Prince Victor Ferdinand Franz Eugen Gustaf Adolf Constantin Friedrich of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , also known as Count Gleichen, was an officer in the Royal Navy, and a sculptor.
Biography
He was born at Langenburg in Württemberg, the third son of Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Feodora of Leiningen. His mother was Queen Victoria's half-sister, and his family was therefore closely related to the British Royal Family. Victor became an officer in the Royal Navy in 1848 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1854. As a Lieutenant, he served on the first-rate HMS St Jean d'Acre in the Mediterranean under CaptainHenry Keppel in 1855; commanded the gunboat HMS Traveller for a few months in 1856 after her launch until she was paid off; served again under Keppel again on the fourth-rate HMS Raleigh in the East Indies and China, until she was wrecked near Macau in 1857. He was recommended for the Victoria Cross for his service in China in 1856. He was promoted to Commander in 1857, and commanded the first-rate sloop HMS Scourge in the Mediterranean. Promoted to Captain in 1859, he took command of the 21-gun corvette HMS Racoon from commissioning in 1863 until 1866, during which time Queen Victoria's second son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh served on board as a lieutenant. He retired from active service in 1866, and was appointed KCB that year. In retirement, he was promoted to the rank of Retired Rear admiral in December 1876, and advanced to Retired Vice admiral on 23 November 1881 and to Retired Admiral on 24 May 1887. Prince Victor resumed use of his native title, "HSH Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg" in December 1885, when Queen Victoria authorised his wife to share his princely style at the Court of St. James's instead of bearing her lower, morganatic title. He died in London, before his children were obliged by King George V in 1917 to exchange their German comital titles for British courtesy titles during World War I. He was buried at Sunningdale.
Works
He became a sculptor after retiring from the Navy. Examples of his work include
the Black Angel corbels and shields on the roof of the Banqueting Hall of The Convent, Gibraltar carved in 1863 with monograms of the Kings and Queens of Great Britain and Spain who were in possession of Gibraltar.
He married Laura Williamina Seymour, the younger daughter of Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour on 24 January 1861 in London. Shortly before his morganatic marriage, his wife was created Countess Gleichen, after Gleichen which was at one stage owned by a branch of the Hohenlohe family. They had four children:
Countess Feodora Georgina Maud Gleichen
Count Albert Edward Wilfred Gleichen he married The Honorable Sylvia Edwardes on 2 July 1910,
Countess Victoria Alice Leopoldina Ada Laura Gleichen she married Lt.-Col. Percy Machell on 5 December 1905. They had one son:
*Roger Victor Machell
Countess Helena Emily Gleichen
Prince Victor's only son Edward, also known as Count Gleichen, became a Major General in the British Army.
