May 12, 1670: Birth of Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland

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Augustus II the Strong, Elector Friedrich August I of Saxony, John George IV of Saxony, Order of the Golden Fleece, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, War of the Polish Succession

Augustus II (May 12, 1670 – February 1, 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in the years 1697–1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine line of the House of Wettin.

Early life

Augustus was born in Dresden on May 12, 1670, the younger son of Johann Georg III, Elector of Saxony and Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark, the eldest daughter of King Frederik III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

As the second son, Augustus had no expectation of inheriting the electorate, since his older brother, Johann Georg IV, assumed the post after the death of their father on September 12, 1691. Augustus was well educated, and spent some years in travel and in fighting against France.

Augustus married Cristiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in Bayreuth on January 20, 1693, the firstborn child of Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and his second wife, Princess Sophie Luise of Württemberg, daughter of Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg. She was named for her father, Christian, and her mother’s father, Eberhard. As the daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, she was margravine by birth. She had five younger siblings, only two of whom survived infancy. She remained close to her relatives in Bayreuth and continued to visit them after her marriage.

While in Venice during the carnival season, his older brother, the Elector Johann Georg IV, contracted smallpox from his mistress Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz. On 27 April 1694, Johann Georg died without legitimate issue and Augustus became Elector of Saxony, as Friedrich August I.

Augustus’ great physical strength earned him the nicknames “the Strong”, “the Saxon Hercules” and “Iron-Hand”. He liked to show that he lived up to his name by breaking horseshoes with his bare hands and engaging in fox tossing by holding the end of his sling with just one finger while two of the strongest men in his court held the other end. He is also notable for fathering a very large number of children.

To be eligible for election to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697, Augustus had to convert to Roman Catholicism. The Saxon dukes had traditionally been called “champions of the Reformation”. Saxony had been a stronghold of German Protestantism and Augustus’ conversion was therefore considered shocking in Protestant Europe. Although the Prince-Elector guaranteed Saxony’s religious status quo, Augustus’ conversion alienated many of his Protestant subjects.

As a Catholic, he received the Order of the Golden Fleece from the Holy Roman Emperor and established the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest distinction. As Elector of Saxony, he is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He transformed the Saxon capital of Dresden into a major cultural centre, attracting artists from across Europe to his court. Augustus also amassed an impressive art collection and built lavish baroque palaces in Dresden and Warsaw. In 1711 he served as the Imperial vicar of the Holy Roman Empire.

His reigns brought Poland some troubled times. He led the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Great Northern War, which allowed the Russian Empire to strengthen its influence in Europe, especially within Poland. His main pursuit was bolstering royal power in the Commonwealth, characterized by broad decentralization in comparison with other European monarchies.

He tried to accomplish this goal using foreign powers and thus destabilized the state. Augustus ruled Poland with an interval; in 1704 the Swedes installed nobleman Stanisław Leszczyński as king, who officially reigned from 1706 to 1709 and after Augustus’ death in 1733 which sparked the War of the Polish Succession.

Augustus’ body was buried in Poland’s royal Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, but his heart rests in the Dresden Cathedral. His only legitimate son, Augustus II and his wife, Cristiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth had a son, Friedrich August II (1696–1763), who succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony and King of Poland as Augustus III.

Princess Stephanie, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg has safely delivered a healthy baby boy

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Hereditary Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, Prince Charles of Luxembourg, Prince François of Luxembourg, Princess Stephanie, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

The Grand Ducal house of Luxembourg announced that Princess Stephanie, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg has safely delivered a healthy baby boy at 10:04AM today, March 27, at the Grand Duchess Charlotte Maternity Hospital in Luxembourg.

The infant will be named François Henri Luis Marie Guillaume and will be known as Prince François of Luxembourg. He is third in the line of succession to the Luxembourgian throne behind his father, Prince Guillaume, and older brother, Prince Charles. Congratulations! 🎉👏🍼

The Life of Augusta of Prussia, Electress of Hesse

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Augusta of Prussia, Elector Wilhelm I of Hesse, Elector Wilhelm II of Hesse, Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and By Rhine, King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway, King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, Louise of Great Britain, Mary of Great Britain, Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark and Norway

Augusta of Prussia (May 1, 1780 – February 19, 1841) was a German salonist, painter, and Electress consort of Hesse by marriage to Wilhelm II, Elector of Hesse.

She was the third daughter and fifth child of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Princess Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt.

The History of Hesse

In 1568 with the death of Landgrave Philipp I, the Landgraviate of Hesse a German Principality of the Holy Roman Empire, was divided among his sons. With the extinction of the Hesse-Marburg and Hesse-Rheinfels lines by 1604, Hesse-Darmstadt, along with Hesse-Cassel, became the two remaining Hessian states.

