The Life of Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, last Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Tags

1917 Titles Deprivation Ac, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke Alfred of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke Charles Edward of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, World War I, World War ii

Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (December 31, 1885 – October 3, 1970) was Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the wife of Duke Charles Edward from their marriage on October 11, 1905 until his abdication on November 14, 1918.

Victoria Adelaide is the maternal grandmother of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. She was a niece of German Empress Augusta Victoria, wife of Emperor Wilhelm II and born a Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Early life

Princess Victoria Adelaide was born on December 31, 1885 at Castle Grünholz, Thumby, Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia as the eldest daughter of Frederick Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Her father was the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and a nephew of King Christian IX of Denmark. One month before the birth of Victoria Adelaide, he had succeeded to the headship of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the title of duke upon the death of his father on 27 November 1885.

Wilhelm II chose Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein as the bride of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha who was her first cousin.

Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

They married on October 11, 1905, at Glücksburg Castle, Schleswig. Charles Edward was the only son of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany by his wife Princess Helena of Waldeck and a grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Duke Ernst II, ruled the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha from 1844 until his own death in 1893. Because he had died childless, the throne of the two duchies would have passed to his late brother Prince Albert’s male descendants.

But Prince Albert was the husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and his eldest son, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, (future King Edward VII) was already her heir apparent. Besides, he was prohibited by the Constitutions of both duchies from inheriting the throne if there were other eligible male heirs. But Albert Edward had already renounced his claim in favour of his next brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. So Alfred became the next Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Victoria Adelaide and Charles Edward, Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

In 1899, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, urged by Emperor Wilhelm II, decided on how to deal with the succession of Duke Alfred, who was in ill health. His only son, Hereditary Prince Alfred (“Young Affie”) of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had died by suicide in February 1899.

The next in line to the Ducal throne was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the Queen’s third son, was serving in the British army. This caused Emperor Wilhelm II to oppose him as a ruling prince of Germany. His son, Prince Arthur of Connaught, had been at Eton with Charles Edward.

Emperor Wilhelm II demanded a German education for the boy, but this was unacceptable to the Duke of Connaught. Thus young Arthur also renounced his claims to the Duchy. Next in line was Charles Edward, who consequently inherited the Ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at the age of sixteen when his uncle Alfred died at the age of 55 in July 1900.

Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Princess Victoria Adelaide was described as the leading part in the marriage and the Duke would initially come to her for advice. She and Charles Edward had five children.

The family mainly spoke English at home, though the children learnt to speak German fluently. Hubertus, Charles Edward’s second son, was the favourite child. The children lived in fear of their father, who ran his family “like a military unit”. Charles Edward’s younger daughter, Princess Caroline Mathilde, claimed that her father had sexually abused her. The allegation was backed by one of her brothers.

The Duke and Duchess of Coburg-Gotha with their four eldest children in 1918

Later life

In 1915, King George V, his cousin, ordered his name removed from the register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. In 1917, a law change in Coburg effectively banned any of Charles Edward’s British relatives from succeeding him and that same year the Gotha G.V bomber which had been built in Gotha was used to attack London. In Britain, he was denounced as a traitor. The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 issued by King George V removed his British titles.

In 1918, the Duke was forced to abdicate his ducal throne, following the end of World War I, and he and his family became private citizens.

Victoria Adelaide, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Charles Edward was an early and fervent supporter of Adolf Hitler. Victoria Adelaide initially shared her husband’s enthusiasm and patriotism but she came to loathe Hitler and the Nazi Party following the Nazi seizure of power. She defied her husband by supporting the German Evangelical Church Confederation against the antisemitic German Christians.

After World War II, the couple fled to Austria (where Schloss Greinburg an der Donau had been a Saxe-Coburg property since 1822, and remains such) following the seizure of their properties in East Germany by the Soviet Union. Duchess Victoria Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha died at Schloss Greinburg (Grein, Austria) at the age of 84 on October 3, 1970 and was buried beside her husband (Charles Edward died March 6, 1954) at Schloss Callenberg, Coburg, October 8 of that year.

The Life of Princess Victoria of Baden, Queen of Sweden. Conclusion

Tags

Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King Gustaf V of Sweden, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Liberals and Social Democrats, Nils Edén, Princess Victoria of Baden, Queen Victoria of Baden, World War I

The 1917 elections showed a heavy gain for the Liberals and Social Democrats, who between them held a decisive majority. Despite this, King Gustaf V initially tried to appoint a Conservative government headed by Johan Widén. However, Widén was unable to attract enough support for a coalition.

It was now apparent that King Gustaf V could no longer appoint a government entirely of his own choosing, nor could he keep a government in office against the will of Parliament. With no choice but to appoint a Liberal as Prime Minister, he appointed a Liberal-Social Democratic coalition government headed by Staaff’s successor as Liberal leader, Nils Edén.

Queen Victoria of Baden

Queen Victoria deeply resented the social democratic election victories and worked unsuccessfully to prevent them from taking part in the government. Victoria’s political influence was founded upon the power position of her first cousin, the German Emperor and King of Prussia, Wilhelm II, and in 1918–19, after he was deposed, she lost all political influence in Sweden.

Queen Victoria suffered from very poor health (much due to poor treatment by several doctors in her youth), and often went on trips to make her health better (she suffered from bronchitis and possibly tuberculosis). She was treated with mercury and undue heavy medications during her difficult pregnancies, possibly the cause of her chronic conditions.

From 1892 to her death, Axel Munthe was her personal physician and recommended for health reasons that she spend winters on the Italian island of Capri. While initially hesitant, in the autumn of 1901 she travelled to Capri, arriving to an official welcome and a crowd which escorted her from the Marina Grand to the Hotel Paradise.

From then on, except during World War I and for the last two years of her life, she spent several months a year on Capri. After some time, she decided to purchase her own residence on Capri, an intimate rustic two-storey farmhouse she named Casa Caprile, which she had extensively landscaped, surrounding it with a dense park. In the 1950s, twenty years after her death, the property became a hotel.

The Queen went to Munthe’s residence, the Villa San Michele, most mornings to join Munthe for walks around the island. Munthe and the Queen also arranged evening concerts at San Michele, at which the Queen played the piano. They also shared a love of animals, with the Queen frequently being seen with a leashed dog, and she was known to support Munthe’s (eventually successful) efforts to purchase Mount Barbarossa for use as a bird sanctuary. It was rumoured that Munthe and the Queen were lovers, but this has never been confirmed.

King Gustaf V of Sweden

Queen Victoria spent a lot of her time abroad because of health reasons, as the Swedish climate was not considered good for her, and during her last years as queen, she was seldom present in Sweden: she participated in an official visit to Norrland in 1921, a visit to Dalarna in 1924, and to Finland in 1925. The visit to Finland was her last official appearance as queen; although she did visit Sweden at her husband’s birthday 1928, she did not show herself to the public.

During those celebrations, however, someone noticed the figure of a woman behind a curtain in the Royal Palace of Stockholm: he waved to her, and she waved back with her handkerchief. After this, she left Sweden for Italy for good: she died two years afterwards.

Death

Toward the end of her life, with her health declining, Munthe recommended she no longer spend time in Capri, and she returned to Sweden for some time, building a Capri-styled villa there. She then moved to Rome.

Her final visit to Sweden was on her husband’s 70th birthday in June 1928, and Queen Victoria died on April 4, 1930 in her home Villa Svezia in Rome aged 67.

Her husband, King Gustaf V, never remarried and died twenty years later and after a reign of nearly 43 years. King Gustaf V died in Stockholm of flu complications on October 27, 1950. Victoria and Gustaf V ‘s 67-year-old son succeeded him as King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden.

Princess Sophie, Crown Princess of Greece: Conversion to Orthodoxy.

Tags

Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Conversion, Crown Prince Constantine of Greece, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Germanus II, Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, Greek Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Athens and Head of the Autocephalous Greek Church, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Sophie of Prussia

From the Emperor’s Desk: I wanted to include this story in my History of The Kingdom of Greece when talking about King Constantine I. However, this is a story about his wife, Princess Sophie, therefore I wanted to write about it as a separate piece.

Princess Sophia of Prussia (June 14, 1870 – January 13, 1932) was Queen of the Hellenes from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922 as the wife of King Constantine I of the Hellenes.

