Early Life
Louis was born as Ludwig Alexander von Battenberg in Graz, Austria, the eldest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine by his morganatic marriage to Countess Julia von Hauke. Because of his morganatic parentage, Louis was denied his father's rank in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and from birth his style of Illustrious Highness and title of Count of Battenberg instead derived from the rank given to his mother at the time of her marriage. On 26 December 1858, he automatically became His Serene Highness Prince Louis of Battenberg when his mother was elevated to Princess of Battenberg with the style of Serene Highness, by decree of her husband's brother, Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse.
Shortly after Louis's birth, his father was stationed with the Austro-Hungarian Army of occupation in Northern Italy during the Second Italian War of Independence. Louis's early years were spent either in the north of Italy or at Prince Alexander's two houses in Hesse, the castle of Heiligenberg in Jugenheim and the Alexander Palace in Darmstadt. His mother spoke French to him but he had an English governess, and as a consequence grew up trilingual.
Among the visitors entertained at Heiligenberg were Prince Alexander's relations, the Russian Imperial family, and his cousin, Prince Louis of Hesse. Influenced by his cousin's wife, Princess Alice, a daughter of Queen Victoria, and by Prince Alfred, another of Queen Victoria's children, Battenberg joined the Royal Navy on 3 October 1868 at the age of fourteen and thus became a naturalised British subject. He was admitted by the Board of Admiralty without the production of a medical certificate, which was contrary to the usual regulation. He was enlisted as a naval cadet aboard HMS Victory, Nelson's old flagship, then used as a permanently moored training ship.
In January of the following year, the Prince and Princess of Wales cruised the Mediterranean and Black Seas in the frigate HMS Ariadne, and the Prince of Wales requested that Louis be appointed to the vessel, before his training was complete. As part of the same tour, Louis also accompanied them on a visit to Egypt, where they visited the construction site of the Suez canal. As was traditional, the Khedive bestowed honours on the party and Louis received the Medjidie (Fourth Class). In April, he received the Osmanie (Fourth Class) from the Ottoman Sultan.
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