The Life of Princess Victoria of Baden, Queen of Sweden. Part I.

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Victoria of Baden (August 7, 1862 – April 4, 1930) was Queen of Sweden from December 8, 1907 until her death in 1930 as the wife of King Gustaf V. She was politically active in a conservative fashion during the development of democracy and known to be pro-German during the First World War.

Princess Victoria was born at Karlsruhe Palace, Baden. Her parents were Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, and Princess Louise of Prussia, the second child and only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm I and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She was the younger sister of German Emperor Friedrich III, and aunt of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Princess Victoria of Baden

Victoria was named after her aunt by marriage, Victoria, the Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Victoria was tutored privately in the Karlsruhe Palace, by governesses and private teachers, in an informal “Palace School” with carefully selected girls from the aristocracy. She was given a conventional education for her gender and class with focus on art, music and languages, and could play the piano, paint and speak French and English.

Victoria was given a strict and Spartan upbringing with a focus on duty. Among other things, her mother ordered her to sleep on hard mattresses by an open window. Such spartan methods were recommended at the time as beneficiary and something that would harden the child’s future health; but it is believed, that this had bad consequences for Victoria’s health later in life.

Photograph of Crown Prince Gustav, c. 1897

Victoria was given her confirmation in 1878. After this, she made her debut in adult social life and marriage prospects were discussed.

On September 20, 1881 in Karlsruhe Princess Victoria married Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden and Norway, the son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway and Sofia of Nassau.

Her grandparents parents German Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta were present at the wedding, and the marriage was arranged as a sign that Sweden belonged to the German sphere in Europe.

Princess Victoria of Baden and Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden

The marriage was popular in Sweden where she was called “The Vasa Princess”, because of her descent from the old Vasa dynasty, and she received a very elaborate welcome on the official cortege into Stockholm October 1, 1881.

Victoria of Baden’s father, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, was the son of Princess Louise of Sweden who in turn was the daughter of King Gustaf IV Adolph of Sweden and his wife Frederica of Baden.

This means Princess Victoria brought in the blood of the old Swedish Royal Family. Victoria’s husband, King Gustaf V of Sweden, was the great-grandson of King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden and Norway of the House of Bernadotte. In 1810, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was unexpectedly elected the heir-presumptive (Crown Prince) to the childless King Carl XIII of Sweden, (uncle of the deposed King Gustaf IV Adolph. Jean Baptiste assumed the name Carl Johan.Upon Carl XIII’s death on February 5,1818, Crown Prince Carl Johan ascended the Swedish throne as King Carl XIV Johan. In Norway he was known as King Carl III. He was initially popular in both countries.

Princess Victoria of Baden and Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden

With the election of Jean Baptiste Bernadotte to the Swedish throne this created a new Swedish Dynasty that had no relationship by blood to any previous Swedish Dynasty. With the marriage of Princess Victoria of Baden to the future King Gustaf V of Sweden she brought into the Swedish Royal Family the blood of the previous Swedish Dynasties making her descendants and the current King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden a descendant of the older Swedish Royal Dynasties.

Sadly, Victoria and Gustaf were brought together by their families and their marriage was reported not to have been a happy one. Their marriage produced three children. In 1890–1891, Victoria and Gustaf travelled to Egypt to repair their relationship, but it did not succeed, allegedly due to Victoria’s interest in one of the courtiers, and she repeated the trip to Egypt in 1891–1892.

After 1889, the personal relationship between Victoria and Gustaf is considered to have been finished, in part, as estimated by Lars Elgklou, due to the bisexuality of Gustaf.

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

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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.

January 27, 1859: Birth of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

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Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; January 27, 1859 – June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor (German: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from June 15, 1888 until his abdication on November 9, 1918.

Wilhelm was born in Berlin on January 27, 1859—at the Crown Prince’s Palace—to Victoria, Princess Royal “Vicky”, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. His father was Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (“Fritz” – the future Emperor Friedrich III).

At the time of his birth, his granduncle, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, was king of Prussia. Friedrich Wilhelm IV had been left permanently incapacitated by a series of strokes, and his younger brother Prince Wilhelm was acting as regent.