Princess Sophie of Prussia

A member of the House of Hohenzollern and child of German Emperor Friedrich III, King of Prussia, Princess Sophia received a liberal and Anglophile education, under the supervision of her mother Victoria, Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

On October 27, 1889, more than a year after the death of her father, she married her third cousin Crown Prince Constantine, heir apparent to the Greek throne.

After the birth of her eldest son, future King George II of the Hellenes, Crown Princess Sophia decided to embrace the faith of her subjects and to convert from Lutheranism to Greek Orthodoxy.

Having requested and received the blessing of the Empress Dowager (her paternal grandmother Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) and her maternal Queen Victoria, the Crown Princess informed her in-laws of her intention and asked Queen Olga for instruction in orthodoxy.

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece

The Greek royal family was delighted by the news, because the announcement of the conversion would be popular among the Greeks but King George insisted that Germanus II, Metropolitan of Athens and Head of the Autocephalous Greek Church, would instruct Sophie in the Orthodox faith, rather than his wife.

Of Russian origin, Queen Olga (born Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia) was considered by some Greek nationalists as an “agent of the Pan-Slavism” and the King therefore preferred that Germanus II would guarantee the task that could otherwise create difficulties for the Crown.

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece

Though the news of her conversion was greeted calmly by most members of her family, Sophia feared the reaction of her brother Emperor Wilhelm II, who took his status as Head of the Prussian Union of Churches very seriously and hated disobedience more than anything.

Crown Princess Sophia and Crown Prince Constantine took a trip to Germany for the occasion of the wedding of her sister Princess Victoria of Prussia to Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe in November 1890.

The Crown Princess personally announced to her brother her intentions to change her religion. As expected, the news strongly displeased the Emperor and his wife, the very pious Empress Augusta Victoria.

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece

The Empress even tried to dissuade her sister-in-law to convert, triggering a heated argument between the two women. Empress Augusta Victoria later claimed that this caused her to go into premature labor, and deliver her sixth child, Prince Joachim, too early.

Emperor Wilhelm II, meanwhile, was so angry that he threatened Sophia with exclusion from the Prussian royal family. Pressed by her mother to appear conciliatory, Crown Princess Sophia ended up writing a letter to her brother explaining the reasons for her conversion but the Emperor would not listen, and for three years he forbade his sister to enter Germany.

Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Augusta Victoria of Germany with Crown Prince Wilhelm

Upon receiving his reply Crown Princess Sophie sent a telegram to her mother: “Received answer. Keeps to what he said in Berlin. Fixes it to three years. Mad. Never mind.”

Crown Princess Sophia officially converted on May 2, 1891; however, the imperial sentence was ultimately never implemented. Nevertheless, relations between Wilhelm and Sophia were permanently marked by Sophia’s decision. Indeed, the Emperor was an extremely resentful man and he never stopped making his sister pay for her disobedience.

History of The Kingdom of Greece. Part VI: First Reign of King Constantine I.

Tags

Abdication, Athens, Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, Crown Prince George of Greece, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King Constantine I of the Hellenes, Prime Minister Venizelos, Princess Royal, princess Sophie of Prussia, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., The Balkan War, The Great War, World War I

Constantine I (August 2, 1868 – January 11, 1923) was King of the Hellenes from March 18, 1913 to June 11, 1917 and from December 19, 1920 to September 27, 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece expanded to include Thessaloniki, doubling in area and population. He succeeded to the throne of Greece on March 18, 1913, following his father’s assassination.

Crown Prince Constantine of Greece

Constantine was born on August 2, 1868 in Athens. He was the eldest son of King George I and Queen Olga (Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia). His birth was met with an immense wave of enthusiasm: the new heir apparent to the throne was the first Greek-born member of the family.

As the ceremonial cannon on Lycabettus Hill fired the royal salute, huge crowds gathered outside the Palace shouting what they thought should rightfully be the newborn prince’s name: “Constantine”.

This was both the name of his maternal grandfather, Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich of Russia, and the name of the “King who would reconquer Constantinople”, the future “Constantine XII, legitimate successor to the Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos”, according to popular legend.

He was inevitably christened “Constantine” on August 12, 1868. The most prominent university professors of the time were handpicked to tutor the young Crown Prince: Ioannis Pantazidis taught him Greek literature; Vasileios Lakonas mathematics and physics; and Constantine Paparrigopoulos history, infusing the young prince with the principles of the Megali Idea.

In 1884, Constantine, Crown Prince of Greece, turned sixteen and his majority was declared by the government. He then received the title of Duke of Sparta. Soon after, Constantine completed his military training in Germany, where he spent two full years in the company of a tutor, Dr. Lüders. He served in the Prussian Guard, took lessons of riding in Hanover and studied political science at the Universities of Heidelberg and Leipzig.

Betrothal and Marriage

After a long stay in the United Kingdom celebrating her grandmother, Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, Princess Sophie of Prussia became better acquainted with Constantine in the summer of 1887.

Princess Sophia of Prussia, was a daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia, (future German Emperor Friedrich III) and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom.

The Crown Prince of Prussia was the son of King Wilhelm I of Prussia (German Emperor Wilhelm I) and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The Princess Royal was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Princess Sophie of Prussia

Queen Victoria watched their growing relationship, writing “Is there a chance of Sophie’s marrying Tino? It would be very nice for her, for he is very good”. Crown Princess Victoria also hoped that Sophie would make a good marriage, considering her the most attractive among her daughters.

During his stay at the Hohenzollern court in Berlin representing the Kingdom of Greece at the funeral of Emperor Wilhelm I in March 1888, Constantine saw Sophie again. Quickly, the two fell in love and got officially engaged on September 3, 1888. However, their relationship was viewed with suspicion by Sophie’s older brother Prince Wilhelm (future Emperor Wilhelm II) and his wife Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

This betrothal was not completely supported in the Greek royal family either: Queen Olga showed some reluctance to the projected union because Sophie was Lutheran and Olga would have preferred that her son marry an Orthodox Christian. Despite the difficulties, the wedding was scheduled for October 1889 in Athens.

On October 27, 1889, Crown Prince Constantine married Princess Sophie of Prussia in Athens in two religious ceremonies, one public and Orthodox and another private and Protestant. They were third cousins in descent from Emperor Paul I of Russia, and second cousins once removed through King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

Princess Sophie of Prussia

For the wedding Sophie’s witnesses were her brother Heinrich and her cousins Princes Albert Victor and George of Wales; for Constantine’s side, the witnesses were his brothers Princes George and Nicholas and his cousin the Tsarevich Nicholas of Russia.

The marriage (the first major international event held in Athens) was very popular among the Greeks. The names of the couple were reminiscent to the public of an old legend which suggested that when a King Constantine and a Queen Sophia ascended the Greek throne, Constantinople the Hagia Sophia would fall into Greek hands.

Crown Prince Constantine and Crown Princess Sophie had six children. All three of their sons ascended the Greek throne. Their eldest daughter Helen married Crown Prince Carol of Romania; their second daughter married the 4th Duke of Aosta; whilst their youngest child, Princess Katherine, married a British commoner.

George I was assassinated in Thessaloniki by an anarchist, Alexandros Schinas, on March 18, 1913, and Constantine succeeded to the throne. In the meantime, tensions between the Balkan allies grew, as Bulgaria claimed Greek and Serbian-occupied territory.

Balkan Wars

In May, Greece and Serbia concluded a secret defensive pact aimed at Bulgaria. On June 16, the Bulgarian army attacked their erstwhile allies, but were soon halted. King Constantine led the Greek Army in its counterattack in the battles of Kilkis-Lahanas and the Kresna Gorge.

The widely held view of Constantine I as a “German sympathizer” owes something to his marriage with Sophie of Prussia, sister of Wilhelm II, to his studies in Germany and his supposed “militaristic” beliefs and attitude.

The Great War

When World War I broke out Constantine did rebuff Emperor Wilhelm II who in late 1914 pressed him to bring Greece into the war on the side of Austria-Hungary and Germany. In their correspondence he told him that his sympathy was with Germany, but he would not join the war. Constantine then also offended the British and French by blocking popular efforts of Prime Minister Venizelos to bring Greece into the war on the side of the Allies.

