His Royal Highness Prince Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert, K.G., K.T., G.C.M.G., G.V.C.O., P.C. was born at Windsor Castle. He was the only son and the second child of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the third son of Queen Victoria, and his wife, the former Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia.
After attending Eton College, Prince Arthur went to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He received his commission as a second lieutenant in the 7th (the Queen's Own) Hussars. During the Boer War, he saw active duty with the 7th Hussars and spent several months stationed at Kruegerdrop. In 1907, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the 2nd Dragoons (the Royal Scots Greys). He became the Colonel-in-Chief of this regiment in 1920. During World War I, Major Prince Arthur of Connaught served as aide-de-camp to Generals Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig, the successive commanders of the British Expeditionary Forces in France and Belgium. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1919 and became a colonel in the reserves in 1922. In October 1922, Prince Arthur was promoted to the honorary rank of major general and became an aide-de-camp to his first cousin, King George V. Since George V's children were too young to undertake public duties until after World War I, Prince Arthur attended a variety of ceromonial duties at home and abroad.
On October 12, 1913, Prince Arthur of Connaught married Her Highness Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (May 17, 1891-February 26, 1959), the elder daugther of the late Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, and HRH the Princess Royal (Princess Louise Vicoria Alexandra Dagmar), the eldest daugther of King Edward VII at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace in London. His bride, originally styled Lady Alexandra Duff, received the title of princess of Great Britain and Ireland with the qualification of Highness from her gradfather, Edward VII, on November 9, 1905. Due to a special remainder, she succeeded her father's titles, the dukedom of Fife and the earldom of MacDuff in the peerage of the United Kingdom, on January 26, 1912. The couple, who were first cousins once-removed, were styled "TRH Prince and Princess Arthur of Connaught." They had one son, His Highness Prince Alastair Arthur of Connaught, later Alastair Arthur Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught, (August 9, 1914-April 26, 1942).
In 1920, Prince Arthur succeeded Viscount Buxton as governor-general and commander-in-chief in South Africa. The Earl of Athlone succeeded him in these posts in 1923. Upon returning to Britain, Prince Arthur became involved in a number of charitable organizations, including serving as chairman of the board of directors of Middlesex Hospital. Like his father, the Duke of Connaught, he was active in the Freemasons, becoming Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire in 1924.
Prince Arthur of Connaught died of stomach cancer at age 55. One of his last public appearances was at the coronation of King George VI in May 1937. His father, the Duke of Connaught, survived him by four years. Prince Arthur's only son, who used the courtesy title Earl of MacDuff after 1917, succeeded his paternal grandfather as 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex in 1942.