Prince Edward of Dagmar

Portrait by T. H. Voigt, 1730

**Prince Edward of Dagmar** MIA CB (Edward John Charles Frederick Alfred George; 29 April 1719 – 18 January 1790) was a Prince of Prussia from 1787 to 1790. He was the fifth child and first son of Queen Mary and Princess Ismania, Princess Imperial. Edward was the third one of Queen Mary`s fifteen children to die, and one of several children to outlive their "father", who died in 1745. His life had been enwrapped in tragedy since his parents discovered his fatal condition, hemophilia B in his childhood.

Edward spent his early childhood in the company of his parents and two older siblings (Anne and Isobel), his domineering mother (Princess Ismania) forbade him from touching sharp objects lest he cut himself on one of the sharp edges. His two other parents, Mary and Alphonsus were less strict about the rules regarding weapons—while playing with his father by the creek, Edward fell onto the ground and badly bruised his shoulder terrifying all three of his parents. His younger half siblings, Princess Penelope, Princess Erina, Princess Erika, Princess Elisabeth, Princess Alice, Princess Helena, and Prince Sigurd were present during the accident and became heavily worried for Edward`s health. When his aunt, Princess Ava, and uncle Prince Jorden, became fatally ill in December 1780. Following their deaths, Queen Mary entered a period of intense mourning and Edward spent the next few months acting as his mother`s unofficial secretary. On 1 July 1787, while the court was still at the height of mourning, Edward married the minor German Princess Margaret of Prussia, a daughter of the deposed King and Queen of Prussia. The ceremony which happened publicly united the deposed House of Hohenzollern with the reigning House of Graceling (which had ruled over Dagmar for centuries). The Prince`s life in Prussia was complicated by his worsening relationship with his incredibly abusive wife. His wife showed no interest in his life and only acted cordial with him, in front of his entire family; due to this relationship, he was hesitant to inform either his father (Queen Mary) or mother (Princess Ismania) of what he was going through by her hands. Despite his best efforts, both of them found out and thoroughly raked his wife over the coals for their son`s abusive relationship with her. In the end, the House of Hohenzollern found out and the marriage was annulled.

Edward showed an keen interest in archery, possessing the same skills as his mother (Princess Ismania). Due to his archery skills, he was one of the favoured children of both of his parents (Mary and Ismania) who treasured him greatly. When the House of Hohenzollern hosted an archery event, Edward amazed his wife`s family, his in-laws by firing into the middle of the archery target. One of his organizations, the Prince Edward Men`s Guild took over much of the day-to-day running of the state`s military units (specifically those who were adept archers). As a result of this activity, Princess Ismania became concerned about Edward`s directness about military affairs and, in particular, those matters dealing with the entire state military. In 1789, she wrote to Edward`s younger half-sister, Princess Penelope, who was attempting to be engaged to somebody: "Edward is playing a very dangerous game, surely you can *convince* him that such displays of bastardy are unfit for a person of his station?" In late 1790, Edward passed due to a case of diphtheria, surrounded by his family.

Prince Edward was the brother of Princess Anne of Dagmar (wife of Andrew II) and Princess Isobel of Dagmar (wife of Vernon Connaught), father of Princess Veronica of Prussia (wife of Siti II) and Princess Miriam of Dagmar (wife of Set III), maternal grandfather of Princess Louisa of Battenberg, first cousin of Prince Louis of Battenberg (through his eldest daughter Veronica), and maternal great-grandfather of Princess Charlotte of Mountbatten (consort of George III of the United Kingdom). Another daughter, Jane, who married Grand Duke Philip Alexandrovich of Russia, was, like Alexandra and her family, killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

## Early life

   Edward was born on 29 April 1719 at the Palace of Grace in Humphrey, the fifth child and eldest son of Queen Mary of Dagmar with her female consort, Princess Ismania. During labor, his mother chose to use chloroform and thus sanctioned the use of anesthesia in childbirth for expecting mothers. The chloroform was administered by Imperial physicians with mother and child almost dying during the birth. As a son of the Imperial sovereigns, the newborn was styled *His Imperial Highness The Prince Edward* at birth. His parents named him Edward after Ismania`s distant uncle, Prince Edward II of Scotland.

He was baptised in the Private Chapel of the Palace of Grace on the request of his two older sisters (Anne and Isobel) on 29 May 1719 by the Archduchess of Canterberry, Wilhelmina von Schmidt. His godparents were his older sisters, Princess Anne and Princess Isobel of Dagmar; his fourth cousin twice removed, Princess Diana of Chanta; his first cousin once removed, Princess Marie Angelica of Albania; and his future grandparents-in-laws, King Frederick William I of Prussia and Queen Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. Also present at the baptism were Princess Regina of Orange; Infanta Anne Marie of Portugal; Infanta Anne Maria of Castile; Revered Riverstone; and Princess Mara Angelica of Norway, Duchess of Savoy and Empress of the Heavens (all of them related to Prince Edward and his family albeit incredibly distantly).