Constantine’s insistence on neutrality, according to him and his supporters, was based more on his judgement that it was the best policy for Greece, rather than venal self-interest or his German dynastic connections, as he was accused of by the Venizelists.

In August 1916, a military coup broke out in Thessaloniki by Venizelist officers. There, Venizelos established a provisional revolutionary government, which created its own army and declared war on the Central Powers.

With Allied support, the revolutionary government of Venizelos gained control of half the country – significantly, most of the “New Lands” won during the Balkan Wars. This cemented the National Schism, a division of Greek society between Venizelists and anti-Venizelist monarchists, which was to have repercussions in Greek politics until past World War II.

Constantine I, King of the Hellenes

Venizelos made a public call to the King to dismiss his “bad advisors”, to join the war as King of all Greeks and stop being a politician. The royal governments of Constantine in Athens continued to negotiate with the Allies a possible entry in the war.

During November/December 1916, the British and French landed units at Athens claiming the surrender of war materiel equivalent to what was lost at Fort Rupel as a guarantee of Greece’s neutrality. After days of tension, finally they met resistance by paramilitary (Epistratoi) and pro-royalist forces (during the Noemvriana events), that were commanded by officers Metaxas and Dousmanis.

After an armed confrontation, the Allies evacuated the capital and recognized officially the government of Venizelos in Thessaloniki. King Constantine then became the most hated person for the Allies after his brother-in-law Emperor Wilhelm II.

After the fall of the monarchy in Russia, Constantine lost his last supporter inside the Entente opposed to his removal from the throne.

In the face of Venizelist and Anglo-French pressure, King Constantine finally left the country for Switzerland on June 11, 1917; his second-born son Alexander became king in his place.

The Allied Powers were opposed to Constantine’s first born son Crown Prince George becoming king, as he had served in the German army before the war and like his father was thought to be a Germanophile.

July 11, 1866: Birth of Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine. Part II.

Tags

Anna Anderson, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, Franziska Schanzkowska, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, Hemophilia, Prince Henry of Prussia, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, Princess Alix of Hesse by Rhine, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and By Rhine, Princess Irene of Hesse and By Rhine

Princess Irene, raised to believe in a proper Victorian code of behavior, was easily shocked by what she saw as immorality. In 1884, the same year that her elder sister Victoria married Prince Louis of Battenberg, another sister, Elisabeth, married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, and when Elisabeth converted from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy, in 1891, Irene was deeply upset.

Princess Irene ca. 1902

She wrote to her father that she “cried terribly” over Elisabeth’s decision. In 1892, Irene’s father, Grand Duke Ludwig IV, died, and her brother, Ernst-Ludwig, succeeded him as Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Two years later, in May 1894, Ernst-Ludwig was married off by Queen Victoria to a first cousin, Victoria-Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It was amidst the wedding festivities that Irene’s youngest surviving sister, Alix, accepted the marriage proposal of Tsarevich Nicholas, a second cousin, and when Nicholas’ father, Emperor Alexander III, died prematurely in November 1894, Irene and her husband traveled to St. Petersburg to be present at both his funeral and the wedding of Alix, who had taken the name Alexandra Feodorovna upon her conversion to Orthodoxy, to the new Emperor Nicholas II.

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1864–1918)

Despite the disagreement that she had over the conversion of her two sisters to Russian Orthodoxy, she remained close with all of her siblings. In 1907, Irene helped arrange what later turned out to be a disastrous marriage between Elizabeth’s ward, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, to Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland. Wilhelm’s mother, the Queen Victoria of Sweden, was an old friend of both Irene and Elisabeth. Grand Duchess Maria later wrote that Irene pressured her to go through with the marriage when she had doubts. She told Maria that ending the engagement would “kill” Elizabeth.

Prince Wilhelm was the second son of King Gustaf V of Sweden and his wife Victoria of Baden.

On May 3, 1908, in Tsarskoye Selo, the wedding between was Wilhelm of Sweden married Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia took place. The bride was a daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia by his first wife Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was a cousin of the reigning Russian Emperor Nicholas II and first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The couple had only one son: Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland and later Count of Wisborg (1909–2004).

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia

The marriage was unhappy. Their son, Lennart, later wrote an autobiography in which he revealed several details of the Swedish royal family. The autobiography tells of how Maria, like her aunt and namesake Maria, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, felt that she had married beneath herself in marrying a younger son of the King of Sweden, and this caused problems of ego between the couple.

Maria insisted that the servants address her by her correct style Your Imperial and Royal Highness, to the chagrin of her husband, who was merely a Royal Highness. When apprised of the matter, Wilhelm’s father King Gustaf V had no choice but to acquiesce with his daughter-in-law’s wish, which was perfectly valid in law, and ordered that the imperial style be used invariably for Maria.

Maria sought a divorce because of what she described as the horror she then felt toward the Swedish royal family, due to their unlimited support of Doctor Axel Munthe who had accosted her sexually. The divorce was granted in 1914, and Maria returned to Russia.

Prince Heinrich and Princess Irene

In 1912, Irene was a source of support to her sister Alix and her relationship with Grigori Rasputin when Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich nearly died of complications of haemophilia at the Imperial Family’s hunting lodge in Poland.

Princess Irene’s support stemmed from the fact that two of her children with Prince Heinrich of Prussia, princes Waldemar and Heinrich, were hemophiliacs, a disease which they inherited through Irene from the maternal grandmother of both of their parents, Queen Victoria, who was a carrier. Prince Sigismund was the only one of the three brothers who did not have the hemophilia.

On February 25, 1904, Princess Irene left 4 year old Prince Heinrich unsupervised for a few minutes while she went to fetch something. The playful Prince climbed a chair, and then he climbed onto the table. As he heard his mother approaching, he attempted to quickly come down but stumbled while attempting to climb down the chair and fell on the floor headfirst.

Prince Heinrich started to scream, which immediately attracted Princess Irene’s attention. By the time she reached him, the child was almost unconscious. The doctor said the fall had not been that bad and the child would have survived had he not been a haemophiliac. However, suffering from this condition, it was certain the young Prince would die. He was suffering from a brain haemorrhage. He lingered for a couple of hours, but died the following day, on February 26. Prince Heinrich’s premature death would later very much affect the Princess, who would withdraw into herself.

Princess Irene with her husband Prince Heinrich of Prussia and their two surviving sons, Prince Sigismund, left, and Prince Waldemar.

Later life

Irene’s ties to her sisters were disrupted by the advent of World War I, which put them on opposing sides of the war. When the war ended, she received word that her sister Alix, and her husband and children along with her sister Elisabeth had been murdered by the Bolsheviks. Following the war and the abdication of her brother-in-law, Emperor Wilhelm II, Germany was no longer ruled by the Prussian Royal Family, but Irene and her husband retained their estate, Hemmelmark, in northern Germany.

Irene and Anna Anderson

When Anna Anderson surfaced in Berlin in the early 1920s, claiming to be the surviving Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, Irene visited the woman, but decided that Anderson could not be her niece that she had last seen in 1913. Princess Irene was not impressed.

Anna Anderson

I saw immediately that she could not be one of my nieces. Even though I had not seen them for nine years, the fundamental facial characteristics could not have altered to that degree, in particular the position of the eyes, the ear, etc. .. At first sight one could perhaps detect a resemblance to Grand Duchess Tatiana.”

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, sister of the murdered Emperor, commented on the visit of Princess Irene, saying it was an unsatisfactory meeting, but the woman’s supporters said that Princess Irene had not known her niece very well and all the rest of it.”

Irene’s husband, Heinrich of Prussia, said that the mention of Anderson upset Irene too much and ordered that no one was to discuss Anderson in her presence.

Prince Heinrich, Irene’s husband, died of throat cancer, as his father Emperor Friedrich III had, in Hemmelmark on April 20, 1929.

Anna Anderson biographer Peter Kurth wrote that several years later, Irene’s son (Prince Sigismund) posed questions to Anderson through an intermediary about their shared childhood and declared that her answers were all accurate. Irene later adopted Sigismund’s daughter, Barbara, born in 1920, as her heir after Sigismund left Germany to live in Costa Rica during the 1930s. Sigismund declined to return to Germany to live after World War II.

