Introduction

       

Charles Edward was the fourth and last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1900 until his death in 1954. As the youngest grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he was also a Prince of the United Kingdom and held the British title of Duke of Albany.

The Duke was a controversial figure in the United Kingdom due to his status as Sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was later deprived of his British peerages, his title of Prince and Royal Highness and his British honours in 1919. He was then forced to abdicate his ducal throne. He also later joined the German Nazi Party, and served in a number of positions in Germany in the 1930's and 1940's, including as President of the German Red Cross. (Charles Edward, Wikipedia)

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