Princess Irene of Prussia (more officially: Her Royal Highness Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine) was the namesake of the steamship, Prinzess Irene.
Born in 1866, Princess Irene was a maternal grandchild of Queen Victory and Prince Albert of England.
History tends to overlook Irene in favor of her two sisters – Ella and Alix – who both married into the Russian imperial family and were killed during the Russian revolution in 1918.
Irene was just 12 years old when her mother died following an outbreak of diphtheria in the family. Irene spent the next years, along with her sisters, under the supervision of Queen Victoria. She married Prince Henry of Prussia in 1888 and had three children.
Irene lived a relatively quiet life compared with many in her extended royal family. She died in 1953.