Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

He was born at Langenburg in Württemberg, the fourth child and third son of Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1794–1860) and Princess Feodora of Leiningen (1807–1872). His mother was Queen Victoria's half-sister, and his family was therefore closely related to the British Royal Family.

Victor (sometimes spelled Viktor) became an officer in the Royal Navy in 1848 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1854. As a Lieutenant, he served on the first-rate HMS St Jean d'Acre in the Mediterranean under Captain Henry Keppel in 1855; commanded the gunboat HMS Traveller for a few months in 1856 after her launch until she was paid off; served again under Keppel again on the fourth-rate HMS Raleigh in the East Indies and China, until she was wrecked near Macau in 1857. He was recommended for the Victoria Cross for his service in China in 1856. He was promoted to Commander in 1857, and commanded the first-rate sloop HMS Scourge in the Mediterranean. Promoted to Captain in 1859, he took command of the 21-gun corvette HMS Racoon from commissioning in 1863 until 1866, during which time Queen Victoria's second son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844–1900) served on board as a lieutenant.

He retired from active service in 1866, and was appointed KCB that year (advanced to GCB in 1887). In retirement, he was promoted to the rank of Retired Rear admiral in December 1876, and advanced to Retired Vice admiral on 23 November 1881 and to Retired Admiral on 24 May 1882. Prince Victor reverted to the title of Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in December 1885. He died in London and was buried at Sunningdale.

Statue of Alfred the Great, Wantage

He became a sculptor after retiring from the Navy.

Examples of his work include

• the huge statue of Alfred the Great, Wantage in the market square of Wantage, Oxfordshire.
• the Black Angel corbels and shields on the roof of the Banqueting Hall of The Convent, Gibraltar carved in 1863 with monograms of the Kings and Queens of Great Britain and Spain who were in possession of Gibraltar.
• the bust of Mary Seacole made in 1871, in the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston, Jamaica.
• the statue of Queen Victoria in the North quadrangle of Royal Holloway College, University of London, Egham, Surrey.
• the bust of Queen Victoria on the Jubilee Memorial, Gateacre, Liverpool
• the statue of Thomas Holloway with his wife Jane, in the South quadrangle of Royal Holloway College, University of London, Egham, Surrey.
• the statue of Frederick Gye at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 1880
• the bust of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Keppel (with whom the artist served) in the Wellington Room at the Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London.
• the bust of Commodore James Graham Goodenough at Greenwich Maritime Museum

He married Laura Williamina Seymour, the younger daughter of Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour (under whom he served on HMS Cumberland in the 1850s) on 24 January 1861 in London. Shortly before his morganatic marriage, his wife was created Countess Gleichen, after Gleichen which was at one stage owned by a branch of the Hohenlohe family. They had four children:

• Count (Albert) Edward Wilfred (1863–1937), soldier.
• Countess Feodora Georgina Maud (1861–1922), sculptor.
• Countess Victoria "Valda" Alice Leopoldina Ada Laura, Lady Valda Machell (1868–1951), singer.
• Countess Helena Emily (1873–1947), artist.

Prince Victor's only son, also known as Count Gleichen, became a Major General in the British Army, he changed his title in the First World War to "Lord Edward Gleichen".