The Royal Family is a longstanding institution in the UK. It has survived scandal, wars and abdication and has almost a thousand years of history behind it.
While some members of the family will never be forgotten, some have faded into obscurity and deserve to be pulled into the spotlight.
King George V and Queen Mary had six children, including King Edward VIII, King George VI, The Countess of Harewood, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent.
But what of their youngest, Prince John? Accurately dubbed ‘The forgotten son of the House of Windsor’, his life was tragically short and equally sad.
Prince John Charles Francis was born on July 12, 1905 at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. He was named John despite that name's unlucky associations for the royal family, but was known in his family as ‘Johnnie’.
At the time of his birth, his parents were the Prince and Princess of Wales and his grandfather was King Edward VII. He was also a great-grandson of Queen Victoria.
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John was known for his mischievous behaviour. His father is recorded as telling US President Theodore Roosevelt that "All [his] children [were] obedient, except John".
By his fourth birthday in 1909, John became “winsome” and “painfully slow.” That same year, he suffered his first epileptic seizure. He also began to show signs of what experts now believe was a severe form of autism.
Although Prince John appeared in public regularly until he was 11, there were concerns for his poor behaviour- so much so, that he didn’t attend his parent’s coronation in 1911.
During World War I, John saw less of his parents as they were often away on official duties. John slowly began to disappear from the public eye and no official portraits of him were commissioned after 1913.
In 1916, the prince’s epileptic seizures became more frequent and he was sent away to live with his governess Charlotte “Lala” Bill at Wood Farm, a secluded farmhouse in the corner of the Sandringham Estate. Physicians warned the family that he would likely not reach adulthood.
John spent Christmas Day in 1918 with his family at Sandringham House, but was taken back to Wood Farm in the evening.
His devoted governess, ‘Lala’ Bill, said: "We dared not let him be with his brothers and sister, because it upsets them so much, with the attacks getting so bad and coming so often."
On January 18, 1919, Prince John died in his sleep at Wood Farm following a severe seizure. He is buried at St Mary Magdalene Church in Norfolk.
There are questions surrounding his isolation and whether he was locked away because his illness was seen as a weakness and jeopardized the strong image of the Royal Family.
His short life is dramatized in Stephen Poliakoff’s 2003 film, ‘The Lost Prince’.
