving force behind the idea of making the first movie of the Royals to be shown. The movie was shown in 1969 at the time of Charles' investiture as Prince of Wales.

He had a long and productive life. My sympathies to the families at their loss.:(

My symphathy goes to his wife and his family. :(

how very sad. Symphathy to his family and friends.

oh my god, i knew he passed away (from a forum about detective novels) but not knowing his royal links. he'd made great movies in his life. my sympathy to his family.

It's really sad hearing that news.My sympathies go for his wife and the family.Let's pray for him, and wish rest him in peace.And information for his funeral:
"Lord brabourne's funeral will be held on 30th September at 3pm at the Mersham church in Ashford. A Thanksgiving service to be held later"

Lord Brabourne and Patricia Mountbatten
 

http://62.18.33.91/FotoWeb/FWbin/pre...585F04708943CCLord of Brabourne and his wife Patricia Mountbatten.They were in photo 1985 18 march.www.TopFothttp://62.18.33.91/FotoWeb/FWbin/pre...585F04708943CCo.co.uk .

Patricia Mountbatten and husband lord Brabourne
 

http://62.18.33.91/FotoWeb/FWbin/pre...77A0C4FC08AAF7Countess Patricia Mountbatten and husband lord Brabourne 1996 30 may photo.www.TopFoto.co.uk

The Mountbattens
 

ola, i dont know if im suppose to post it here, so if its not, im sorry,....im new with these forum things hahaha and i dont know.... anyway...does anyone knows anything about the mountbatens???
lady penny mountbatten and lord montbatten???
Alexandra and Nicholas knatchbull???
Im in love with Nicholas Knatchbull, hahahaha, but we dont get to know much about them...:( thats sad, coz hes so gorgeusand alex too...
Anyway if somebody knows anything about the familly especially about Nick, that would be great, wher can i get news from them , or pics...
coz its so hard to find anything about them, so i´d be very happy :)
Anyway, see ya guys, sorry bout the long posting, and sorry about the bad english, see ya!!! ;)

Here's an interesting text about the surname Mountbatten, if you scroll down on the page, Adoption of the Surname Mountbatten

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Louis_of_Battenberg

Actually the current Duke of Edinburgh is a nephew to the late Queen Louise of Sweden (she died 1964). Which makes prince Philip a step-uncle to our current Swedish King.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Mountbatten