Princess Anne, Princess Ludwig of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg

Princess Anne of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (; née Lady Anne Savile; 25 May 1864 – 31 August 1927) was an English socialite and aviation patron and enthusiast. Anne was the first woman both to attempt and to die in a transatlantic aircraft flight, as well as the second to die in a transoceanic flight. Through her marriage to Prince Ludwig of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, Anne was a Princess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and a member of the Princely House of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg.

Family Anne was born on 25 May 1864 in London, England, a daughter of John Savile, 4th Earl of Mexborough, and his second wife Agnes Louisa Elizabeth Raphael.

Marriage Anne married Prince Ludwig of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, eighth child and sixth son of Wilhelm, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, and his first wife, Countess Olga Klara of Schönburg-Forderglauchau, on 15 May 1897 in London. Anne and Ludwig were distantly related (7th cousins), as both were descendants of Sir Henry Garraway, who served as Lord Mayor of London. Following their marriage, she became a citizen of the German Empire. where he was killed during fighting between Emilio Aguinaldo-led insurgents and the United States Army in the Battle of Caloocan of the Philippine–American War. She was notified of her husband Ludwig's death through the United States Embassy in London. Anne regained her British nationality in 1918 following World War I. Accompanied by her secretary, Hughes Massie, Anne brought with her an "automatic balancing bed" of her own invention which she had declared prevented sea sickness.

In 1922, Anne rode as a passenger in her own aircraft in a cup race from Croydon to Edinburgh, Scotland. Against her relatives' protests, including those of her brother John Horace Savile, 5th Earl of Mexborough, she decided to join Hamilton's expedition as a passenger Around 6a.m. the next morning the Dutch steamer SS Blijdendijik reported seeing a white light travelling eastward in the sky when about 420 miles east-south-east of New York, which, if it were St. Raphael, was far to the south of its intended route, suggesting that they were lost. The aircraft was never seen again. Wireless communications with all points along the coast of Labrador failed to find any trace of the Saint Raphael following its disappearance in flight. Further searches failed to yield signs of the aircraft and its crew, and by 5 September, the remaining hope was that fish-carrying steamers or whalers had rescued Anne, Hamilton, and Minchin after the Saint Raphael plunged into the ocean, as it was supposed. Despite no signs of the Saint Raphael or its crew, it is presumed that Anne, Hamilton, and Minchin perished on 31 August 1927 in the North Atlantic Ocean near Labrador and Newfoundland. Savile family friend Princess Blücher von Wahlstatt told the United Press that "[Anne's] brothers did their best to dissuade her from the unnecessary adventure, but she was bent on going and refused to be dissuaded". The main lake so named is St Raphael Lake named for the Saint Raphael; similarly named lakes in the same general vicinity include Hamilton Lake , Minchin Lake and Wertheim Lake , which commemorates Anne.

Anne was presumed dead by a court order made in London on 6 February 1928; she died intestate and left an estate valued at £28,265 (gross) and net personal property of £20,371.

A large memorial plaque commemorating the fateful flight and dedicated to Anne, Captain Hamilton and Colonel Minchin hangs in St Raphael's church, Kingston upon Thames.

Ancestry