Princess Irene died November 11, 1953 (aged 87) at Schloss Hemmelmark, Barkelsby, Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany.

End note:

In 1991, the bodies of Emperor Nicholas II, Irene’s sister, Empress Alexandra (Alix) and three of their daughters were exhumed from a mass grave near Yekaterinburg. They were identified on the basis of both skeletal analysis and DNA testing. The female bones matched that of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose maternal grandmother Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine was a sister of Alexandra and Irene. The bodies of Tsarevich Alexei and the remaining daughter were discovered in 2007. Repeated and independent DNA tests confirmed that the remains were the seven members of the Romanov family, and proved that none of the Emperor’s four daughters survived the shooting of the Romanov family.

A sample of Anderson’s tissue, part of her intestine removed during her operation in 1979, had been stored at Martha Jefferson Hospital, Charlottesville, Virginia. Anderson’s mitochondrial DNA was extracted from the sample and compared with that of the Romanovs and their relatives. It did not match that of the Duke of Edinburgh or that of the bones, confirming that Anderson was not related to the Romanovs. However, the sample matched DNA provided by Karl Maucher, a grandson of Franziska Schanzkowska’s sister, Gertrude (Schanzkowska) Ellerik, indicating that Karl Maucher and Anna Anderson were maternally related and that Anderson was Franziska Schanzkowska.

July 11,1866: Birth of Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine. Part I.

Tags

Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven (Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine), Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and by Rhine, HRH Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom, Irene and Heinrich, Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, Prince Henry of Prussia, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Princess Alix of Hesse by Rhine

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (Irene Luise Marie Anne, Princess of Hesse and by Rhine, July 11, 1866 – November 11, 1953) was the third child and third daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine

Her maternal grandparents were Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her paternal grandparents were Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia, the second daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Landgravine Marie-Anna of Hesse-Homburg and a granddaughter of Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia.

Princess Irene’s siblings included Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, wife of Prince Louis of Battenberg (the maternal grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and mother-in-law of king Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden), Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, Ernst-Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Empress Nicholas II of Russia. Like her younger sister, the Russian Empress, Irene was a carrier of the hemophilia gene, and Irene would lose her sisters Alix and Elisabeth in Russia to the Bolsheviks.

She received her first name, which was taken from the Greek word for “peace”, because she was born at the end of the Austro-Prussian War. Her mother, Princess Alice, considered Irene an unattractive child and once wrote to her sister Victoria that Irene was “not pretty.” Though not as pretty as her sister Elizabeth, Irene did have a pleasant, even disposition.

I personally disagree with her mothers assessment. As seen in these pictures below, I think Princess Irene was very pretty.

Princess Alice brought up her daughters simply. An English nanny presided over the nursery and the children ate plain meals of rice puddings and baked apples and wore plain dresses. Her daughters were taught how to do housework, such as baking cakes, making their own beds, laying fires and sweeping and dusting their rooms. Princess Alice also emphasized the need to give to the poor and often took her daughters on visits to hospitals and charities.

The family was devastated in 1873 when Irene’s haemophiliac younger brother Friedrich, nicknamed “Frittie”, fell through an open window, struck his head on the balustrade and died hours later of a brain hemorrhage. In the months following the toddler’s death, Alice frequently took her children to his grave to pray and was melancholy on anniversaries associated with him.

In the autumn of 1878 Irene, her siblings (except for Elizabeth) and her father became ill with diphtheria. Her younger sister Princess Marie, nicknamed “May”, died of the disease. Her mother, exhausted from nursing the children, also became infected. Knowing she was in danger of dying, Princess Alice dictated her will, including instructions about how to bring up her daughters and how to run the household. She died of diphtheria on December 14, 1878.

Following Alice’s death, Queen Victoria resolved to act as a mother to her Hessian grandchildren. Princess Irene and her surviving siblings spent annual holidays in England and their grandmother sent instructions to their governess regarding their education and approving the pattern of their dresses. With her sister Alix, Irene was a bridesmaid at the 1885 wedding of their maternal aunt, Princess Beatrice, to Prince Henry of Battenberg.

Marriage

Irene married Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the third child and second son of Friedrich III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal on May 24 1888 at the chapel of the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin. As their mothers were sisters, Irene and Heinrich were first cousins.

Irene and Heinrich

Their marriage displeased Queen Victoria because she had not been told about the courtship until they had already decided to marry. At the time of the ceremony, Irene’s uncle and father-in-law, the German emperor, was dying of throat cancer, and less than a month after the ceremony, Irene’s cousin and brother-in-law ascended the throne as Emperor Wilhelm II.

Heinrich’s mother, Empress Victoria, was fond of Irene. However, Empress Victoria was shocked because Irene did not wear a shawl or scarf to disguise her pregnancy when she was pregnant with her first son, the haemophiliac Prince Waldemar, in 1889. Empress Victoria, who was fascinated by politics and current events, also couldn’t understand why Heinrich and Irene never read a newspaper. However, the couple were happily married and they were known as “The Very Amiables” by their relatives because of their pleasant natures. The marriage produced three sons.

June 17, 1882: Birth of Grand Duke Adolf-Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Tags

Adolf-Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz., Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Friedrich-Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duke Adolf-Friedrich V of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Princess Mary the Princess Royal, Russian Empire, World War I

Grand Duke Adolf-Friedrich VI was born on June 17, 1882 in Neustrelitz the third of the four children of Grand Duke Adolf-Friedrich V and his wife Grand Duchess Elisabeth, (the third child of Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt and Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Altenburg.) At the time of his birth his grandfather Grand Duke Friedrich-Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was on the throne and his parents were the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess. As the elder son of the Hereditary Grand Duke at birth Adolf-Friedrich bore the title Hereditary Prince.

Hereditary Prince

The young hereditary prince was christened Adolf Friedrich Georg Ernst Albert Eduard in Neustrelitz on July 19, 1882 with holy water sent from the River Jordan in Palestine. The christening was part of a double celebration for Mecklenburg-Strelitz as the day also marked the 60th birthday of his grandmother Grand Duchess Augusta.

Adolf-Friedrich’s godparents were his two grandfathers Grand Duke Friedrich-Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Duke Friedrich I of Anhalt, his uncle the future Duke Eduard of Anhalt, his great aunts Duchess Ekaterina of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born Grand Duchess of Russia) and Princess Maria Anna of Prussia and Duchess Agnes of Saxe-Altenburg (both born Princesses of Anhalt), his great uncles Prince George, Duke of Cambridge and Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Altenburg, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein (born Princess of Great Britain), the future German Emperor Friedrich III and Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.  

Adolf-Friedrich spent his childhood at the Carolinenpalais in Neustrelitz with his parents and siblings, Marie, Jutta and Carl-Borwin where he received private tutoring. From February 1, 1891 to December 11, 1898 he was tutored by the Protestant theologian Carl Horn, after which Adolf-Friedrich left Neustrelitz to continue with his studies at the Vitzthum-Gymnasium in Dresden where a fellow student was his kinsman the young Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Hereditary Grand Duke

The first half of 1904 was a time of sadness for Adolf-Friedrich and the grand ducal family. In January he lost his maternal grandfather the Duke of Anhalt while in March his great uncle and godfather the Prince George, Duke of Cambridge also died. It would be his third bereavement that would have the most impact on his life as with the death of his paternal grandfather Grand Duke Friedrich-Wilhelm on May 30, 1904 his father succeeded as grand duke with Adolf-Friedrich becoming heir apparent to the throne and Hereditary Grand Duke. From his paternal grandfather he inherited considerably less money than his siblings as he was in direct line to become grand duke and inherit the bulk of the grand ducal family’s wealth and estates.     

Thanks to the influence of his grandmother the Dowager Grand Duchess, who was born Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Adolf-Friedrich had a great admiration for Great Britain. He was present at a number of major British royal events including the funeral of Queen Victoria in February 1901, the coronation in 1902 and the funeral in 1910 of King Edward VII, and the coronation in 1911 of King George V. He spent the summers of 1912 and 1913 in Britain and became a well known and liked member of London society.

