August 16, 1908
Prince Eitel Friedrich, the second son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, "has decided that hard work, and plenty of it, is the best cure for the obesity which threatens him," reports the New York Times. At his summer home, Schloss Ingenheim, near Charlottenburg, the Prince works from "morning till night in the most strenuous labor."
He has taken on tree-felling, gardening, cutting hedges, sawing wood, and carpentry. The estate's gardeners and other staff "obtain little leisure while the Prince is in residence, "as he exacts from them a full day's work every day in the week." One of the Prince's major projects is the construction of a new riding school. One morning, when it was very hot, the Prince was remonstrated by his wife, Princess Sophie Charlotte. He told her: "This kind of work is very good for my figure."
When the Prince is not working in the grounds, he and his wife "take long rides on horseback," leaving the castle before 7 a.m.,"without a groom, taking a light lunch with them." They eat in the forest, and only return to the castle "just in time to dress for dinner."
On occasion, the Prince and Princess drive together in a dogcart, and have a picnic in the woods. The Princess likes to take her sketchbook with her. On occasion, when the Prince returns, he applies "himself for some hours to manual labor about the castle."
Prince and Princess Eitel Friedrich live a very simple life at the castle. There are "no superfluous lackeys in attendance," and the household "is conducted more "in the manner of a villa than like that of a Prince of the blood."
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