Thursday, March 8, 2012

Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide refused to wed Prussian Prince

March 8, 1918


Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg is refusing to accept a Prussian prince as a husband.  This refusal is apparently causing the "greatest irritation in Berlin royal circles,"  according to Luxembourg residents who have recently arrived in Switzerland.

The New York Times reports that Berlin sends a German Prince to Luxembourg every three months, and the Grand Duchess "is obliged to receive him."

Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide, 24, is said to be the "most beautiful of six beautiful sisters."  She succeeded her father, Grand Duke Wilhelm, in 1912.

All six sisters were educated by French governesses.  When Kaiser Wilhelm II passed through Luxembourg two weeks after the German invasion of the country, he stopped at the palace to "pay his respects."  

The Grand Duchess "declined to receive" the German Emperor.

1 comment:

emily said...

Not a big surprise that Marie Adelaide refused to receive German princes after the invasion. I am surprised that she wasn't forced to do so during the occupation.

Is there a particular Prussian prince who courted her? Perhaps one of the surviving sons of Heinrich, the Kaiser's younger brother? I know that Heinrich of Bavaria was long rumored to be "intended' for Marie Adelaide (until he died in 1916), but I don't know if she actually had any intention of marrying him.