February 10,1913
The engagement of Princess Victoria Luise of Prussia and Prince Ernst August, the son, and heir of the Duke of Cumberland, was announced this morning. The announcement "means the termination of the long-standing feud between the houses of Hohenzollern and Cumberland."
The young couple was the guests of honor at a luncheon hosted by the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Baden at their castle in Karlsruhe. The Grand Duchess is Kaiser Wilhelm II's aunt, the former Princess Luise of Prussia.
Prince Max, the eventual heir to the Grand Ducal throne, is married to Ernst August's sister, Marie Louise.
Others at the luncheon included Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria, Prince Oskar, and members of the grand ducal family of Baden.
Prince Ernst August became heir to the Cumberland dukedom last May following the death of his elder brother, Prince Georg Wilhelm. The Prince was driving to the funeral of his uncle King Frederik VIII of Denmark.
The young couple met for the first time in Potsdam early last summer when Prince Ernst August "came to thank the Kaiser for his sympathy on the occasion of the death of Prince Georg." The car accident had occurred on Prussian territory.
It was love at first sight for Victoria Luise and Prince Ernst August and they "have ever since kept up a correspondence, besides meeting frequently."
This wedding may have "high political significance," but "it is insisted that genuine affection is primarily responsible for it."
The German press has greeted the "impending reconciliation between the Hohenzollerns and the Cumberlands with universal satisfaction."
The internecine fight began in 1866 when Prussia invaded Hannover, and the Hannover royal family was forced into exile. The Duke of Cumberland is the son of the late King Georg V of Hannover.
He is also a British peer as the Hannover royal family are also princes and princesses of Great Britain and Ireland.
There are rumors now circulating in Berlin that Victoria Luise's brother, Prince Oskar, will marry Ernst August's sister, Princess Olga.
The Princess has been mentioned, "in connection with several eligible young men who have been received at the Imperial Palace in Berlin." Last year, shortly before the Princess' 20th birthday, the Kaiser made an announcement that Victoria Luise would have to leave the court season to take a rest cure, as she was suffering from "an affliction of the throat. Throughout Court circles, it was rumored that princess was actually "suffering from an attack of nerves," as her father had forbidden her to marry Count Georg Fugger von Babenhausen, a Lieutenant of the Gardes du Corps at Potsdam, and "a descendant of an ancient Bavarian family which was one of the wealthiest in Europe."
Prince Ernst August is considered a member of the British royal family, so he will need to seek King George V's permission to marry. The Prince is also the king's first cousin, as their mothers are sisters.
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They were distantly related.
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