Julia, Princess of Battenberg

Julia
Princess of Battenberg
Julia Hauke by Woldemar Hau
BornJulia Therese Salomea Hauke
(1825-11-24)24 November 1825
Warsaw, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died19 September 1895(1895-09-19) (aged 69)
Schloss Heiligenberg, Jugenheim, Hesse-Darmstadt
Spouse
(m. 1851)
Issue
HouseBattenberg
FatherHans Moritz Hauke
MotherSophie LaFontaine

Julia, Princess of Battenberg, previously Countess Julia von Hauke and Countess of Battenberg (born Julia Therese Salomea Hauke; 24 November [O.S. 12 November] 1825 – 19 September 1895), was the wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the third son of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse.

The daughter of a Polish general of German descent, Julia was not of royal origin. She became a lady-in-waiting to Marie of Hesse, wife of the future Russian Emperor Alexander II and a sister of Alexander, whom Julia married after meeting him in the course of her duties. Although the marriage of social unequals like Julia and Alexander was deemed morganatic, the Duke of Hesse made her Princess of Battenberg. Julia was the mother of Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria, and she is an ancestor of the current British and Spanish royal families.