Upon the death of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV in January 1861, Wilhelm’s paternal grandfather (the elder Wilhelm) became King of Prussia, and the two-year-old Wilhelm became second in the line of succession to Prussia.

After 1871, Wilhelm also became second in the line to the newly created German Empire, which, according to the constitution of the German Empire, was ruled by the Prussian King. At the time of his birth, he was also sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, after his maternal uncles and his mother.

Traumatic birth

Shortly before midnight on January 26, 1859, Wilhelm’s mother experienced labour pains, followed by her water breaking, after which Dr. August Wegner, the family’s personal physician, was summoned. Upon examining Victoria, Wegner realised the infant was in the breech position; gynaecologist Eduard Arnold Martin was then sent for, arriving at the palace at 10 am on January 27.

After administering ipecac and prescribing a mild dose of chloroform, which was administered by Victoria’s personal physician Sir James Clark, Martin advised Fritz the unborn child’s life was endangered. As mild anaesthesia did not alleviate her extreme labour pains, resulting in her “horrible screams and wails”, Clark finally administered full anaesthesia.

Observing her contractions to be insufficiently strong, Martin administered a dose of ergot extract, and at 2:45 pm saw the infant’s buttocks emerging from the birth canal, but noticed the pulse in the umbilical cord was weak and intermittent.

Despite this dangerous sign, Martin ordered a further heavy dose of chloroform so he could better manipulate the infant. Observing the infant’s legs to be raised upwards and his left arm likewise raised upwards and behind his head, Martin “carefully eased out the Prince’s legs”.

Due to the “narrowness of the birth canal”, he then forcibly pulled the left arm downwards, tearing the brachial plexus, then continued to grasp the left arm to rotate the infant’s trunk and free the right arm, likely exacerbating the injury. After completing the delivery, and despite realising the newborn prince was hypoxic, Martin turned his attention to the unconscious Victoria.

Noticing after some minutes that the newborn remained silent, Martin and the midwife Fräulein Stahl worked frantically to revive the prince; finally, despite the disapproval of those present, Stahl spanked the newborn vigorously until “a weak cry escaped his pale lips”.

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

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German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Grand Duke Louis IV of Hess and by Rhine, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Heinrich of Prussia, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Princess Irene of Hesse and By Rhine, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

From the Emperor’s Desk: In this entry I will only cover her birth until marriage.

Princess Irene Luise Marie Anne 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. 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 Elizabeth of Prussia. She was the wife of Prince Heinrich of Prussia, a younger brother of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and her first cousin. The SS Prinzessin Irene, a liner of the North German Lloyd was named after her.

Her siblings included Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, wife of Prince Louis of Battenberg, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and (Alix) Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. Like her younger sister, the 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. Alice considered Irene an unattractive child and once wrote to her sister Victoria that Irene was “not pretty.” She would never be considered a great beauty like her sisters Elisabeth and Alix, but she did have a pleasant, even disposition. Princess Alice brought up her daughters simply.

Despite her mother’s assertion Princess Irene was not attractive, as the author of this blog, Liam, I wholeheartedly disagree and from the pictures I have posted I think HRH was very pretty.

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, kneeling at left, with her grandmother Queen Victoria and, from left to right, her sister Elisabeth, brother Ernest Louis, sister Victoria and, sitting, her sister Alix in February 1879, two months after the deaths of her mother and sister Marie.

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.

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.

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 Friedrich III, was dying of throat cancer, and less than a month after the ceremony, Irene’s cousin and brother-in-law ascended the throne as German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Prince Heinrich of Prussia and Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine

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.

July 1, 1861: Wedding of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

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Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (April 25, 1843 – December 14, 1878) was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from June 13, 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.

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.

Her search produced only two suitable candidates: the Prince of Orange (the eldest son of King Williem III of the Netherlands and his first wife, Princess Sophie of Württemberg); and Prince Albrecht of Prussia, cousin to Victoria’s husband Friedrich Wilhelm.