While hereditary grand duke, Adolf-Friedrich was seen as one of the most eligible European princes of his day with a possible engagement a topic of newspaper gossip. With his close links to Britain he was at various times linked to King George V’s only daughter the Princess Mary, the king’s cousin Princess Patricia of Connaught and even the morganatic daughter of the British based Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia, the Countess Zia de Torby, who Adolf-Friedrich was regularly seen out with while in London. Other rumoured spouses were Emperor Wilhelm II’s only daughter Princess Viktoria-Luise of Prussia, her cousin Princess Margarethe of Prussia and her future sister-in-law Princess Olga of Cumberland.

Reign as Grand Duke

Having spent ten years as heir apparent in 1914 Adolf Friedrich’s father fell seriously ill. On June 7, 1914 while receiving treatment in Berlin his father transferred governing power to Adolf-Friedrich. Four days later Grand Duke Adolf-Friedrich V died and he mounted the throne as Grand Duke Adolph-Friedrich VI. He had very little time to mourn the loss of his father and adjust to his new role as that August the First World War broke out and he had to fulfil the grand duchy’s obligations and lead Mecklenburg-Strelitz in support of the German Empire.

Although Mecklenburg-Strelitz was at war and Adolf-Friedrich VI a serving German officer, he was also a sovereign prince with a responsibility and duty to his subjects and as such continued to push for political reform in Mecklenburg just as his father had before him. When negotiations broke down with Mecklenburg-Schwerin over the subject in 1917 Adolf-Friedrich VI’s government contemplated repealing the union of the two states.

With Adolf-Friedrich VI having come to the throne while unmarried and without a son there was an issue surrounding the succession as his heir Duke Carl-Michael had indicated just before war broke out that he wished to renounce his rights to the succession. If there was no male heir to Mecklenburg-Strelitz then the grand duchy would merge with neighbouring Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

During the war the topic of marriage was discussed by Adolf-Friedrich VI and his friend Princess Daisy of Pless, however in war time it was difficult to arrange a meeting with an eligible princess. Eventually the Princess of Pless identified her husband’s relative, Princess Benigna Reuss of Köstritz, as a suitable bride. As Adolf-Friedrich VI was agreeable to the match his Minister-President Heinrich Bossart began negotiations to bring about the marriage. However before an engagement could be announced there was the complication of a connection with a women whom Adolf-Friedrich VI needed to be freed from.

While heir to the throne and based in Potsdam, Adolf-Friedrich VI had a relationship with a Hungarian born woman named Margit Höllrigl. He was rumoured to have given her a marriage proposal so he could renounce his succession rights and allow his brother Duke Carl-Borwin to become grand duke instead. Any possibility of this happening ended suddenly in 1908 with the death of his brother which left the only other successor to the throne the Russian based Duke Carl-Michael.

With the succession now uncertain it became essential for Adolf-Friedrich VI to remain heir and one day marry to ensure continuation of the dynasty and the independence of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. As such he attempted to pay off Höllrigl to release him from his promise. But because she was alleged to have been in possession of letters linking Adolf-Friedrich VI’s name with homosexual circles, the publication of which would have caused a great scandal, she was said to have attempted to extract more money from him.

One of the other women identified was the Italian opera singer Mafalda Salvanti who Adolf-Friedrich VI had invited to his summer residence in 1916 and 1917. Adolf-Friedrich VI was alleged to have been the father of her two sons Rolf and Horst Gérard although this claim has been shown to be untrue as letters from Adolf Friedrich to Salvanti, which only came to light around 2008, show that there was no real relationship between them and that they only knew one another after both Gérard boys had already been born. The story that Adolf-Friedrich VI was the father originated from a note written by a Hanseatic city diplomat who had been told the story by Adolf-Friedrich’s brother in law Prince Julius-Ernst of Lippe.

Death

With the war entering a fourth year and his love affairs possibly going to become public knowledge, on the evening of 23 February 1918 Adolf-Friedrich VI left his residence in Neustrelitz to take his dog for a walk. He never returned and the next morning his body was found in the Kammer Canel with a gunshot wound to his temple bringing about a tragic end to Adolf-Friedrich VI four year reign which had been blighted by war. An autopsy found that he had drowned and no weapon was recovered from the scene.

The circumstances and reasons for his death are unclear although in his suicide note he hinted that a woman wanted to discredit him. Rumours surfaced after his death that the German Secret Service had discovered that he had been spying for Britain and that he had been given the choice of being tried as a traitor to Germany or taking his own life, although this story was refuted by his close friend the Princess of Pless.

In the newspapers at the time both Mafalda Salvatini and Margit Höllrigl’s names were also mentioned in connection with his death. The princess who was lined up as his wife, Benigna Reuss of Köstritz, would remain single for the rest of her life dying on 20 February 1982. In 1926 Margit Höllrigl reappeared unsuccessfully suing Adolf Friedrich’s heirs for £162,000 which she claimed was the remaining balance of the £200,000 that Adolf Friedrich had allegedly agreed to pay her for compromising documents.    

With Adolf-Friedrich VI’s passing his childhood friend the Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin travelled to the neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz to assume control of the government as regent until the issue of the possible succession to the throne of the Russian based Duke Carl-Michael could be resolved.

With the civil war raging in Russia, Carl-Michael had fled to the Caucasus region so contacting him proved difficult. With the independence of Mecklenburg-Strelitz at stake Adolf-Friedrich VI had requested in his will that Duke Christian-Ludwig, second son of Friedrich-Franz IV, become grand duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz as it was thought unlikely that Carl-Michael would assume the throne having indicated before the war that he wished to renounce his succession rights.

Ultimately the succession to the throne became irrelevant as the German revolution in November 1918 forced the Emperor, kings, grand dukes, dukes and princes from there thrones to make way for a republic in Germany. As such Adolf-Friedrich VI would prove to be the last grand duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Adolf-Friedrich VI is buried on Lovers Island in Mirow. In recent years some memorials to him have been unveiled in Neustrelitz.

May 25, 1846: Birth of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom. Part II.

Tags

Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Christian Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Earl Roberts, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, King George V of the United Kingdom, Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, Pretoria, Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, South Africa, The Boer Wars, World War I

Part II.

Health

Princess Helena’s health was not always robust, and she became was addicted to the drugs opium and laudanum. However, the Queen did not believe that Helena was really ill, often accusing her of hypochondria encouraged by an indulgent husband. Queen Victoria wrote to her daughter the Crown Princess of Prussia, complaining that Helena was inclined to “coddle herself (and Christian too) and to give way in everything that the great object of her doctors and nurse is to rouse her and make her think less of herself and of her confinement”.

Not all of her health scares were brought on by hypochondria; in 1869, she had to cancel her trip to Balmoral Castle when she became ill at the railway station. In 1870, she was suffering from severe rheumatism and problems with her joints. In July 1871, she suffered from congestion in her lungs, an illness severe enough to appear in the Court Circular, which announced that her illness caused “much anxiety to members of the royal family”. In 1873, she was forced to recuperate in France as a result of illness, and in the 1880s she travelled to Germany to see an oculist.

Nursing

Helena had a firm interest in nursing, and was the founding chair of the Ladies’ Committee of the British Red Cross in 1870, playing an active role in recruiting nurses and organising relief supplies during the Franco-Prussian War. She subsequently became President of the British Nurses’ Association (RBNA) upon its foundation in 1887. In 1891, it received the prefix “Royal”, and received a Royal Charter the following year. She was a strong supporter of nurse registration, an issue that was opposed by both Florence Nightingale and leading public figures.

Needlework

Helena was also active in the promotion of needlework, and became the first president of the newly established School of Art Needlework in 1872; in 1876, it acquired the “royal” prefix, becoming the Royal School of Needlework. In Helena’s words, the objective of the school was: “first, to revive a beautiful art which had been well-nigh lost; and secondly, through its revival, to provide employment for gentlewomen who were without means of a suitable livelihood.”

After Victoria

Edwardian period

In October 1900, while in Pretoria, South Africa, Prince Christian-Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, Helena’s favourite son, came down with malaria, and died of enteric fever, on 29 October 29, aged 33, after receiving Holy Communion in the presence of Lord Roberts and Prince Francis of Teck, the brother of the British queen Mary of Teck, wife of King the future King George V.