End of the landgraviate

Following the reorganization of the German states during the mediatisation, called the the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel was raised to the Electorate of Hesse with Landgrave Wilhelm IX, now an Imperial Elector, taking the title Wilhelm I, Elector of Hesse.

King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia

Hesse-Darmstadt gained a great deal of territory from the secularization and modifications authorized by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803. The acquisition of the Duchy of Westphalia, formerly owned by the Archbishop of Cologne, was significant, as were the acquisition of territories from the Archbishop of Mainz and the Bishop of Worms.

Princess Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt

In 1806, upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, Elector Wilhelm I was dispossessed by Napoleon Bonaparte for his support of the Kingdom of Prussia.

At the Congress of Vienna in 1814, a number of Napoleonic electorates were elevated to kingdoms, and Elector Wilhelm tried to secure recognition as King of the Chatti. However, he was rebuffed by the Great Powers, who listed him as a “Royal Highness” along with the other Grand Dukes.

To secure his pre-eminence over his cousin, Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse in the former Hesse-Darmstadt, Wilhelm chose to keep his title of Prince-Elector. The rulers of the Electorate of Hesse became the only Prince-Electors in the German Confederation, even though there was no longer a Holy Roman Emperor for them to elect.

Also at the Congress of Vienna, the Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse was forced to cede Westphalia to Prussia. In exchange for this he received a piece of territory from the left bank of the Rhine, including the important federal fortress at Mainz. The Grand Duchy of Hesse changed its name to the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine in 1816.

On February 13, 1797 in Berlin, Augusta married Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel, eldest surviving son of Wilhelm IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel (future Elector of Hesse). Prince Wilhelm succeeded to the Electorate as Wilhelm II on his father’s death in 1821.

Louise of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway

Elector Wilhelm II was the eldest surviving son of Wilhelm I, Elector of Hesse and Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark and Norway the third child and second daughter of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway (1723–1766), and his first spouse Queen Louise (1724–1751), daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his wife Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

Elector Wilhelm II’s father, Wilhelm I, Elector of Hesse (1743 – 1821) was the eldest surviving son of Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel and Princess Mary of Great Britain, the daughter of George II of Great Britain and his wife Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

Mary of Great Britain, Langravine of Hesse-Cassel

Elector Wilhelm I of Hesse and his wife, Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark and Norway were first cousins. Both were grandchildren of King George II of Great Britain.

Augusta of Prussia and her husband Elector Wilhelm II of Hesse were fourth cousins from their descent from Ernst August, Elector of Hanover the grandfather of King George II of Great Britain.

The marriage of Augusta and Wilhelm II was politically arranged and unhappy. Augusta and Wilhelm often came into conflict with one another, which led to aggressive confrontations.

In 1806, Hesse was occupied by France. Augusta was in Berlin with her children at the time, having remained in the Prussian capital due to her pregnancy when Napoleon’s army took it for France. Napoleon put guards around her house and gave orders that she should not be disturbed.

With Hesse and Prussia occupied and her family in exile, Augusta lacked money, and after her child’s birth she asked for a meeting with Napoleon. She appeared before him with her newborn baby on her arm and one of her children by the hand and asked him for an allowance, which he granted her.

After the birth of her last child in 1806, the relationship between Augusta and Wilhelm was unofficially terminated. In 1815, they agreed to keep separate households.

Augusta lived in Schoenfeld Palace, where she became a celebrated salonist and the centre of the romantic Schoenfelder-circle, which included Ludwig Hassenpflug, Joseph von Radowitz and the Grimm brothers, while Wilhelm lived in a different residence with his mistress, Emilie Ortlöpp.

Augusta closed her salon in 1823, and between 1826 and 1831 she lived in The Hague, Koblenz, Bonn and Fulda. She returned to Cassel in 1831. Augusta was regarded as a skillful painter, whose works included self-portraits.

Several months after Augusta’s death, Wilhelm morganatically remarried his longtime mistress Emilie Ortlöpp, ennobled as Countess von Reichenbach-Lessonitz, by whom he had an additional eight children.

The Life of Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark: later Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia

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Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia, Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, King George I of the Hellenes, Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, Rand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, Winter Palace

Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark: August 30, 1870 – September 24, 1891), later known as Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia and was a member of the Greek royal family and of the Russian imperial family. She was the daughter of King George I of the Hellenes and Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia. She died of childbirth complications.

Early life

Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark was born on August 30, 1870 at Mon Repos, the summer residence of the Greek royal family on the island of Corfu. She was the third child and eldest daughter of King George I of Hellenes and his wife, Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia.

Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark

Alexandra’s father was not a native Greek, but he had been born a Danish prince named Christian Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a son of Christian IX, King of Denmark, and he had been elected to the Greek throne at the age of seventeen. Five of his sons (Constantine, George, Nicholas, Andrew and Christopher), and two daughters (Alexandra and Maria), attained adulthood.

Alexandra’s mother, Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, (whom I just featured on this blog) was the daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich of Russia and his wife Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg (whom I also just featured on this blog).

The Greek royal family was not wealthy by royal standards and they lived with simplicity. King George was a taciturn man, but contrary to the general approach of the time, he believed in happy rambunctious children. The long corridors of the royal palace in Athens were used by Alexandra and her siblings for all types of play and sometimes a “bike ride” would be led by the King himself. Raised by British nannies, English was the children’s first language, but they spoke Greek between themselves. They also learned German and French.

Alexandra, nickname “Aline” within her family, or Greek Alix, to distinguish her from her aunt and godmother, Alexandra of Denmark, at the time The Princess of Wales and husband of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, had a sunny disposition and was much loved by her family. “She had one of those sweet and lovable natures that endeared her to everybody who came in touch with her,” recalled her brother, Nicholas. “She looked young and beautiful, and ever since she was a child, life looked as it had nothing but joy and happiness in store for her.”

Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia

Alexandra’s playmates were her brother Nicholas and her sister Maria, who followed her in age. Alexandra spent many holidays in Denmark visiting her paternal grandparents King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark. In Denmark, Alexandra and her siblings met their Russian and British cousins in large family gatherings.

Marriage and children

When she was eighteen years old, she was married to Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, her maternal first cousin once removed and the youngest child and sixth son of Emperor Alexander II and his first wife, Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.

Grand Duke Paul’s father, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, and Princess Alexandra’s grandfather, Grand Duke Constantine were brothers.

They had become close when Grand Duke Paul spent winters in Greece due to his frequent respiratory illnesses. The Greek royal family also frequently spent holidays with the Romanov family on visits to Russia or Denmark. Their engagement was announced on November 10, 1888. The wedding took place on June 17, 1889 in St. Petersburg, at the chapel of the Winter Palace.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia,

They had two children:

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (1890–1958)
Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich (1891–1942)

Death

Seven months into her second pregnancy, Alexandra took a walk with her friends on the bank of the Moskva River and jumped directly into a boat that was permanently moored there, but fell as she got in. The next day, she collapsed in the middle of a ball from violent labour pains.

She gave birth to her son, Dimitri, lapsed into a fatal coma, and she died six days later in the Romanovs’ estate Ilyinskoe near Moscow. The Grand Duchess was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg. Her grieving husband had to be restrained from throwing himself into the grave with her.

Her husband later morganatically remarried Olga Karnovich. Alexandra’s son would be involved in the murder of Grigori Rasputin, a favorite of Empress Alexandra Feodorvna, in 1916.

In 1939 during the reign of her nephew King George II of the Hellenes, the Greek government obtained permission from the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin to rebury Princess Alexandra in Greece. Her body was removed from the vault in Leningrad and transferred by a Greek ship to Athens. It was finally laid to rest near the Tatoi Palace. Alexandra’s marble tombstone over an empty tomb is still in its place in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The “Alexandra Maternity Hospital” (now “Alexandra General Hospital”) in Athens was later named in her memory by another nephew, King Paul; it was affiliated with the University of Athens with a special remit to research and combat postpartum maternal mortality. Alexandras Avenue in Athens was also named after her.

The Life of Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. Conclusion.

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Emperor Alexander III of Russia, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia, Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich of Russia, Pavlovsk Palace, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg

From The Emperor’s Desk: I got a new Tablet a few days earlier than expected!

Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark

In June 1889, Alexandra’s 18-year-old granddaughter, Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, returned to Russia to marry Grand Duke Paul, who was the younger brother of Emperor Alexander III. Towards the end of the wedding celebrations, Constantine suffered a stroke. This was followed in August 1889 by a severe stroke, which left him unable to walk or speak.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia

For the remaining three years of his life Constantine lived with his wife in her favourite palace Pavlovsk, having a wing of the building to himself. He was confined to a bath chair, and Alexandra saw to it that Constantine was denied contact with his mistress and illegitimate offspring.

Alexandra’s grandson, Christopher of Greece, wrote in his memoirs that Constantine became so frustrated with being under Alexandra’s control that he one day grabbed her by the hair and beat her with his stick. Seeing as Christopher would have only been four years old at the time of Constantine’s death, it is difficult to know the full truth of this story.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia

Despite his illness, Constantine tried to amuse himself as best he could. His grand-nephew Cyril Vladimirovich remembered skating parties at Pavlovsk, where Constantine would watch from his sledge, and how he always “smelt of cigars”. Cyril found Alexandra a formidable woman, with her “high pitched voice….driving about in an open carriage with a kind of awning over it, which could be opened and closed like an umbrella.

