Life
Edward was born to Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Princess Ida of Saxe-Meiningen at Bushy House, the home of his mother's sister Adelaide and her husband the future King William IV of the United Kingdom.
Edward's military career began in 1841, when he joined the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot as an ensign.
On 27 November 1851 he married, morganatically, Lady Augusta Katherine Gordon-Lennox, (a daughter of Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond), who was created Countess of Dornburg by the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar the day before the wedding. The Court Circular shows that she was usually known by that title until early 1886, when the Circular began to consistently refer to her by her husband's title, i.e. "HSH Princess Edward of Saxe-Weimar" (Laura Seymour, sister of the 5th Marquess of Hertford and morganatic wife of Queen Victoria's nephew, HSH Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, was also belatedly accorded her husband's princely style by an announcement in the Court Circular dated 15 December 1885. Both wives remained morganatic countesses in Germany, however).
His royal connections ensured that he proceeded quickly through the ranks, attaining major in the Grenadier Guards on 20 June 1854. He served in the Crimean War and fought at the Battle of Alma, the Siege of Sevastopol the Battle of Balaclava and the Battle of Inkerman. He was promoted to the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel "for distinguished Service in the Field" during the war.
Edward received his colonelcy in the Grenadier Guards on 5 October 1855. In 1870 he was appointed Major General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding the Home District and in 1878 he became General Officer Commanding Southern District. In 1885 he became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, thereby becoming a member of the Irish Privy Council. He was promoted to field marshal in 1897.
Edward died in 1902 at Portland Place in London. He was buried in Chichester Cathedral, in the crypt of his wife's family, the dukes of Richmond and Lennox.
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