Little Anna home at last

April 7, 1906

Little Princess Anna Monika Pia arrived in Dresden today with her father, King Friedrich August III of Saxony. The king met her yesterday in Leipzig to take custody of his youngest daughter. 

The "struggle for the possession" of the little girl had been stretched out for several years. The little girl, who will be known as Princess Anna of Saxony, "received a tremendous ovation, both at the railway station and in the streets to the royal castle. The princess' two older sisters, Princess Margarete and Princess Alix, "had gone up the line to greet her," while her brothers, the Crown Prince Georg and Prince Friedrich Christian waited for her at the station, according to the New York Times.

Crowds "broke into enthusiastic cheering" as the king and his three daughters "alighted from the carriage carriage." Children tossed bouquets of flowers to Princess Anna, as "she made her way, smiling, along the station platform."

Princess Anna was born at Lindau, Bavaria, on May 3, 1903, five months after her mother, Crown Princess Luise of Saxony fled the marital home in Dresden.

It took several years of negotiations before Luise, who received the title Countess of Montignoso after her divorce from the King, to relinquish custody of her youngest child. Last September she married Italian singer, Enrico Toselli. She is expected to give birth to Toselli's child next month.