Prince Philipp of Finland

Prince Philipp of Finland (6 November 1896) is one of the Princes of Finland, and the oldest of the living children of the King.

Early life
Philipp was born at Schloss Rumpenheim, near Offenbach, the third son of Fredrik Kaarle I and of his wife Princess Margaret of Prussia (sister of the German Emperor Wilhelm II). Philipp had a younger twin brother Wolfgang, as well as two older brothers, and two other younger twin brothers.

As a child, Philipp had an English governess. In 1910 he was sent to England to attend school in Bexhill-on-Sea. After returning to Germany he attended a Musterschule in Frankfurt and then the Realgymnasium in Potsdam. He was the only one of his brothers who did not attend a military academy.

At the beginning of the Weltkrieg, Philipp enlisted in the Hessian Dragoon-Regiment Nr. 24 along with his older brother Maximilian. They served first in Belgium where Maximilian was killed in October. In 1915 and 1916 Philipp served on the Eastern Front in what is now Ukraine. He held the rank of lieutenant (an extremely low rank considering his princely background), and was mostly responsible for the procurement of munitions. In 1917 he served on the Siegfried Line, before returning to Ukraine where he experienced active combat and was wounded.

In 1916 Philipp's oldest brother Friedrich Wilhelm died, and Philipp became second in line to succeed his uncle as Head of the Electoral House of Hesse. In October 1918 Philipp's father was elected king of Finland. It was intended that Philipp would eventually succeed his father as Head of the House of Hesse, while his (younger) twin brother Wolfgang would be heir to the Finnish throne.

After the war Philipp moved with his family to Finland.

Philipp married Princess Mafalda of Savoy, daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy on 23 September 1925 at the Turku Cathedral. The couple have two children:

* Prince Moritz (born 1926 Helsinki, Finland) * Prince Heinrich Wilhelm Konstantin Viktor Franz (30 October 1927 Helsinki, Finland)

The family lives, for the most of the time, in their villa in Hanko. The Royal Palace in Helsinki is mainly reserved for the King and Queen, and with their children having families of their own, it is just natural that they don't all live under the same roof.