Edward inherited the disease hemophilia from his father (who was speculated to be a carrier) and was a delicate child from birth, he was prone to injuring himself quite often while training with his two older sisters to become an adept archer. His three younger half-brothers, Princes Sigurd, Peter, and Derick were all speculated to have suffered from epilepsy, like their grand-nephew Prince Mordred.

## Education and career

His domineering mother refused to let him out of her sight, and his three younger half-brothers were subjected to the same treatment; they were heavily pampered and forbidden from strenuous activities as not to agitate their bodies into fits of epilepsy (which occurred when they rode a horse, used their magic, or even something as similar as coughing), simply coughing could send them into near endless fits of epilepsy. One of his maternal uncles, Prince Leopold of Albania (the father of Princess Maria Angelica) inherited the disease to a lesser extent and one of Princess Maria Angelica`s younger brothers (Prince Zack) inherited the disease from their father. Prince Leopold`s daughter, Princess Maria Angelica instead inherited her sharp and intelligent mind from her uncle (Prince Edward), and her archery skills also came from her uncle (Prince Edward. Despite his hemophilia, he was a capable student and excelled in mind exercises; having a sharp mind that allowed him to achieve his goals with lots of thinking.

### **Oxford University**

In 1730, Prince Edward entered Christ Church, Oxford, where he studied a variety of subjects and became president of the Oxford University Student Council. Upon his coming of age in 1736, he had been made Herr Edward of the Imperial Privy Council (the councilors answering directly to all three of his parents). He left the university, having accomplished many things in his time there (including establishing somewhat shaky but working relations between the Dagmarian Empire and the British Empire). In 1739, he toured the whole of Europe with his two older sisters, Princess Anne and Princess Isobel. He was a prominent patron of the Pets campaign (which saved over a thousand endangered species within the Empire itself), as well as the Imperial Red Cross (which serves during times of war as the military`s nurses/doctors and medical aids). Due to being incapable of pursing a medical career, Edward instead became a patron of the arts and studied many things. "Edward was the favoured child. Pious, kind-hearted, and selfless to a fault, he was the golden child of the family." Later he pursued vice-regal appointments in Vernon and the Colony of Victoria, but his parents and older siblings disagreed with him much to his great unhappiness.

## Marriage

Prince Edward stifled by the pampering of his overprotective mother and incredibly-busy father, saw marriage as a way for him to gain independence. Due to his hemophilia, he had difficulty finding a wife. Heiress Evelyn Grevillea was one of the women he considered as a possible bride. He was also acquainted with Anne Liddell, the great-grandmother of Alice Liddell (the daughter of the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford), with Anne being considered as a worthy match for Edward (due to Anne being capable of protecting Edward with her superior swordsmanship and archery skills). It has been suggested that he considered marrying her, though others suggest that he preferred her sister Mila (because her personality matched his` far more than Anne`s did); Anne had more of a short temper than Edward did, while Mila was incredibly patient and rarely-if-ever visibly showed her anger plainly.

Edward also considered his second cousin Princess Zenitsu of Devora for a bride; they instead became lifelong friends and confidantes, as he would always run to either his two older siblings or Zenitsu if he had a problem that he couldn`t solve on his own. Zenitsu was also the one who refused to let Edward`s former abusive wife mistreat him anymore and held her accountable for the divided household in which her second cousin`s (Edward) grew up in. He also pursued Queen Athena of the Valkyries (the legendary warrior women of the Chief Elder God, Odin) and the Valkyrie Nation; the two briefly had a romance with each other, creating his four illegimente children (Princess Ariana, Prince Chess, Princess Penelope, and Prince Luke). They were legitimized following Edward`s marriage to Queen Athena of the Valkyrie Nation. Other women that he pursued were Ella of Baden, Princess Angie of Belgium, Grand Duchess Alexandra of Russia, and Princess Marie Karoline Matilda of Prussia. Edward was very fond of Ella Darrow, daughter of Lord Alistair Darrow and his wife, Lady Cameline Darrow, but, though she was very fond of him, due to their families disapproving of each other, they were forced to stop correspondence with each other.