The reason Prince Christian-Victor was in Pretoria was because he served as a staff officer in the Second Boer War, being involved in the relief of Ladysmith under General Sir Redvers Buller and later was with Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts.

Prince Christian-Victor of Schleswig-Holstein

Three months after the death of her son, Prince Christian-Victor, her mother, Queen Victoria, died at Osborne House on January 22, 1901. Her brother, the new King, Edward VII, did not have close ties with his surviving sisters, with the exception of Princess Louise. Helena’s nephew, Prince Alexander of Battenberg (later Marquess of Carisbrooke) recorded that Queen Alexandra was jealous of the royal family, and would not invite her sisters-in-law to Sandringham. Moreover, Alexandra never fully reconciled herself to Helena and Christian following their marriage controversy in the 1860s.

Evidentially, the Royal Family was not very close and after the death of her mother and Princess Helena saw relatively little of her surviving siblings, and continued her role as a support to the monarchy and a campaigner for the many charities she represented. She and Christian led a quiet life, but did carry out a few royal engagements. On one such occasion, the elderly couple represented the King at the silver wedding anniversary, in 1906, of Emperor Wilhelm II (Helena’s nephew) and his wife Augusta-Victoria (Christian’s niece).

During the Edwardian period, Helena visited the grave of her son, Prince Christian Victor, She was met by South African Prime Minister Louis Botha, but Jan Smuts refused to meet her, partly because he was bitter that South Africa had lost the war and partly because his son had died in a British concentration camp.

Later years

Her brother King Edward VII died on May 6, 1910, and her nephew became King George V of the United Kingdom. The First World War began four years after his death. Helena devoted her time to nursing, and her daughter, Princess Marie-Louise, recorded in her memoirs that requests for news of German loved ones would often reach Helena and her sisters. It was decided that the letters should be forwarded to Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, (born Princess Margaret of Connaught, niece of Princess Helena) as Sweden was neutral during the war.

King Edward VII

It was during the war that Helena and Christian celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1916, and despite the fact that Britain and Germany were at war, the Emperor Wilhelm II sent a congratulatory telegram to his aunt and uncle through the Crown Princess of Sweden. King George V and Queen Mary were present when the telegram was received, and the King remarked to Helena’s daughter, Marie-Louise, that her former husband, Prince Aribert of Anhalt, did her a service when he turned her out. When Marie-Louise said she would have run away to Britain if she was still married, the King said, “with a twinkle in his eye”, that he would have had to intern her.

The conclusion will be tomorrow!

May 6, 1954: Death of Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Crown Princess of Germany and Prussia.

Tags

Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, Grand Duke Frederick Francis III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, King Frederick William III of Prussia, Prince Louis-Ferdinand of Prussia, Princess Charlotte of Prussia

Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Cecilie Auguste Marie; September 20, 1886 – May 6, 1954) was the last German and Prussian Crown Princess as the wife of German Crown Prince Wilhelm, the son of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Crown Princess of Germany and Prussia.

Cecilie was a daughter of Friedrich-Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, the only daughter and second child of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. Emperor Nicholas I’s wife was Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1798–1860), the eldest surviving daughter of King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia (r. 1797–1840). Princess Charlotte of Prussia was a sister of Friedrich-Wilhelm IV and of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, the great-grandfather of Crown Prince Wilhelm. This means that Duchess Cecilie and her husband, Crown Prince Wilhelm, were 3rd cousins with King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia being their closest common ancestor.

Incidentally, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Princess Charlotte of Prussia were also 3rd cousins, as they were both great-great-grandchildren of Friedrich-Wilhelm I of Prussia.

Duchess Cecilie’s father, Friedrich-Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Duchess Cecilie’s mother, Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia

Duchess Cecilie was brought up with simplicity and her early life was peripatetic, although she spent most of her childhood 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 suffered badly from asthma and the wet damp cold climate of Mecklenburg was not good for his health. As a result, Cecilie spent a large amount of time with her family in Cannes in the south of France, favoured at the time by European royalty, including some whom Cecilie met such as Empress Eugénie and her future husband’s great-uncle, Edward VII.

Cecilie, Alexandrine and Friedrich-Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with their mother Grand Duchess Anastasia.

During the winter visit of 1897 to Denmark, Cecilie’s sister, Alexandrine, met her future husband, Crown Prince Christian, later Christian X of Denmark, shortly before the death of their father at the age of 46. After returning to Schwerin, Cecilie spent time with her widowed mother in Denmark. The wedding of her sister took place in Cannes in April 1898. After the death of her father, she traveled every summer, from 1898 to 1904, visiting her relatives in Russia. Cecilie lived there in Mikhailovskoe on Kronstadt Bay, the country home of her maternal grandfather, Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia.

During the wedding festivities of her brother Friedrich-Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Schwerin in June 1904, the 17-year-old Duchess Cecilie got to know her future husband, Wilhelm, German Crown Prince. Emperor Wilhelm II had sent his eldest son to the festivities as his personal representative. Taller than most women of her time at 182 centimetres (over 5’11”), Cecilie was as tall as the German Crown Prince. Wilhelm was struck by her great beauty, and her dark hair and eyes. On September 4, 1904, the young couple celebrated their engagement at the Mecklenburg-Schwerin hunting lodge, Gelbensande. The German Emperor had a wooden residence built nearby for the couple as an engagement present. On September 5, the first official photos of the couple were taken.

Official engagement photo of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Wedding

The wedding of Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the German Crown Prince Wilhelm took place on June 6, 1905 in Berlin. Arriving from Schwerin at Berlin’s Lehrter Station, the future Crown Princess was greeted on the platform with a gift of dark red roses. She was greeted at Bellevue Palace by the entire German Imperial Family and later made a joyeuse entrée through the Brandenburg Gate to a gun salute in the Tiergarten. Crowds lined the sides of the Unter den Linden as she passed on the way to the Berlin Royal Palace. Emperor Wilhelm II greeted her at the palace and conducted her to the Knight’s Hall where over fifty guests from different European royal houses awaited the young bride including Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, as well as representatives from Denmark, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands. On her wedding day, Emperor Wilhelm II presented his daughter-in-law with the Order of Louise.

The wedding ceremony took place in the Royal Chapel and also the nearby Berlin Cathedral. The royal couple received as wedding presents jewellery, silverware and porcelain. At the wish of the bride, Richard Wagner’s famous wedding march from Lohengrin was played along with music from The Meistersinger from Nuremberg conducted by Richard Strauss. On her wedding day, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin became Her Imperial and Royal Highness The German Crown Princess and Crown Princess of Prussia. She was expected to one day become German Empress and Queen of Prussia. After the end of the wedding festivities, the German Crown Princely couple made their summer residence at the Marble Palace in Potsdam.

German Crown Princess

As German Crown Princess, Cecilie quickly became one of the most beloved members of the German Imperial House. She was known for her elegance and fashion consciousness. It was not long before her fashion style was copied by many women throughout the German Empire. Every year at the beginning of the court season in January, the couple would return to the Crown Prince Palace in Berlin on Unter den Linden. Cecilie’s first child was born on July 4, 1906 and given the traditional Hohenzollern name of Wilhelm.

At the time, the German monarchy appeared to be very secure. Nonetheless in private she had a fiery temper, not countenancing contradiction. Although in public the marriage of the Crown Prince and Princess appeared to be perfect, cracks quickly appeared due to the Crown Prince’s wandering eye and controlling behavior. Very early on, he began a series of affairs that strained the relationship between husband and wife – on one occasion announcing to his wife his latest escapade, whereupon she thought of drowning herself.
In spite of her husband’s unfaithfulness, however, Cecilie had given birth to six children by 1917.

She herself developed a passionate relationship with Baron Otto von Dungern (1873-1969), her husband’s aide de camp – attempting, once, to get into bed with Dungern. On discovering that Dungern was also having an affair with another woman at court, she confessed to her husband who told him to resign with the words: “Only my consideration for his imperial majesty (his father, Kaiser William II) prevents me from grinding you into the dust.”

