The Prince's intellectual abilities were evident as a boy;
Poet Laureate,
Alfred, Lord Tennyson and his friend, philosopher
James Martineau, were familiar with the Queen's children and had noted that Leopold, who had often "conversed with the eminent Dr. Martineau, was considered to be a young man of a very thoughtful mind, high aims, and quite remarkable acquirements". His daughter,
Princess Alice, wrote in her memoirs that his "literary and artistic inclinations were encouraged and developed by his beloved tutor, Robert Collins". He was also tutored by
Canon Duckworth and for two years before that, by a young Eton master called Mr. Shuldam. He left the university in 1876 with an honorary doctorate in civil law (DCL), and then travelled in Europe. In 1880, he toured
Canada and the
United States with his sister,
Princess Louise, whose husband
John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, was
Governor General of Canada. Leopold was a prominent patron of chess, and the
London 1883 chess tournament was held under his patronage. Incapable of pursuing a military career because of his
haemophilia and the need to avoid even minor injuries, Leopold instead became a patron of the arts and literature and served as an unofficial secretary to his mother. "Leopold was the favourite son, and through him her relations with the Government of the day were usually kept up." Later he pursued
vice-regal appointments in Canada and the
Colony of Victoria, but his mother refused to appoint him, to his great unhappiness.
British Army Despite his inability to pursue an active military role, he had an honorary association with the
72nd Regiment, Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders, and from 1881 served as the first
Colonel-in-Chief of the
Seaforth Highlanders, when that regiment was formed through the merger of the 72nd regiment with the
78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot. A portrait of Leopold in military uniform is held in the
Royal Collection. The Seaforth Highlanders paraded at Leopold's funeral, a fact recorded by
William McGonagall in his poem "The Death of Prince Leopold".
Freemasonry Leopold was an active
Freemason, being initiated in the
Apollo University Lodge, Oxford, whilst resident at Christ Church. He was proposed for membership by his brother,
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who was at the time the Worshipful Master of the Lodge, and was initiated in a joint ceremony with Robert Hawthorne Collins, his friend and tutor, who later became
Comptroller of his Household. Leopold served as Master of the Lodge from 1876 to 1877, and was later the
Provincial Grand Master for Oxfordshire, still holding that office at the time of his death. In 1882 he laid the foundation stone of the Masonic Hall on Marlborough Street in
Banbury. ==Marriage==