Kaiser places Sophie next to him at dinner

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 November 12, 1909

Kaiser Wilhelm II has offered "conspicuous honors" to the Duchess of Hohenberg, the morganatic wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne. The Archduke is on an official visit to Berlin, and his wife was permitted to accompany him.

At last night's state dinner, according to the New York Times report, the Kaiser placed the Duchess of Hohenberg next to him. On his other side was his sister, the Crown Princess of Greece.

All of the other Princes and Princesses of the German Imperial Family were present, as well as the Crown Prince and Princess of Greece. Dinner was "served at small tables."

This is the first time that the morganatic wife of a royal Prince "has been received on terms of social equality by the House of Hohenzollern."
The Kaiser's decision to offer equality to a woman who was once a lady-in-waiting at the Austrian court "is regarded in diplomatic circles as fresh evidence of the Kaiser's determination to leave nothing undone to bind the Austro-German alliance more firmly."