World War I

At the time of the outbreak of war in 1914, Cecilie was once again pregnant. She was distressed when her first daughter, Princess Alexandrine, was born with Down’s syndrome. Due to the rigidity of Hohenzollern court protocol, the information about the condition was not released. As German Crown Princess, Cecilie was expected to carry on with her duties unaffected, which in time of war consisted largely of regular visits to the war wounded in an effort to sustain morale.

Cecilie’s husband the Crown Prince served on the western front in the south under the direct command of Field Marshal Hindenburg. In the last phase of the war, great difficulties affected the German people. For Cecilie, with strong family links to the Russian court through her mother, the Russian revolution of March 1917 greatly affected her. Her uncles, Grand Dukes Nicholas, George and Sergei Michailovich were all murdered.

Revolution and the overthrow of the German monarchy

The political and economic situation in the last year of the war became more and more hopeless. On November 6, 1918, the new German imperial Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, met with Minister Wilhelm Solf to discuss the future of the German Empire. They were both of the opinion that the monarchy could only survive with the removal of the Emperor and his son the Crown Prince and the setting up of a Regentship under the nominal rule of the young son of Crown Princess Cecilie.

Such idea quickly disappeared with Friedrich Ebert becoming Chancellor and a republic being declared a few days later. Both the Emperor and the Crown Prince crossed the border to seek exile in neutral Netherlands. The monarchy collapsed with the defeat of Germany at the end of the war. Cecilie with her young children was living in Potsdam during the revolutionary period. She had moved from her new home of Cecilienhof with her children to join her mother-in-law in the relative safety of the New Palace. It was here that the Empress Auguste Viktoria informed her daughter-in-law, “The revolution has broken out. The Emperor has abdicated. The war is lost.”

Crown Prince and Princess Wilhelm and Cecile of Prussia visiting with Cecilie’s sister Alexandrine and her husband the future King Christian X of Denmark.

The former German Crown Princess was nothing but realistic about the new political situation confronting her family and Germany. The former Empress went into exile to join her husband. The Crown Princess was quite prepared to do the same, but wanted to stay in Germany with her children if at all possible. This she was allowed to do and on November 14, she quietly left the New Palace and returned to her private home Cecilienhof. As a result of a change of circumstances, Cecilie reduced her household staff by 50%.

Her children’s tutor also left her service and as a result her two eldest sons, Princes Wilhelm and Louis Ferdinand, for the first time attended as day students at a nearby school.Cecilie had considerable sympathy for the plight of the German people. In reply to an address from the German Women’s Union in Berlin, the former Crown Princess stated, “I need no sympathy. I have the beautiful situation that can befall any German woman, the education of my children as good German citizens.”

Crown Prince Wilhelm was only allowed to return to Germany from his enforced exile in 1923. Before then visits to him were difficult. Fortunately for the Hohenzollern family they still possessed considerable private holdings in Germany due to a provisional agreement worked out between the Hohenzollern family and the Prussian state in November 1920.

Castle Oels, a castle with 10,000 hectares of workable land in Silesia, now modern day Poland, provided substantial income for Cecilie’s family. In the absence of her husband, Cecilie became the leading figure in the once ruling House of Hohenzollern. The former Crown Princess was under no illusions that the empire would be restored, unlike her father-in-law exiled in Doorn in the Netherlands.

The Emperor’s return was completely impossible. With the election of Gustav Stresemann as Chancellor of the Weimar Republic in August 1923, negotiations for the former Crown Prince commenced. On the evening of November 13, 1923, Cecilie met her husband at Castle Oels. The years of separation and the behavior of Wilhelm had made the marriage now merely one in name only, but Cecilie was determined to keep things together even at a distance. More and more she lived in Cecilienhof at Potsdam, while her husband lived in Silesia.

The couple would come together when necessary for the sake of family unity for occasions such as family weddings, confirmation of children, christenings and funerals. In 1927, a final financial agreement was reached between the Hohenzollerns and the Prussian state. Cecilie remained active within several charity organizations such as the Queen Luise Fund, Chair of the Fatherland’s Women Union and the Ladies of the Order of St. John, while keeping clear of any political involvement. With the coming to power of the National Socialist Party of Adolf Hitler in 1933, all such charitable organizations were dissolved.

Under Nazi German rule 1933-1939

During 1933-1945, Cecilie lived a private life at Cecilienhof in Potsdam. Her eldest son, Prince Wilhelm forfeited his position as possible heir when he married Dorothea von Salviati on June 3, 1933. This occurred as she was not from a suitable royal family. Even though the royal house was formally deposed, its strict house rules still persisted.

The former Crown Prince and Princess were more understanding of their son than the exiled Emperor. Cecilie was not perturbed and made the best of the situation and was delighted when she became a grandmother for the first time on June 7, 1934. In 1935, Cecilie’s second son Prince Louis-Ferdinand worked, after studying economics and working for a time in the United States as a mechanic for Ford, with Lufthansa. Her third son, Hubertus, after spending a period of time farming joined the military and then the air force to become a pilot. The youngest son Friedrich went into business.

Prince Louis-Ferdinand of Prussia and his wife Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia

In May 1938, at Cecilienhof, Prince Louis-Ferdinand married the Russian Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia the second daughter of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (the pretender to the Russian throne) and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Emperor Alexander II of Russia. This meant that Prince Louis-Ferdinand married the Russian Grand Duchess Kira we’re 2nd cousins once removed from their common descent from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. This wedding would be the last great family occasion before the outbreak of World War II in September 1939.

World War II

A period of relative calm for Cecilie’s family and for Germany came to an end with the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. Cecilie’s 24-year-old nephew, Prince Oskar, fell as a casualty five days after the start of the invasion of Poland. More personal tragedy occurred when her eldest son, Prince Wilhelm, was mortally wounded in battle at Valenciennes in France on 25 May 1940. He died on May 26, in a field hospital at Nivelle. His funeral took place in the Church of Peace at Potsdam on May 28, Over 50,000 people lined the way to his final resting place in the Antique Temple near the remains of his grandmother, former Empress Auguste Victoria. The huge turnout in respect for a Prince, who had died a hero’s death, from the former ruling dynasty, alarmed and infuriated Adolf Hitler. As a result, no Prince from a former German dynasty was allowed to serve at the front and in 1943 Hitler ordered that they all be discharged from the armed forces.

In 1941, the former German Emperor Wilhelm II died. At the age of 55, Cecilie’s husband became Head of the House of Hohenzollern. While under the monarchy this would have meant a great change for Cecilie and her husband. She would have been the new German Empress and Queen of Prussia and her husband would have become German Emperor and King of Prussia as Wilhelm III.

During this time, Cecilie and her husband increasingly retreated to Castle Oels to live a quiet life, far away from the dangers of Berlin. Even Potsdam, only 30 minutes away by train from the capital was too close for comfort. With the war going badly, Cecilie and her family left the advancing danger of the Soviet army to return to Potsdam where they celebrated Christmas in December 1944. It would be the last such occasion at her beloved home. In February 1945, Cecilie left Cecilienhof for the last time.

Final years

Cecilie fled the Red Army in February 1945 to the sanatorium of Dr. Paul Sotier (personal physician of Emperor Wilhelm II) Fürstenhof in Bad Kissingen in Bavaria. On 20 September 1946, she celebrated her 60th birthday. She was joined on this occasion by her husband and some of their children. Wilhelm had settled into a small house in Hechingen. Tragedy struck again when yet another son, this time Prince Hubertus, died from appendicitis on 8 April 1950. In early 1951, the health of the former Crown Prince deteriorated and on July 20, he died. On July 26, his funeral took place at Castle Hohenzollern where he was buried in the ground near an urn containing the ashes of the late Prince Hubertus. On the arm of her son, Prince Louis Ferdinand, Cecilie bade a final farewell to her husband. She remained in Bad Kissingen until 1952 when she moved to an apartment in the Frauenkopf district of Stuttgart.