“I have never seen anything quite the same anywhere else, and think that she was the only person in the world who had such an ingenious cover to her carriage”.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia in old age

When Constantine died, in January 1892, Alexandra arranged for his mistress Anna to visit Pavlovsk and pray at Constantine’s bedside.

Eleven years later, Alexandra herself suffered a stroke in 1903, eight years before she died and she lived out her days at the Marble Palace in Saint Petersburg. She died on July 6, 1911.

January 27, 1892: Birth of Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

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Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies

From the Emperor’s Desk: I could not find a lot of information on Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska so I supplemented information on her parents marriage.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (January 27, 1892 – January 29, 1930) was the eldest daughter of Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria and Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria. Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and through her father she was a descendant of King George II of Great Britain.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

Her mother was Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria (April 22, 1868 – September 6, 1924) was the youngest child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was usually called Valerie.

In Bad Ischl on July 31, 1890, Archduchess Marie Valerie married her third cousin Archduke Franz Salvator.

Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies

Her father, Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria 21 August 21, 1866 – April 20, 1939) was a son of Archduke Charles Salvator, Prince of Tuscany and Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, the fifth child and second-eldest daughter of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria.

Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria

He became a cavalry general in the Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) Austro-Hungarian Army. He received an honorary doctorate in medicine from the University of Innsbruck for his work with the Red Cross during World War I and was a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and Order of the White Eagle.

Archduke Franz Salvator had met Archduchess Marie Valerie in 1886 at a ball, but Marie Valerie waited several years to be sure that her feelings toward Franz Salvator were strong enough for a successful marriage.

It was hoped by many at court that she would marry someone like the Crown Prince of Saxony (King Friedrich August III of Saxony); the Prince Royal of Portugal (King Carlos I of Portugal); or Prince Alfons of Bavaria as she courted with him.

Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany

Nonetheless, Empress Elisabeth declared that Marie Valerie would be allowed to marry even a chimney sweep if she so desired (in contrast to her other children, who both had to make dynastic marriages).

Marie Valerie chose Franz Salvator, a relatively minor prince from the Tuscan branch of the Austrian imperial family who had no great wealth to offer, and Elisabeth, as promised, supported her favorite daughter.

This caused a deep rift between Marie Valerie and her siblings for a time, but eventually Crown Prince Rudolf reconciled with her when Marie Valerie and Franz Salvator became engaged on Christmas 1888. However, the relationship between Marie Valerie and Crown Prince Rudolph’s wife, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, remained cold even after Rudolf’s death.

Archduchess Marie Valerie and Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria

Marie Valerie’s solemn renunciation of her rights to the Austrian throne, which was necessary for the marriage to proceed, took place on July 16, 1890 at the Hermesvilla.

The young couple’s festive wedding followed in the parish church of Bad Ischl on July 31. The ceremony was conducted by the Bishop of Linz, Franz Maria Doppelbauer. Afterwards, Valerie and Franz honeymooned in Italy, Switzerland and Bavaria.

Thier daughter, Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, married at Niederwallsee on September 19, 1912 Georg Count von Waldburg zu Zeil und Hohenems (1878–1955). The marriage was one of love and not a political marriage. Georg von Waldburg had no money or property, and had been hired as a tutor for her brothers.

Archduchess Hedwig (left) and Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

They had four children, three daughters and a son:

1. Countess Marie Valerie von Waldburg-Zeil (1913–2011), married Archduke Georg of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (1905–1952) in 1936. He was the younger son of Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

2. Countess Klementine von Waldburg-Zeil (1914–1941), unmarried and without issue.

3. Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg-Zeil (1917–1979), unmarried and without issue.

4. Count Franz Josef von Waldburg-Zeil (1927 – 2022), married Countess Priscilla of Schönborn-Wiesentheid in 1956. They had seven children.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska was a painter for some time. She died, aged 38, of pneumonia on January 29, 1930. Her widower remarried nearly two years later, on December 29, 1931, to his wife’s younger sister Archduchess Gertrud of Austria.

The Life of Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg. Part II

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Baron von Plettenberg, Bellevue Castle, Berlin, Eitel Friedrich of Prussia, Empress Augusta Victoria, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Grand Duke Friedrich August II in Oldenburg, Harald von Hedemann, Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg, World War I

On February 27, 1906, Sophia Charlotte married Prince Eitel in Berlin. The wedding fell on the anniversary of Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Victoria Augusta’s silver wedding anniversary, which amplified the event considerably. The wedding had 1,500 guests, which included many members of Germany’s royal families. Sophia Charlotte wore a four-yard long dress that was made of pearl white silk and embroidered with silver roses.

