Later Life
After Leopold's death, Helena and her two children, Alice and Charles Edward, continued to reside at Claremont House. After the death of Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1900, Helena's sixteen-year-old son, Charles Edward, was selected as the new heir to the German Duchy, and was parted from his mother and sister in order to take up residence there. When the First World War broke out 14 years later, Charles Edward found himself fighting in the German Army. As a result, he was stripped of his British titles by an act of Parliament in 1917. By contrast, her daughter Alice remained in England and made a marriage that made her the sister-in-law of George V's consort, Queen Mary.
In 1901, it was speculated that she would marry Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery.
Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont died on 1 September 1922 of a heart attack in Hinterriss in Tyrol, Austria, while visiting her son.
Through her son Charles Edward, Helena is the great-grandmother of Carl XVI Gustav, the current King of Sweden.
Read more about this topic: Princess Helena Of Waldeck And Pyrmont
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