In 1952, Cecilie’s memoirs, ‘Remembrances’ were published. In an act of healing and friendship, the former Crown Princess Cecilie was received by King George V of the United Kingdom’s widow, Queen Mary, in May 1952 during a visit to England. Cecilie visited for the first time to attend the christening of her granddaughter, Princess Victoria Marina of Prussia the daughter of her son Prince Frederick. Tragedy once again struck when Cecilie’s sister, the Danish Queen Mother, Queen Alexandrine died on December 28 of the same year. On January 3, 1953, Cecilie attended her funeral at Roskilde Cathedral in Denmark. From this time on, the former German Crown Princess never fully recovered. She managed to struggle on with the help of her family until May 1954 6, when she died on a visit to Bad Kissingen. It was the 72nd anniversary of the birth of her late husband. On May 12, 1954, her funeral took place and her remains were interred next to Crown Prince Wilhelm in the grounds of Castle Hohenzollern.

The life of Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1895–1903)

Tags

Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, Princess Alix of Hesse by Rhine, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and By Rhine, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Typhoid, Victoria Melita of Edinburgh

Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (Elisabeth Marie Alice Viktoria; March 11 1895 – November 16, 1903) was a German Hessian and Rhenish princess, the only daughter of Ernst-Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his first wife, Princess Victoria-Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, who was born Princess Elisabeth of Prussia, the second daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg and a granddaughter of King Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is her great-great-grandson.

Birth

Princess Elisabeth’s parents, nicknamed ‘Ernie’ and ‘Ducky,’ were first cousins who married at the instigation of their common grandmother, Queen Victoria. The marriage was an unhappy one from the start. Princess Victoria-Melita was eighteen at the time of Elisabeth’s birth. She was fond of Elisabeth, but found it hard to compete with Ernst’s devotion to their daughter.

Ernst was convinced even before Elisabeth could speak that he alone could understand her. At the age of six months, she was scheduled to move to a new nursery and her father ‘consulted’ her on her color preferences. He claimed that she made ‘happy little squeals’ when he showed her a particular shade of lilac material. Ernst then decorated her nursery in shades of lilac. He later had a playhouse built for his daughter that stood in its own garden. Adults were forbidden to enter “much to the frustration of royal nurses and tutors, who could be seen pacing up and down impatiently outside as they waited for their high-spirited young charges to stop their games and emerge.”

Childhood

Margaretta Eagar, a governess for the daughters of Emperor Nicholas II, described Elisabeth as “a sweet and pretty child, with wide blue-grey eyes and a profusion of dark hair. She was much like her mother, not only in face, but also in manner.” The four-year-old Elisabeth wanted a baby sister and tried to persuade her aunt and uncle to let her parents adopt one of her paternal first cousins, Tatiana or Maria (daughters of Nicholas II). Her parents had only one other child together, a stillborn son, in 1900.

She was a favorite with her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who called the little girl “my precious.” Queen Victoria refused to permit the unhappily married Victoria and Ernst to divorce for the sake of Elisabeth. It was Elisabeth whom Queen Victoria asked to see first and to receive eightieth birthday greetings from in 1899. When the child heard Queen Victoria’s pony cart approaching on the road below Windsor Castle, the four-year-old Elisabeth ran out on the balcony, waving and calling, “Granny Gran, I’m here!” Elisabeth’s playfulness made the queen laugh out loud.

Princess Elisabeth with her great-grandmother Queen Victoria

Elisabeth’s grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the Duchess of Edinburgh, (married to Queen Victoria’s second son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) brought five-year-old Elisabeth to see Queen Victoria on her death bed on January 22, 1901. After the queen died, the child was taken in to see her body and told that her great-grandmother had gone to be with the angels. “But I don’t see the wings,” Elisabeth whispered.

Elisabeth sat next to her second cousin, Prince Edward of York (called David by family and friends, later to become King Edward VIII) during Queen Victoria’s funeral. “Sweet little David behaved so well during the service,” wrote his aunt Maud, “and was supported by the little Hesse girl who took him under her protection and held him most of the time round his neck. They looked such a delightful little couple.

In his memoirs, written more than thirty years after her death, her father wrote of Elisabeth’s “deep sensitivity” and “very large heart.” He wrote that “I never knew a child who had so much influence on adults. Her inner personality was very strong, and she had a natural quality that protected her from being spoiled.”

Grand Duchess Victoria-Melita and her daughter Princess Elisabeth

In October 1901, after the death of Queen Victoria, Elisabeth’s parents finally divorced. Her mother had rekindled a previous romance with another cousin, her future husband, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia. Her father, according to letters written by her mother, had been caught cavorting with domestic servants.

Her parents’ divorce meant that Elisabeth divided her year between Darmstadt and her mother’s new home in Coburg. Elisabeth was at first mistrustful of her mother and resented the divorce, although Victoria-Melita did her best to mend her relationship with her daughter during her visit with Elisabeth in the spring of 1902. She was only partially successful, though Victoria enjoyed turning her daughter into an outstanding horsewoman.

In his memoirs, Ernst said he had difficulty persuading Elisabeth to visit her mother. Before one visit, he found the child “whimpering under a sofa, full of despair.” He assured Elisabeth that her mother loved her too. “Mama says she loves me, but you do love me,” Elisabeth replied. Margaret Eagar thought the child’s eyes were the saddest she had ever seen. “Looking at her I used to wonder what those wide blue-grey eyes saw, to bring such a look of sadness to the childish face,” she wrote.

On October 6, 1903, Ernst hosted a large family gathering at Darmstadt for the wedding of his niece, Princess Alice of Battenberg, to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, (parents of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh).

A few weeks later he took Elisabeth to stay with his younger sister, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, her husband, Emperor Nicholas II, and their family. At the imperial family’s hunting lodge in Skierniewice, Poland, Elisabeth went on long walks and had picnics in the forest with her cousins.

Her nanny, who called Elisabeth “my baby,” woke Elisabeth in the middle of the night and settled her in a window seat of the nursery so that she might look out on the game spread out upon the grounds below.

Grand Duke Ernst with his daughter Princess Elisabeth

One morning, the eight-year-old awoke with a sore throat and pains in her chest, which the Russian Court doctor put down to too much excitement with her cousins the previous day. Her fever rose to 104 degrees. The imperial party didn’t believe her illness was a serious one and went ahead with their plans for the day and attended the theater as planned. By the evening Elisabeth was in even more severe pain and had started gasping for breath. A specialist was summoned from Warsaw. The specialist gave her injections of caffeine and camphor to stimulate her slowing heart, but without success.

“Suddenly she sat up in her bed and looked from one to the other of us with wide, frightened eyes,” wrote Eagar. “She cried out suddenly, ‘I’m dying! I’m dying!’ She was coaxed to lie down again, but remained agitated. “The child turned to me, and said anxiously, ‘Send a telegram to mama.'” Eagar promised it would be done. “She added, ‘immediately.’ … We continued to fan the feeble spark of life, but moment by moment it declined.

She began to talk to her cousins, and seemed to imagine she was playing with them. She asked for little Anastasie and I brought the wee thing into the room. The dying eyes rested on her for a moment, and Anastasie said, ‘Poor cousin Ella! Poor Princess Elizabeth!’ I took the baby out of the room.” Doctors told Alexandra that the child’s mother should be notified, but the telegram did not arrive until the following morning, when Elisabeth had already died. An autopsy following her death confirmed that she had died of virulent typhoid, although it was rumored she had eaten from a poisoned dish intended for the Emperor.

Grand Duke Ernst with his daughter Princess Elisabeth

Elisabeth’s body was placed in a silver casket, a gift from Nicholas II, for the journey back to Darmstadt. Her father arranged a white funeral, with white instead of black for the funeral trappings, white flowers, and white horses for the procession. The Hessian people came out by the thousands to view the funeral procession and “sobbed in unison so that I could hear it,” Ernst wrote.

A cousin, German Emperor Wilhelm II, expressed shock at the child’s death in a letter to Emperor Nicholas II on the day after. “How joyous and merry she was that day at Wolfsgarten, when I was there, so full of life and fun and health … What a terrible heartrending blow for poor Ernie, who doted and adored that little enchantress!”

Elisabeth was buried in the Rosenhöhe with other members of the Hessian Grand Ducal family. A marble angel was later installed to watch over her grave. In a final gesture to Elisabeth and Ernst, Victoria Melita placed her badge of the Order of Hesse, granted to her upon her marriage, into Elisabeth’s coffin.

Ernst was still devastated by the memory of his daughter’s death thirty years later. “My little Elisabeth,” he wrote in his memoirs, “was the sunshine of my life.”