From her the famous Canadian regiment, recruited soon after Belgium was invaded, "The Princess Patricia's," was named. In March, 1919, the Princess gave up her royal title and precedence to marry Commander Alexander Ramsay, a British naval officer, brother of the Earl of Dalhousie. She was named Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on 22 February 1918 and held that appointment until her death. The regiment was named after her. Princess Patricia personally designed the badge and colours for the regiment to take overseas to France. As the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, she played an active role until her death. She was succeeded in 1974 by her cousin and goddaughter Patricia (the Rt. Hon. Lady Brabourne), who became the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who asked that the men and women of her regiment discount her titles and refer to her in honour of her predecessor as Lady Patricia. Princess Patricia — "Patsy" to family and friends — was born on 17 March 1886, St Patrick's Day, at Buckingham Palace in London. Her father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her mother was Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. She had two elder siblings, Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Margaret of Connaught, later Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden. She was christened Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth at Bagshot Park on 1 May 1886 and her godparents were Queen Victoria, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Prince Albrecht of Prussia. She was named Victoria after Queen Victoria; Patricia, after Saint Patrick, the saint of her birthday; and Helena, in honour of her father's sister. Princess Patricia travelled extensively in her early years. Her father, the Duke of Connaught, was posted to India with the army, and the young Princess spent two years living there. Connaught Place, the central business locus of New Delhi, is named for the Duke. In 1911, the Duke was appointed Governor General of Canada. Princess Patricia accompanied her parents to Canada, and she became popular there. Her husband was Admiral Sir Alexander Robert Maule Ramsay GCVO KCB DSO, (29 May 1881 - 8 October 1972) was a member of the British Royal Family, he was also a British naval officer who was the husband of Princess Patricia of Connaught, the youngest child of the Duke of Connaught, third son of Queen Victoria. He served with distinction during the First World War. During the 1920s and 1930s, he held several important Naval Aviation commands. Born in London as the third son of John William Ramsay, 13th Earl of Dalhousie and his wife, Lady Ida Louisa Bennet, he entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in HMS Britannia in 1894 and later went to sea on HMS Majestic, the flagship of Admiral Sir Walter Kerr in the Channel Sqaudron. In October 1911, he became a naval aide-de-camp to the Duke of Connaught, then Governor General of Canada. He returned to active naval duty in 1913 as the gunnery officer of the battlecruiser Indefatigable in the Mediterranean. Ramsay took part in several important naval operations of the First World War. He took part in the first phase of the bombardment of the Dardanelles forts in November 1914 and later at Gallipoli. He received the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) for his conduct there. Ramsay rose to the rank of Commander in late 1914 and became flag commander of the Second Squadron in 1916. He gained promotion to Captain in 1919 and served as the naval attaché in Paris for the next three years. http://news.webshots.com/album/564087056neVzNh
