Battenberg family

Battenberg
Parent houseHesse-Darmstadt branch
of the House of Hesse
Place of originGrand Duchy of Hesse
MembersPrincess Julia of Battenberg, Princess Marie of Battenberg, Prince Louis of Battenberg
Connected membersPrincess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, Princess Louise of Battenberg, Prince George of Battenberg
Connected familiesHouse of Windsor
Cadet branchesMountbatten family

The Battenberg family is a non-dynastic cadet branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, which ruled the Grand Duchy of Hesse until 1918. The first member was Julia Hauke, whose brother-in-law Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse created her Countess of Battenberg in 1851, with the style of Illustrious Highness (H.Ill.H.), at the time of her morganatic marriage to Grand Duke Louis's brother Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine. The name of the title refers to the town of Battenberg in Hesse. In 1858, the countess' title was elevated to Princess of Battenberg, with the style of Serene Highness (H.S.H.).

The Battenberg name was last used by the youngest son of the Princess of Battenberg, Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, who died childless in 1924. In 1917, most members of the family had been residing in the British Empire and had renounced their Hessian titles, due to rising anti-German sentiment among the British during the First World War. At that point, they changed the family name to Mountbatten, an anglicised version of Battenberg. However, Juan, Count of Barcelona, a son of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen of Spain, bore the surname of Borbón y Battenberg until his death in 1993.