#his entire character is sort of about honour and reputation and being perceived and having a complicated relationship with all three

[mersereau]

Prince Frederick Rupert Maurice von Regenstein, (1786-1815)

“I'm going to get myself in fighting trim/ Scope out every angle of unfair advantage/ I'm gonna bribe the officials/ I'm gonna kill all the judges/ It's going to take you people years to recover from all of the damage” - Up the Wolves by the Mountain Goats

Wikipedia-style character bio below the cut.

Frederick Rupert Maurice, 1st Prince of Regenstein, was an Anglo-German nobleman and cavalry officer in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography

Frederick was born in London, the only son and eldest child of Count Rupert von Regenstein and Countess Catherine von Regenstein (née Dirom), the only daughter of the Marquess of Houlsyke. The marriage between his parents was unhappy, with the count being eighteen years his wife’s senior and neglectful of his wife at times, preferring liaisons with other women.

The family relocated to the County of Regenstein in Lower Saxony in 1787 for Rupert to assume the family seat after his father’s death. However, Frederick and his mother left for England in 1792 at the behest of his father due to the political state on the Continent.

Frederick resided with his mother and newborn sister, Amelia, in London. His father had visited Britain briefly in 1793 before assuming command within the Hanoverian Army in Flanders. He was killed soon afterwards at the Battle of Tourcoing in 1794. The then-dowager countess sent Regenstein to live with her brother, the Marquess of Houlsyke, at his estate in Yorkshire, while keeping his younger sister under her care.

Frederick lived at Danby Hall, the vast estate of the Marquess of Houlsyke, from 1794 to 1799. During his time there he met Thomas Montagu, the Earl of Salisbury, who was two years his elder. He was tutored privately from 1794 to 1797, but began attending Westminster School in 1798.

In 1799, Frederick was sent for from his uncle in Vienna who had arranged for an officer’s commission in an Austrian cavalry unit for his nephew. He arrived in Vienna in November of 1799 and remained there under the guardianship of his uncle and paternal aunt until February of 1800, joining the Austrian Army itself in Italy in the Kingdom of Sardinia in April. He served with the Austrian cavalry at the Battle of Marengo, a French victory, when he was 14.

He was forced out of the Austrian Army soon afterwards, his uncle’s underhanded dealings with the French having been exposed. Frederick left the Austrian Army in 1801 and entered the Hanoverian service in the same year as a junior officer due to the influence of his other paternal uncle, Count Moritz von Regenstein, who was a member of the Privy Council of Hanover. Frederick remained in the Hanoverian Army until the Convention of Artlenburg in 1803, which disbanded the Electorate of Hanover and instigated its occupation by French troops. He fled to Britain soon afterwards with many of the officers formerly in the Hanoverian service who would form the nucleus of the King’s German Legion.

By July of 1803, Frederick was once again in Britain, residing in London for a few months until he joined the King’s German Legion cavalry at Weymouth in November of the same year. He was immediately commissioned as a major in the 1st Regiment of Heavy Dragoons, despite being only 17, due to Count Moritz’s influence in Hanoverian circles in Britain. In 1806, due to German mediatisation, the House of Regenstein was raised from comital to princely rank in compensation for their properties west of the Rhine that were annexed by the French in 1792, as well as for the mediatisation of the County of Regenstein.

It was also during this time that his cousin, Richard Dirom, an outspoken Popular Radical and heir to the Marquessate of Houlsyke, was imprisoned in 1804 due to his close involvement in a planned uprising in London. Despite being the son of a peer and the heir to a peerage, he was imprisoned due to the overwhelming incriminating evidence. He was found dead in his bedroom under suspicious circumstances after he was put under house arrest while awaiting trial.

He remained with the regiment in Dorsetshire until 1807, with lengthy and often leaves of absence to London during that time. He spent those leaves of absence with Lord Salisbury, who likewise did the same, in London. It was during one of those leaves of absence in London when he met Lady Caroline Loftus in 1807, eloping with her soon afterwards. Their only child and son, William, would be born in 1808. His younger sister, Amelia, would come to live with him and his wife in 1808 after their mother’s death.

In 1811, the prince embarked for Lisbon with two regiments of King’s German Legion heavy dragoons. He was the colonel of the 1st Regiment of Heavy Dragoons, having been promoted in 1810 after the previous colonel, Baron Eberhardt Otto George von Bock, was promoted to major-general. He arrived in Lisbon in December of 1811 and wintered in the city before joining the main army under Wellington in 1812. He was involved in a duel in April of 1812, serving as a second to Lieutenant Colonel Montagu. He was engaged in minor skirmishes in the following months.