The wedding had three ceremonies – the signing of the marriage contract under the statutes of the House of Hohenzollern on the first day, the administering of the civil law oaths on the second, and lastly the religious rites in the chapel of the castle later that day. She was warmly welcomed in Berlin.

Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia in military uniform

They had an unhappy marriage. Despite her warm Berlin welcome, Sophia Charlotte failed to make friends there. Eitel Friedrich was also continually unfaithful. One source states that upon realizing what type of person she had married, Sophia Charlotte “withdrew into a kind of haughty reserve, from which she never emerged”.

They rarely saw each other during his time fighting in World War I. It was a lonely time for Sophia Charlotte, and she resided mostly in Bellevue Castle in Berlin, where she spent her time mainly reading, painting, and socializing with a small number of friends.

Plettenberg case testimony

In 1922, Prince Eitel Friedrich sued four German newspapers over what he considered libelous allegations that his wife had committed adultery. These events began when Sophia Charlotte was summoned as a witness in a divorce case, and apparently admitted to having an affair with the male defendant.

In the case, she stated that she had known the defendant for a number of years before her marriage when he served her father Grand Duke Friedrich August II in Oldenburg. When asked by the judge, she said “our intimate relations continued even after my marriage with the Emperor’s son”.

She also added that her husband was aware of the affair the entire time, and that her and Plettenberg’s intimate relationship only ceased once he married. Sophia Charlotte later announced however, “I emphatically deny that either before or after have I had any unpermitted relations whatever with the plaintiff. I not only never committed adultery with the plaintiff nor did we ever kiss each other, nor did I maintain any relations whatsoever with him which overstepped the limits permitted by good society”.

The case was heavily suppressed in German newspapers, so that most reports were published in foreign newspapers.

Divorce

Sophia Charlotte and Eitel Friedrich were divorced October 20, 1926. The couple had no children. It is believed that the couple had wanted to divorce before the war, but were prevented by Eitel Friedrich’s father. Eitel Friedrich reportedly began divorce proceedings against Sophia Charlotte on March 15, 1919, citing infidelities before the war. In the end, a verdict given out by the court merely stated that Eitel Friedrich was the guilty party.

Later life

After many rumors of potential husbands circulated after her divorce (including the aforementioned Baron von Plettenberg), Sophia Charlotte married in 1927 Harald von Hedemann, a former Potsdam police officer. He was forty and she was forty-eight.

Despite his low status, the wedding was held at the Grand Ducal palace at Rastede Castle, and was attended by her father the former Grand Duke as well as a small number of both their relations. Sophia Charlotte was considered one of the richest women in the country, and the couple took up residence at the same castle where they were married.

Sophia Charlotte died on March 29, 1964 in Westerstede.

Personal traits and looks

Sophia Charlotte was well-educated and was brought up with a quiet and unworldly upbringing. She was a good linguist and musician. She was also a talented water-colour painter.

There were concerns of her well-being in Sophia Charlotte’s youth, as her mother had suffered from ill health. By traveling to spa resorts and residing in warm weather however, she was able to overcome any signs of sickness. Once source stated right before her marriage that Sophia Charlotte had “developed into a thoroughly healthy and happy woman, whose fair hair and blue eyes, so entirely German, are somewhat piquantly associated with a delicacy of feature that suggests the Latin rather than the Teutonic origin”.

According to another account, Sophia Charlotte was considered slim and graceful with pale, regular features. Contemporaries state she inherited some of the good looks and charm of her mother. As she was the only child of the Grand Duke by his first wife, she was a great heiress. Her wealth was often stressed when mentioned in articles and newspapers. One book called her “pretty, rich, and supposed to be very clever”. Another contemporary source however calls her plain and uninteresting.

The Life of Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt

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Bellevue Palace, Duke Eduard of Anhalt, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Johannes-Michael Freiherr von Loën, King of Prussia, Prince Charles Franz of Prussia, Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia, Prince Joachim of Prussia, Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt

Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt (June 10, 1898 – May 22, 1983)

Her Highness Princess Marie-Auguste was born in Ballenstedt, Anhalt, Germany, to the then Prince Eduard of Anhalt and his wife Princess Louise Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg, the daughter of Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen. Her father was a son of Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and a younger brother of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg.

Her father, Eduard succeeded his brother Duke Friedrich II of Anhalt on April 21, 1918, but his brief reign came to an end five months later with his own death on September 13, 1918. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son Prince Joachim Ernst under the regency of Eduard’s younger brother, Prince Aribert.

