[1] However, after Wilde's well-publicized trials in Britain, conviction in 1895, and imprisonment for gross indecency, their mother Constance took their children to Europe.

She began using the surname Holland for both the boys and herself in order to protect them from public scrutiny.

She relocated with the boys to Switzerland and enrolled them at Neuenheim College, an English-speaking boarding school in Heidelberg, Germany.

[3] After ending school, he became a gentleman cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

[4] When the First World War began, Captain Holland was posted to British forces on the Continent.