Princess Friedrich Leopold of Prussia, younger sister the Kaiserin, loves to skate. She is, according to the Marquise de Fontenoy, "the champion skater of world royalty." A few days ago, the Princess "skated all the way from Potsdam to Brandenburg, a distance of eighteen miles." After a short rest, the Princess returned to Potsdam in "the same manner. On this skating excursion, she was accompanied by her "favorite lady-in-waiting," and several gentlemen-in-waiting.
About three years, the Princess got into "serious trouble" with her brother-in-law, the Kaiser, for another "skating excursion, when she went without anything attendants, apart from one lady-in-waiting. The two women fell through the ice, and were "rescued in the nick of time from drowning by some peasants," who heard their cries for help.
Kaiser Wilhelm II was so angry about this breech of court etiquette that he placed the Princess and her husband, Prince Friedrich Leopold under "haus arrest."
When they are out of doors, the distaff members of the Prussian royal house must be attended by a lady-in-waiting and by a gentleman-in-waiting.
The Prince and Princess were confined to their palace, and were not permitted to take part in any "court functions or entertainments given by the nobility."
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