Prince Joachim Ernst’s brief reign came to an end on November 12, 1918 with his uncle abdicating in his name following the German revolution. The duchy became the Free State of Anhalt and is today part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Duke Joachim Ernst joined the ruling Nazi Party in 1939. He died at the Buchenwald concentration camp after World War II as a prisoner of the Soviet Union.

Princess Marie-Auguste was raised in Dessau, the capital of the duchy of Anhalt. She had five siblings, but her elder sister Friederike and brother Leopold died while infants. Marie-Auguste was an elder sister of Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt.

First marriage and Divorce

On March 11, 1916 in Berlin, Marie-Auguste married Prince Joachim of Prussia, the youngest son of German Emperor Wilhelm II and his wife Princess Victoria Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Prince Joachim of Prussia

Marie-Auguste and Joachim, who was Wilhelm’s last unmarried child, had been officially engaged since October 14 of the previous year. The wedding was celebrated at Bellevue Palace, and was attended by Joachim’s father and mother Empress Augusta Victoria, the Duke and Duchess of Anhalt, as well as other relatives. They had a simple Lutheran ceremony.

The couple shared common ancestry in King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia who was Princess Marie-Auguste’s great-great-great grandfather through Prince Ludwig Charles of Prussia the second son and third child of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Princess Marie-Auguste and her son Prince Prince Charles Franz of Prussia

Prince Joachim of Prussia was a great-great-great grandson of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt through the couples eldest son King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

The couple had one son, Prince Charles Franz Josef Wilhelm Friedrich Eduard Paul (December 15, 1916 – January 23, 1975). Their grandson, Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, married Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, a pretender to the Imperial Russian throne.

Following the German Revolution in November 1918, German Emperor Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate, thus depriving Joachim of his titles and position. Unable to accept his new status as a commoner, he fell into a deep depression.

The relationship between Joachim and Marie-Auguste had already started to deteriorate. The couple were divorced soon after the end of the First World War. The direct causes of the divorce are not known to the public.

According to one report, Marie-Auguste had previously abandoned her husband and child to run away with another man, had been forcibly brought back home on the orders of the Emperor, and had filed for divorce as soon as the war ended, when she saw that her husband’s family were at their lowest ebb.

Only weeks after the divorce was finalized, Joachim shot himself in Potsdam on July 18, 1920. One source reports that he had been in financial straits and suffered from “great mental depression”. His own brother Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia commented that he suffered from “a fit of excessive dementia”.

After Joachim’s suicide, Marie-Auguste’s son Charles Franz was taken into the custody of his paternal uncle Prince Eitel Friedrich. As the acting head of the House of Hohenzollern, he claimed this right, due to the fact that Emperor Wilhelm had issued an edict placing Hohenzollern powers in Eitel’s hands.

This action was later declared to have been unlawful, and in 1921, Marie-Auguste was given full custody of her son, despite that fact that she had previously run away from her husband and despite numerous servants having testified against her, with Eitel’s counsel arguing that Marie-Auguste was unfit to have custody of Charles Franz.

However, she appeared in court and pleaded that she was heartbroken, which may have helped to win the case for her. In 1922, Marie-Auguste sued her former father-in-law for the financial support that had been promised in the marriage contract between her and Prince Joachim. Wilhelm’s advocate argued that the laws of the House of Hohenzollern were no longer in force, so there was no longer a financial obligation to support her.

Second marriage and divorce

On September 27, 1926, she married Johannes-Michael Freiherr von Loën (b. 1902), a childhood friend. They were divorced in 1935, and Marie-Auguste reverted to her maiden name.

In 1980, Princess Marie-Auguste legally adopted the businessman Hans Lichtenberg, who subsequently took the name Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt. According to Prinz von Anhalt, who thereafter proceeded to sell knighthoods and marriages related to his new station, he gave her $4,000 a month (German sources say 2000 Deutsche Mark a month) in financial support.

Death

Princess Marie-Auguste died on May 22, 1983 at Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

December 28, 1879: Death of Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Queen of Denmark. Part I.

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Grand Duchess Anastasia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, King Christian IX of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark, King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Prince Friedrich Franz, Princess Alexandrine, Princess Cecilie

Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (24 December 1879 – 28 December 1952) was Queen of Denmark from 1912 to 1947, as well Queen of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 as the spouse of King Christian X. She was the paternal grandmother of the current reigning Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II.

Alexandrine was born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on Christmas Eve of 1879, in the city of Schwerin, the capital of the vast Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Northern Germany. Her father was Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; who was the eldest son of and heir to the reigning Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II.

Her mother was Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia the only daughter and second child of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and his wife Princess Cecilie of Baden. Paternally, she was a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia.

