Unhappy Princess Viktoria Luise: Oh Fugger!

Marlene A Eilers Koenig Collection

March 27, 1912

The Chicago Daily Tribune has learned on "indisputable authority" that Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II, is the "unhappy heroine" in a story of a true love romance.

Princess Viktoria Luise, 19, "feels deeply in love" with the hereditary Count Georg Fugger von Babenhausen, a lieutenant who serves in Potsdam with the elite Gardes du Corps.  

The Fugger von Babenhausen family originated in Bavaria and was once one of the wealthiest princely families in Europe.

The affection was said to be mutual, but the princess soon learned that a marriage would be impossible due to the difference in rank, and because the "Fuggers are devout Roman Catholics."

As a result of her family's determination to end the relationship, the Princess has "succumbed to a distressing attack of nervous prostration." She will not attend the rest of the court season.

As soon as the season ended, Viktoria Luise's parents decided to send her to St. Moritz with her brother, the Crown Prince, and his wife, hoping she would forget about her count, and enjoy the Swiss winter sports.  But the "cure"  was not a "complete success." 

It has now been decided that the princess will not remain in Germany with her mother but will accompany her father on his Mediterranean and Corfu sojourn.

Princess Viktoria Luise, the Kaiser's only daughter, has been the subject of numerous matrimonial rumors. Her  "personal preference" for the Hereditary Count Fugger has been oft-reported in the German press.

It has been stated "with positiveness" that she would marry the hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, but this report was officially denied.  The Princess has also been linked with the heir to the British throne, the Prince of Wales.

Princess Viktoria Luise is said to have a "charming personality," and there is much sympathy for her dilemma.

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