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 Albert, too, was spurned, with Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia remarking 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 the Grand Duke Charles of Hesse and by Rhine. the first son and child of Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine (1809 – 1877) and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia (1815 – 1885), granddaughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia.

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.

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.

Alice was engaged to Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine 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.

Between the engagement and the wedding, Alice’s father Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, 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, 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.

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.

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.

April 25, 1843: Birth of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

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

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (Alice Maud Mary; April 25, 1843 – December 14, 1878) was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from June 13, 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.

In this blog entry I will be focusing on her marriage to the future Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

When her father, Prince Albert, became fatally ill in December 1861, Alice nursed him until his death. Following his death, Queen Victoria entered a period of intense mourning and Alice spent the next six months acting as her mother’s unofficial secretary.

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.

Her search produced only two suitable candidates: the Willem, Prince of Orange; and Prince Albrecht of Prussia. Prince Albrecht of Prussia was a cousin to Victoria’s husband Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia.

Prince Albrecht of Prussia

Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1837 – 1906) was also a cousin of the Prince of Orange given he was the son of Prince Albrecht of Prussia and his wife Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, daughter of King Willem I of the Netherlands.

Willem, Prince of Orange (1840 – 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of King Willem III and his first wife, Princess Sophie of Württemberg. In 1849, after the death of his grandfather King Willem II of the Netherlands, he became Prince of Orange as heir apparent. His Victorian upbringing turned out to be a disaster.

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.

Prince Willem of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange

Albrecht of Prussia was born in Berlin, the son of Prince Albrecht of Prussia and his wife Princess Marianne, daughter of King Willem I of the Netherlands. His father was a brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, whose son was Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (future German Emperor Friedrich III) the wife of Princess Alice’s sister, Princess Victoria the Princess Royal.

Prince Albrecht of Prussia also 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 remarking 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 the Grand Duke 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 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.

Engagement and wedding

Alice was engaged to Prince Ludwig of Hesse on 30 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 (£2.86 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.

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, 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 Louis’s sister Princess Anna. 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.

Prince and Princess Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

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 Princess’s life in Darmstadt was unhappy as a result of impoverishment, family tragedy and worsening relations with her husband and mother.

April 20, 1929: Death of Prince Heinrich of Prussia

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German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Empire, German Navy, German Revolution, Hemophilia, House of Hohenzollern, Prince Henry of Prussia, Princess Irene of Hesse and By Rhine, Princess Royal, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, World War I

Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia (August 1862 – April 20, 1929) known by his last name, Heinrich, he was a younger brother of German Emperor Wilhelm II and a Prince of Prussia. He was also a grandson of Queen Victoria. A career naval officer, he held various commands in the Imperial German Navy and eventually rose to the rank of Grand Admiral and Generalinspekteur der Marine.

Biography

Born in Berlin, Prince Heinrich was the third child and second son of eight children born to Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (later Emperor Friedrich III), and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom (later Empress Victoria and in widowhood Empress Frederick), eldest daughter of the British Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Heinrich was three years younger than his brother, the future Emperor Wilhelm II (born January 27, 1859). He was born on the same day as King Friedrich Wilhelm I “Soldier-King” of Prussia.

After attending the gymnasium in Cassell, which he left in the middle grades in 1877, the 15-year-old Heinrich entered the Imperial Navy cadet program. His naval education included a two-year voyage around the world (1878 to 1880), the naval officer examination in October 1880, and attending the German naval academy (1884 to 1886).

At the beginning of World War I, Prince Heinrich was named Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet. Although the means provided to him were far inferior to Russia’s Baltic Fleet, he succeeded, until the 1917 Revolution, in putting Russian naval forces far on the defensive and hindered them from making attacks on the German coast. After the end of hostilities with Russia, his mission was ended, and Prince Heinrich simply left active duty. With the war’s end and the dissolution of the monarchy in Germany, Prince Heinrich left the navy.

Family

On May 24, 1888, Heinrich married Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, his first cousin. She was the third child and third daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her paternal grandparents were Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elizabeth of Prussia.

