Sophie of Prussia to marry the heir to the Russian throne!

Well, that was the rumor de jour for August 4, 1888. According to reports, the rumor of a marriage between Princess Sophie of Prussia and the heir to the Russian throne was causing "no small flutter in the courts." The 20-year-old Grand Duke Nicholas was said to have a "commanding physique" with handsome features, and his manner is dignified and grave."

Sophie, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria (and said to be her mother's favorite child), is "not regarded as being exactly pretty, but she is said to be singularly attractive in manner."

Sophie's brother, Kaiser Wilhelm II, is "determined to impose his sovereign will on all around him." His word was law,  and he would marry off his sisters "as he pleases, not as they please."

Pure rumor. It was unlikely that Wilhelm II would have agreed to a Russian marriage. Moreover, Sophie would marry Nicholas' cousin, Crown Prince Constantine of Greece a year later. In 1894, Nicholas married Sophie's first cousin, Alix of Hesse and by Rhine.