Patricia was born on 17 March 1886 at Buckingham Palace, the youngest of three children to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, Duchess of Connaught. She was named Victoria for
Patricia was born on 17 March 1886 at Buckingham Palace, the youngest of three children to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, Duchess of Connaught. She was named Victoria for her paternal grandmother, Queen Victoria, and Patricia because she was born on St. Patrick’s Day. As the third son of Queen Victoria, the Duke of Connaught held a series of military and diplomatic postings across the British Empire and dominions. Patricia travelled with her parents from a young age, residing with them in India from 1887 to 1890, where she “began to speak a mixture of English, German and Hindustani,” undertaking an extended tour of Mediterranean Europe and North Africa in 1905, and attending the opening of the first Union parliament of South Africa in 1910.
A Mind of Her Own
When Patricia came of age, there was widespread speculation in the media that she would marry into one of Europe’s reigning families. King Alfonso XIII of Spain, Grand Duke Michael of Russia and the future King Manuel II of Portugal were among her suitors. Patricia, however, rejected any attempts to arrange a dynastic marriage.
Unlike her grandmother, Queen Victoria, who disapproved of the campaign for women’s suffrage, Patricia was more supportive of increased political rights for women — as was her aunt, Princess Louise. In 1913, Patricia appointed a prominent suffragist as a lady-in-waiting—a decision that the media interpreted as tacit support for women’s suffrage. Queen Mary, consort of her cousin King George V, strongly disapproved. The Toronto World reported on 26 September 1913 that the king, queen and princess had all been invited to the Spencer estate at Althorp, but the “Queen refused to meet [the suffragist] Miss Glenteil, and the princess would not go to Althorp without her,” with the result that Patricia accepted a different social invitation.
In 1911, the Duke of Connaught was appointed governor general of Canada. Patricia travelled with her parents to Canada and arrived in Québec City in October. Due to her mother’s ill health, Patricia often acted as her father’s hostess and accompanied him on official engagements and tours. “Princess Pat” became a popular public figure in Canada in her own right. In May 1912, Patricia travelled with her father to Winnipeg and the Maritimes. In the fall of 1912, Patricia and her parents toured Northern Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia and attended the first Calgary Stampede.
In honour of Patricia’s visit to Victoria in 1912, Union Bay was renamed Patricia Bay. The same year, the province of Ontario expanded north of the Albany River and named the new region the “District of Patricia.” (In 1937, the Patricia Act added the District of Patricia to the Kenora District and the region became known as the “Patricia Portion.”)
A popular figure in both Canada and America, Patricia was known for her athleticism. As one American newspaper reported at the time of her marriage in 1919, “[Patricia] is fond of outdoor sports and, during her tour of Canada with her father, the governor general, she rode her spirited horse over the mountains at Banff Springs, Alberta, beat her father at golf on the local golf links and gave an exhibition of expert swimming in the big swimming pool of the hotel.” She also embraced winter sports and hosted skating parties at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
Patricia was an accomplished artist who created more than 600 works in oils, watercolours, pen and ink and gouache over the course of her lifetime. During her time in Canada, she contributed her work to exhibitions, raising the profile of Canadian artistic associations. The Montreal Gazette reported that the Art Association of Montreal’s 1912 Spring Exhibition was a “social event,” with “added interest by reason of six canvases from the brush of HRH Princess Patricia of Connaught,” including “two snow scenes and a view from Government House, Ottawa.” Patricia was inspired by Canadian landscapes, painting in her studio at Rideau Hall and sketching during royal tours in such diverse settings as Lake Louise and Alert Bay on the Pacific Coast. Most of her paintings remained within her family, but there are examples of her art in Canadian collections, including her 1916 painting of “Ice breaking up in Spring on the Ottawa River, below the Rideau Falls” in the Art Gallery of Ontario.
First World War
Princess Patricia gave her name to Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) in 1914. The regiment was sponsored by Montreal businessman Andrew Hamilton Gault and was the last privately funded regiment in the British Empire and dominions. The regimental commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Francis D. Farquhar, asked the Duke of Connaught for permission to name the regiment after Patricia. The princess took a close interest in her regiment, designing and creating the regimental colou