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine

Heinrich’s dying father, German Emperor Friedrich III and his mother Empress Victoria were in attendance. The marriage produced three children:

Their sons Waldemar and Heinrich were both hemophiliacs, a disease which they inherited through Irene from the maternal grandmother of both of their parents, Queen Victoria, who was a carrier.

Personality and private life

Heinrich received one of the first pilot’s licenses in Germany, and was judged a spirited and excellent seaman. He was dedicated to modern technology and was able to understand quickly the practical value of technical innovations. A yachting enthusiast, Prince Heinrich became one of the first members of the Yacht Club of Kiel, established by a group of naval officers in 1887, and quickly became the club’s patron.

Heinrich was interested in motor cars as well and supposedly invented a windshield wiper and, according to other sources, the car horn.

After the German Revolution, Heinrich lived with his family in Hemmelmark near Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein. He continued with motor sports and sailing and even in old age was a very successful participant in regattas. He popularized the Prinz-Heinrich-Mütze (“Prince Henry cap”), which is still worn, especially by older sailors.

In 1899, Heinrich received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Engineering honoris causa) from the Technical University of Berlin. Also in foreign countries he received numerous similar honors, including an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) from Harvard University in March 1902, during his visit to the United States.

Prince Heinrich died of throat cancer, as his father had, in Hemmelmark on April 20, 1929.

Happy 83rd birthday to Queen Sofía of Spain.

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German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, King Constantine II of the Hellenes, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Paul of the Hellenes, Princess Friederike of Hanover, Princess of Greece and Denmark, Princess Royal, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Sofia of Spain

Queen Sofía of Spain (November 2, 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family, who was Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014 as the wife of King Juan Carlos I.

The Queen is Europe’s most royal person; she has an impresssive lineage (both on her father’s and mother’s side) and she is the (great-) granddaughter, daughter, sister, wife and mother of kings.

Born Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark she is the first child of King Paul of the Hellenes and Frederica of Hanover.

Her father, Paul, was the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia, daughter of German Emperor Friedrich III of Prussia, and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom (herself the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort). Princess Sophia was eleven years younger than her eldest brother, the future German Emperor Wilhelm II.

On January 9, 1938, Paul married Princess Frederica of Hanover, his first cousin once removed through Friedrich III, German Emperor, and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, and second cousin through Christian IX of Denmark.

During most of World War II, from 1941 to 1946, when Greece was under German occupation, Paul was with the Greek government-in-exile in London and Cairo. From Cairo, he broadcast messages to the Greek people.

King Paul returned to Greece in 1946. He succeeded to the throne in 1947, upon the death of his childless elder brother, King George II, during the Greek Civil War (between Greek Communists and the non-communist Greek government). Paul was first cousin to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and maternal grandfather to Spain’s current monarch, King Felipe VI.

Queen Sofía’s mother, Friederike, Princess of Hanover, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, and Princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the only daughter and third child of Ernst August, then reigning Duke of Brunswick, and his wife Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, herself the only daughter of the German Emperor Wilhelm II. As a descendant of Queen Victoria, Friederike was, at birth, 64th in the line of succession to the British throne.

Queen Sofia is a member of the Greek branch of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty. Her brother is the deposed King Constantine II of the Hellenes her sister is Princess Irene.

Princess Sofía spent some of her childhood in Egypt where she took her early education in El Nasr Girls’ College (EGC) in Alexandria. She lived in South Africa during her family’s exile from Greece during World War II, where her sister Irene was born. They returned to Greece in 1946. She finished her education at the prestigious Schloss Salem boarding school in Southern Germany, and then studied childcare, music and archeology in Athens. She also studied at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. She was a reserve member, alongside her brother Constantine, of Greece’s gold medal-winning sailing team in the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Standing in back: King Paul of the Hellenes. Front L to R: Constantine, Irene, Queen Friederike, Sofía

As her family was forced into exile during the Second World War, she spent part of her childhood in Egypt, returning to Greece in 1946. She completed her secondary education in a boarding school in Germany before returning to Greece where she specialised in childcare, music and archaeology.

