Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll - Legacy

Legacy

Louise's will stated that if she died in Scotland she should be buried at the Campbell mausoleum in Kilmun next to her husband; if in England, at Frogmore near her parents. In the end she was buried at Windsor. Her coffin was borne by her own regiment, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, whose current Colonel-in-Chief, her great-great-niece Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, was among those at her funeral on 12 December 1939. Louise also bestowed her name on three other Canadian regiments: the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards in Ottawa, Ontario (inactive since 1965); the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) in Moncton, New Brunswick; and the Princess Louise Fusiliers in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Queen Elizabeth II later recalled that Louise and her sister Beatrice would talk until they stunned their audience with their output of words.

Louise was the most artistically talented of Queen Victoria's daughters. As well as being an able actress, pianist and dancer, she was a prolific artist and sculptress. When Louise sculpted a statue of the Queen, portraying her in Coronation robes, the press claimed that her tutor, Sir Edgar Boehm, was the true creator of the work. The claim was denied by Louise's friends, who asserted her effort and independence. A memorial to her brother-in-law, Prince Henry of Battenberg, and a memorial to the Colonial soldiers who fell during the Boer War, reside at Whippingham Church on the Isle of Wight, and another statue of Queen Victoria remains at McGill University in Montreal.

The province of Alberta in Canada is named after her. Although the name "Louise" was originally planned, the Princess wished to honour her dead father, so her last name was chosen. Lake Louise in Alberta is also named after her, as is Mount Alberta. Although her time in Canada was not always happy, she liked the Canadian people and retained close links with her Canadian regiments. Back at home, she gained a reputation for paying unscheduled visits to hospitals, especially during her later years.

Her relationship with her family was generally close. Although at times she bickered with the Queen, and her sisters Helena and Beatrice, the relations did not remain strained for long. She retained a lifelong correspondence with her brother, Prince Arthur, and was one of King Edward VII's favourite sisters. Of all her siblings, she was closest to Prince Leopold, later Duke of Albany, and she was devastated by his death in 1884. In the younger generations of the family, Louise's favourite relatives were the Duke and Duchess of Kent. At the coronation of King George VI in 1937, Louise lent the Duchess the train that she designed and wore for the Coronation of Edward VII in 1902.