His first, and most notable battle in the Peninsula was the Battle of Garcia Hernandez on the 23rd of July, in which an outnumbered force of Anglo-German cavalry defeated French infantry in the aftermath of the Battle of Salamanca. It was notable for both the German heavy dragoons achieving the unusual feat of breaking three French infantry squares, and the capture of the eagle of the 6th Line Infantry Regiment by the colonel of the 1st Regiment of Heavy Dragoons, the Prince of Regenstein.

He was engaged in two following battles in 1812, the Battle of Majadahonda on the 11th of August, where the KGL dragoons distinguished themselves, and the Battle of Venta del Pozo on the 23rd of October, before serving as part of the cavalry rear guard during the retreat of the Anglo-Portugese army from Burgos.

During the campaign of 1813-1814, he was further involved in a number of skirmishes. He fought at the Battle of Vitoria on the 21st of June in 1813 with Major-General Bock’s brigade of KGL heavy dragoons as they crossed the bridge at Gamarra and pursued the French towards Pamplona. He returned to Britain in May at the end of the Peninsular war in 1814.

He attended many of the events of the Allied sovereigns' visit to England in June 1814. His younger sister, Princess Amelia Frederica, married the Earl of Salisbury in 1814. Frederick remained in Britain with his wife and child for the rest of 1814 and the beginning of 1815 before travelling to Brussels with his family, along with many other British Army officers, in preparation for the Waterloo Campaign.

He was in attendance at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball on the 15th of June, 1815. He would be killed in action three days later at the Battle of Waterloo while leading an attack with the 1st KGL Heavy Dragoons against French cuirassiers that had charged against Allied infantry squares.

Personal Life

Shortly after his arrival in Yorkshire in 1794, he met Thomas Montagu, Earl of Salisbury and the two became extremely close friends in the following years. The two were lovers from around 1803, when Frederick returned to Britain, to 1815, the year of his death.

In 1807, Frederick eloped with Lady Caroline Loftus, a wealthy Anglo-Irish heiress, which led to much scandal and the brief estrangement of the then-Princess Regenstein from her father. However the marriage was happy, and the two had a son, William, a year later in 1808. The couple also engaged in a ménage à trois with Frederick’s long-time lover, Lord Salisbury, in 1808. He would later willingly claim his wife and Lord Salisbury’s illegitimate child, Charles, as his own.

In 1808, Frederick’s estranged younger sister, Princess Amelia Frederica, came to live with him and his family after their mother’s death. They would remain close from then onwards.

He would have a close, albeit brief, relationship with his only son and child, William, who was heir to the Principality of Regenstein through his father and to the Earldom of Ely and the Loftus Viscountcy through his mother.

His relationship with his maternal and paternal families was distant, although at times beneficial to his career. He had infrequent contact with the Dowager Princess of Regenstein, his estranged mother, with most of their communications consisting of requests for more money by the dowager princess after Frederick’s marriage. He had a more amicable relationship with his paternal family, many of whom resided in Britain after the occupation of Hanover in 1803. He had little contact with his cousin, Richard Dirom, before and after his arrest. He was on better terms with his uncle, Edward Dirom, the Marquess of Houlsyke, and he was included in his will, as well as regularly receiving a large allowance from him in the years before his marriage.

He was a prominent sportsman and rake in Regency London society, infamous for his scandalous behavior and indiscreet liaisons with women, and notable for his skill as a sportsman, particularly in horse-racing, boxing, and swordsmanship.

He, however, enjoyed a happy family life, and was particularly devoted to his son as well as his wife.

Personality

Frederick was greatly admired by the troops both under and not under his command for the care and attention that he paid to their wellbeing, as well as for his bravery and at times, reckless courage. He was well-liked among his fellow officers for his genial nature, although he was disliked by many general officers for his recklessness and obstinate attitude.

He carried some of his temper, bluntness, and forcefulness of character even when away from the army and in London society, earning him many scornful remarks. However, he was markedly more settled when in the company of Caroline or Thomas.

Death and Burial

Frederick was killed at the Battle of Waterloo when he led the 1st KGL Heavy Dragoons against French cuirassiers that had charged against Allied infantry squares in the afternoon. His body was brought back with much effort by the KGL dragoons behind the infantry squares.

His body was intended to be interred in the Regenstein family vault at their estate in Lower Saxony by his father’s family, although this was against his wish. However, his wife intervened and he was buried, according to his wish, at the Dirom family estate of Danby Hall in Yorkshire.