Sofía met her paternal third cousin the then Infante Juan Carlos of Spain on a cruise in the Greek Islands in 1954; they met again at the wedding of Prince Edward Duke of Kent, her paternal second cousin, at York Minster in June 1961. Sofia and Juan Carlos married on May 14, 1962, at the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Dionysius in Athens. Her bride’s gown was made by Jean Dessès and she was attended by her sister Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, the groom’s sister Infanta Pilar of Spain, and Sofía’s future sister-in-law Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark (later Queen of the Hellenes), along with Princess Irene of the Netherlands, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess Anne of Orléans and Princess Tatiana Radziwill.

In 1969, Infante Juan Carlos, who was never Prince of Asturias (the traditional title of the Spanish heir apparent), was given the official title of “Prince of Spain” by the Francoist dictatorship. Juan Carlos acceded to the throne in 1975, upon the death of Francisco Franco. Juan Carlos, after his accession to the Spanish throne, returned with his family to the Zarzuela Palace.

The couple have three children: Elena (born December 20, 1963); Cristina (born June 13, 1965); and Felipe (born January 30, 1968). They were born at Our Lady of Loreto Nursing Home in Madrid. Their four grandsons and four granddaughters are Felipe and Victoria de Marichalar y de Borbón, Juan, Pablo, Miguel and Irene Urdangarín y de Borbón, and Infanta Leonor, Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía, all of whom are in the line of succession to the Spanish throne.

Sofia is also a great-granddaughter of the last German Emperor, Wilhelm II, and second cousin of the current Prince of Wales. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom through her father and also a great-great-great-granddaughter through her mother.

Sofia takes special interest in programs against drug addiction, travelling to conferences in both Spain and abroad. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is named after her, as is Reina Sofía Airport in Tenerife.
Sofia is an Honorary Member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and of the Spanish Royal Academy of History. She has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Rosario (Bogotá), Valladolid, Cambridge, Oxford, Georgetown, Evora, St. Mary’s University (Texas), and New York.

On June 19, 2014, Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of their son Felipe VI.

Following the abdication of her husband as King in 2014, Sofía focused on her sponsoring activities, spending her time between La Zarzuela and, in the Summer months, the Marivent Palace in Palma de Mallorca.

July 6, 1868: Birth of Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom.

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Alexandra of Denmark, King Christian IX of Denmark, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, King George V of the United Kingdom, Louise of Hesse-Cassel, Marlborough House, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince of Wales, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary; July 6, 1868 – December 3, 1935) was the fourth child and second daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, and the younger sister of George V of the United Kingdom.

Princess Victoria was born at Marlborough House, London. Her father was the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her mother was the Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra), the eldest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. She was known as “Toria” to her family. She was christened at Marlborough House on 6 August 1868 by Archibald Campbell Tait, Bishop of London.

Princess Victoria was educated at home by tutors and spent her childhood at Marlborough House and Sandringham. The Princess was particularly close to her brother, George, the future King George V.

With her sisters, she was a bridesmaid at the wedding in 1885 of their paternal aunt Princess Beatrice to Prince Henry of Battenberg. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of York (future King George V and Queen Mary) on July 6, 1893.

Although she had a number of suitors, the most famous of them being King Carlos I of Portugal, Princess Victoria never married and had no children. Her mother, Alexandra, is believed to have actively discouraged her from marrying. Instead she remained a companion to her parents, particularly her mother, with whom she lived until Queen Alexandra’s death in 1925. The Princess then set up her own home at Coppins, Iver, in Buckinghamshire. She took a particular interest in the village life, becoming honorary president of the Iver Horticultural Society.

Later life

After the death of her mother, she left Sandringham House and decided to live in Buckinghamshire. Princess Victoria’s last years were plagued with health problems. She suffered from neuralgia, migraines, indigestion, depression, colds and influenza. Princess Victoria died at home on December 3, 1935, aged 67. Her funeral took place on 7 December 1935 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, where she was initially buried. Her remains were later moved and reburied at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, Windsor Great Park, on January 8, 1936. Her death greatly affected her brother, George V, who died one month later.