Alexandrine was her parents’ first child, and was born eleven months after their wedding in St. Petersburg. She was born in the Neustädtisches Palais (English: New Town Palace) in Schwerin, which was her parents’ residence in the city at the time.

Duchess Alexandrine had two younger siblings: her only brother was Duke Friedrich Franz, who in 1897 succeeded their father as Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and her only sister was Duchess Cecilie, who in 1906 married the German Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, eldest son of German Emperor William II and Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.

She was also a paternal first cousin of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. Her mother was the paternal aunt of Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, the wife of Felix Yusupov, one of the murderers of Rasputin.

From left: Princess Cecilie, Princess Alexandrine, Prince Friedrich Franz and Grand Duchess Anastasia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

After their father’s succession as Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin upon the death of his father on April 15, 1883, Alexandrine grew up with her brother and sister at the Castle in Schwerin, at the royal residences of Ludwigslust Palace and the Gelbensande hunting lodge, only a few kilometres from the Baltic Sea coast.

Her father had a fragile health and suffered badly from dermatitis, asthma and respiratory disorders from an early age. The wet, damp, and cold Northern European climate of Mecklenburg was not good for his health, and as a result, Alexandrine spent a large amount of time with her family away from Mecklenburg, by the Lake Geneva, and in Palermo, Baden-Baden and Cannes in the south of France, where the family owned a large estate, the Villa Wenden. Cannes was favoured at the time by European royalty, including some whom Alexandrine met such as Empress Eugénie of France and her future husband’s uncle, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

It was also in Cannes during the winter visit of 1897 that Duchess Alexandrine met her future husband, Prince Christian of Denmark, the eldest son of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Louise of Denmark.

The two young royals were engaged in Schwerin on March 24, 1897. In April 1897, shortly after the engagement was announced, her father the Grand Duke died suddenly at the age of just 46 years. His sudden death was somewhat shrouded in mystery as it was first reported that he had committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge. However, according to the official report, he died in his garden when he fell over a low wall during a bout of shortness of breath.

Crown Prince Christian and Crown Princess Alexandrine of Denmark

The wedding of Duchess Alexandrine and Prince Christian was celebrated on April 26, 1898 in Cannes, when she was 18 years old. Prince Christian was 27 years old.

They had two children:

1. Prince Frederik (1899–1972), later King Frederik IX of Denmark; married Princess Ingrid of Sweden

2. Prince Knud (1900–1976), later Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark; married Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark.

Early years in Denmark

Upon their arrival in Denmark, the couple were given Christian VIII’s Palace at the Amalienborg Palace complex in central Copenhagen as their principal residence and Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby north of Copenhagen as a summer residence.

Furthermore, the couple received Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus in Jutland as a wedding present from the people of Denmark in 1902, the garden of which was to become one of her greatest interests. In 1914, the King and Queen also built the villa Klitgården in Skagen in Northern Jutland.

On January 29, 1906, her husband’s grandfather King Christian IX died, and Christian’s father ascended the throne as King Frederik VIII. Christian himself became Crown Prince and Alexandrine became Crown Princess.

December 14, 1878: Death of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

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Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and By Rhine, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Albrecht of Prussia, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem of the Netherlands, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Princess Anna of Hesse and by Rhine, Princess Royal, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of the United Kingdom

From the Emperor’s Desk: Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine died on the 17th anniversary of the death of her father. Today I will be focusing on her marriage to Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine.

Princess Alice (April 25, 1843 – December 14, 1878) was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 13 June 1877 until her death in 1878 as the wife of Grand Duke Ludwig IV. She was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alice was the first of Queen Victoria’s nine children to die, and one of three to predecease their mother, who died in 1901. Her life had been enwrapped in tragedy since her father’s death in 1861.

Alice’s matrimonial plans were begun in 1860 by her mother. Queen Victoria had expressed her wish that her children should marry for love, but this did not mean that her choice of suitors would necessarily be extended to anybody outside the royal houses of Europe.

Raising a British subject to royalty, however high their rank, was politically objectionable, and also wasted any opportunity for a useful foreign alliance. The Queen instructed her daughter Victoria, recently married to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, to produce a list of eligible princes in Europe.

Prince Willem of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange

Her search produced only two suitable candidates: the Prince of Orange; Prince Willem of the Netherlands, was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of King Willem III from March 17, 1849 until his death.

The other suitable candidate was Prince Albrecht of Prussia, cousin to Victoria’s husband Friedrich Wilhelm.

Prince Albrecht of Prussia

The Prince of Orange was soon discounted. He journeyed to Windsor Castle so that Queen Victoria could look him over in person, but he proved unpalatable to Alice. The prince too showed little interest in Alice, despite strong pressure from his pro-British mother, Queen Sophie of the Netherlands. Prince Albrecht, too, was spurned, with Prince Friedrich Wilhelm emarking that his cousin would not do for “one who deserves the very best”.