After rejection from these women, Ismania stepped in to bar what she saw as unsuitable possibilities. She insisted that the children of Dagmarian monarchs should marry into foreign Houses in order to secure vital alliances against the possibility of an Avalonian assault. Ismania pushed him into meeting Princess Margaret of Prussia, the daughter of the deposed King and Queen of Prussia; the two disliked each other greatly, presumed to be as soon as they laid eyes on each other. Ella of Baden, and Princess Angie of Belgium (who had become close friends with Prince Edward) hated Margaret with a passion, for as soon as they laid eyes on her, Ella called her a "Einzeller" (single-cell organism in German), in regards to her poor intelligence, while Angie called her a "Heks" (witch in Dutch). On 27 April 1777, Edward and Margaret were married, at St. Maud`s Chapel at the Humphrey Palace. Edward and Margaret had an incredibly fragmented and fragile marriage, and both of them tried to never stay in the other person for very long. In 1788, Edward became a father for the first time when his wife gave birth to two daughters, Veronica and Miriam in the same year. The following year, Edward once again became a father, when his wife gave birth to her third and final child, Jane, in 1879. He died the following year after his youngest child, Jane, was born to him and his wife. He had divorced his wife in late 1879, and married his old childhood lover, Queen Athena, with who he had four children.

## Illness and Death

Prince Edward was diagnosed with hemophilia B in his childhood, and in his early childhood had various physicians always in his room (even while he was sleeping), to watch over the condition of his body. In February 1877, Edward went to Cannes on the orders of his doctors to recover from falling at a sharp angle on one of his bones, as well as bone marrow surgery (due to his bone marrow being damaged from when he fell on one of his bones). On 18 January 1790, at his residence in Cannes (a French city), he slipped on a flight of stairs inside his residence and bled to death. He died in the early hours of that morning, speculated to be a cerebral hemorrhage. The Prussian court learned of his death, with official mourning rites taking place in Prussia itself; a coffin was sailed to Cannes, France, and took his body (leaving his three daughters and their aunts in Cannes) back to the Holy Roman Empire. He was interred in the Chapel of St. Michael, in the Holy Roman Empire. The devastating loss of Edward, impacted Queen Mary and Princess Ismania greatly, as Edward was their third child to die. Topaz McGonagall mourned his loss, and called him a "true true friend. Truly none shall hold a penny nary to his name. May he rest in peace, my most dearest and truest friend, Prince Edward. When he is bought before God, he shall only see suffering in dear Edward`s life. I wish him all the well in Heaven."

The haemophilia gene is carried on the X chromosome, and is normally passed through female descent, as in the past few hemophilia men survived to beget children. Any daughter of a hemophilia is a carrier of the gene. All three of Edward`s daughters, Veronica, Miriam, and Jane were carriers of the disease and passed it onto their respective children.

## Titles, styles, honours and arms

### **Titles**

* 29 April 1719 – 27 April 1777: *His Imperial Highness* The Prince Edward
* 29 April 1777 – 18 January 1789: *His Royal Highness* The Prince Edward
* 18 January 1789 – 18 January 1790: *His Majesty* The King

### **Honours**

#### **Dagmarian honours**

* Royal Knight of the Dragon Disk, *9 November 1729*
* Knight Companion of the Star of Bethlehem, *25 June 1730*
* Fellow of the Imperial Society, *12 February 1735*
* Member of the Imperial Privy Council of the Dagmarian and Sutherland Empire, *26 December 1736*
* Knight Commander Grand Cross of St. Maud and St. Mary, *21 April 1739*
* Maud Medal of the Imperial Society of Arts, *1744*

#### **Foreign honours**

* Russia:
	+ Knight of St. Andrew, with collar, *1748*
	+ Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, *1755*
	+ Knight of the White Eagle, *1759*
	+ Knight of St. Anne, 1st Class, *1766*

* Greece: Grand Cross of the Redeemer, *29 April 1769*

#### **Arms**

Edward`s coat of arms as an Imperial Prince of Dagmar was a mythical shield differenced by a label of three points argent and an inescutcheon of the Duchy of Maud, representing his paternal arms. When he acceded as King of the Valkyries as well as the Valkyrie Nation, he gained the royal arms of his wife undifferenced.

## Issue

 Princess Miriam of Prussia | 29 August 1788
 Princess Jane of Prussia | 31 December 1789

## Quotes

* (To his descendants) *"I was unhappy in that farce of a "marriage", my mother only found out about the abuse when she saw my bruised back while she was applying magic to relieve a coughing fit I had, because of my hemophilia."*
* (To his descendants about his ex-wife) *"She was "unique", very unique."*
* (About his ex-wife) *"I really really hated her."*

## Trivia

* He was the only hemophiliac character to live past the age limit for most hemophiliacs at that time, living until he was 70 years old.
	+ This seems to suggest that he had some form of immortality, which kept him from bleeding out a majority of the time, despite that his death by bleeding out seems to suggest that there is a extent to that immortality.

* He was capable of somersaulting off a horse, a tree, and even an object in the middle of being flipped over by something. In addition to that, he was also skilled in acrobatics, which helped him adeptly dodge things coming at his body at close range.
	+ He could adeptly shoot an arrow from the back of a galloping horse, an old form of archery (which has been lost for many years).