Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Duchess Cecilie arrives in Berlin for wedding



June 3, 1905

Duchess of Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin arrived today in Berlin in great splendor. The Duchess is the fiancee of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia.
It was a great public welcome for the future German Empress and Queen of Prussia, and "hundreds of thousands of her future subjects saw her for the first time," the correspondent for the New York Times reported.

Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was following tradition, "led his company of Foot Guards over the route of the procession an hour before" the Duchess' arrival. He was "splendidly received," and acknowledged the cheering crowd "by constantly saluting with his sword."

Duchess Cecilie arrived at the train station at noon, with her mother, Grand Duchess Anastasia, and her brother, Grand Duke Franz Friedrich, and his wife Alexandra. They were met at the railroad station by Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria, the Crown Prince and his five brothers, and little Princess Viktoria Luise. All traveled to Schloss Bellevue for breakfast.

In the afternoon, the Crown Prince and Duchess Cecilie took part in a procession of carriages and military escorts through the streets of Berlin. The procession went through the Tiergarten and the Unter den Linen, which was strewn with roses. The Duchess was seen wearing an "evening dress of pink silk muslin cut décolletée and trimmed with lace. The skirt was embroidered with loose roses." Cecilie wore a diamond tiara on her head.

The procession made its way to the palace, where other members of the Imperial family were waiting. Duchess Cecilie joined the Kaiser, the Crown Prince, Prince Henry, and other members of the Imperial family in the Room of the Electors, where she and the Crown Prince signed the marriage contract. In the evening, both families dined together.

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