With both of the leading candidates now discounted, Princess Victoria suggested Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine a minor German royal, the nephew of Grand Duke Ludwig III of Hesse and by Rhine. Princess Victoria had gone to the court of Hesse to inspect Ludwig’s sister, Princess Anna, as a potential bride for her brother, the Prince of Wales.

Princess Anna of Hesse and by Rhine

As a young girl, Anna of Hesse and by Rhine was considered as a possible bride for the future Edward VII (known as ‘Bertie’ to his family). While Queen Victoria, was in favor of Anna, Bertie’s elder sister was opposed to the match, as she believed Anna had a “disturbing twitch”.

As time went by however, Victoria grew increasingly impatient, and tried to ignore her daughter’s hints that Anna was not suitable, declaring, “I am much pleased with the account of Princess Anna, (minus the twitching)”. In the end, Alexandra of Denmark was chosen instead.

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom

Although not favorably impressed with Princess Anna, she was impressed with Ludwig and his brother Prince Heinrich. Both were invited to Windsor Castle in 1860, ostensibly so they could watch the Ascot Races in the company of the royal family, but in reality, the visit was a chance for the Queen to inspect her potential son-in-law.

The Queen admired both Ludwig and Heinrich, but noted how well Ludwig and Alice got along together. When the Hessian family departed, Ludwig requested Alice’s photograph, and Alice made it clear that she was attracted to him.

Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

Alice was engaged to Prince Ludwig of on April 30, 1861, following the Queen’s consent. The Queen persuaded the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, to secure the agreement of Parliament for Alice to receive a dowry of £30,000 (£2.98 million as of 2022).

Although the amount was considered generous at the time, Prince Albert remarked that “she will not be able to do great things with it” in the little realm of Hesse, compared to the riches that her sister Victoria would inherit as future Queen of Prussia and German Empress.

Furthermore, the couple’s future home in Darmstadt, the Grand Ducal seat, was uncertain. Although Queen Victoria expected that a new palace would be built, the people of Darmstadt did not want to meet that expense, and the resulting controversy caused resentment there. This meant that Alice was unpopular in Darmstadt before she even arrived.

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

Between the engagement and the wedding, Alice’s father Prince Albert died on December 14, 1861. Despite the Queen’s grief, she ordered that the wedding should continue as planned.

On July 1, 1862, Alice and Ludwig were married privately in the dining room of Osborne House, which was converted into a temporary chapel. The Queen was ushered in by her four sons, acting as a living screen blocking her from view, and took her place in an armchair near the altar.

Alice was given away by her uncle, Prince Albert’s brother Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was flanked by four bridesmaids: her younger sisters, Princesses Helena, Louise and Beatrice, as well as Ludwig’s sister Princess Anna.

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom

For the ceremony, Alice wore a simple white dress, with a veil of Honiton lace and a wreath of orange blossom and myrtle, but was required to wear black mourning clothes before and after the ceremony.

The Queen, sitting in an armchair, struggled to hold back her tears, and was shielded from view by the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, her second son, who cried throughout the service. The weather at Osborne was dreary, with winds blowing up from the Channel.

The Queen wrote to her eldest daughter, Victoria, that the ceremony was “more of a funeral than a wedding”, and remarked to Alfred, Lord Tennyson that it was “the saddest day I can remember”. The ceremony—described by Gerard Noel as “the saddest royal wedding in modern times”—was over by 4 pm, and the couple set off for their honeymoon at St Claire in Ryde, a house lent to them by the Vernon Harcourt family.

Prince and Princess Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

Alice’s entourage consisted of Lady Churchill, General Seymour and Baron Westerweller (a Hessian courtier). Alice was careful not to displease the Queen after her marriage. When the Queen visited the couple at St Claire, Alice tried not to appear “too happy”. Despite this, Alice’s displays of romantic bliss made the Queen jealous of her daughter’s happiness.

Alice and Ludwig arrived at Bingen on July 12, 1862 and were greeted by cheering crowds gathered in spite of pouring rain. After being introduced to town officials, they took a train to Mainz, where they had breakfast, before taking a steamer along the Rhine to Gustavsburg.

From there, they took a train to Darmstadt, where they were greeted with great enthusiasm. Alice wrote back to her mother that “I believe the people never gave so hearty a welcome”, while her sister Helena wrote that “nothing could have been more enthusiastic than her entry into Darmstadt was″.

Alice did not adapt immediately to her new surroundings. She was homesick, and could not believe that while she was so far away from England, her father was not still alive and comforting her mother.