Thursday, January 15, 2009

Will the Duke of Coburg attend Missy's wedding?

 


January 15, 1893

Will the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha be present for the wedding of his great-niece, Princess Marie of Edinburgh, when she married the Crown Prince of Roumania? Queen Victoria, Empress Friedrich, and the King of the Belgians "have all been endeavouring to obtain a promise" that Duke Ernst II will attend. But so far, their requests have gone to no avail.

The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha "has not been on cordial terms with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh for many years," even though the Duke of Edinburgh is next in line to the Coburg throne. But the Duke's real reason for not wanting to attend the wedding is to avoid Kaiser Wilhelm II, as Ernst "has carefully avoided any intercourse" with the Emperor since Bismarck's dismissal.

The German view is that Duke Ernst "entertains the very highest opinions of his own abilities," and he expected to play a major role in imperial politics after the death of Emperor Friedrich in 1888. He resents Wilhelm's indifference to his own advice. Ernst's wrath "was greatly increased" when he learned that the King of Saxony and the Grand Duke of Baden "were the only royal personages whom his grandnephew ever thought of consulting respecting affairs of State."

 

Duke Ernst II is the older brother of the late Prince Albert, who in 1839, married Queen Victoria. The Duke of Edinburgh is their second son and fourth child. Princess Marie, 17, is the Duke of Edinburgh's eldest daughter and second child. She married Crown Prince Ferdinand at Sigmaringen on January 10. The Duke of Coburg did not attend.

This report is based on an article in the London Truth, which was republished by the New York Times.

1 comment:

John said...

Fascinating little article Marlene. I love reading things about Missy, I think her life was so full of interesting details. My favorite granddaughter of Queen Victoria!