Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: Suicide

February 25, 1918

The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz's death has been ruled a suicide, according to a dispatch from Amsterdam to the New York Times.  The dispatch is based on a report from a Berlin newspaper, Lokal-Anzeiger.

The body of the Grand Duke was "found in a small lake, with a gunshot wound in the breast."  He died two days ago.

The Lokal-Anzeiger states:  "Sad experiences. about which, as everything, the Grand Duke was silent and reserved, affected him perhaps more deeply than his entourage imagined."

Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich VI, was the third child and eldest son of Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich V and Princess Elisabeth of Anhalt. He succeeded to the throne on June 11, 1914.   He was 35 years old when he died, and unmarried.

He was reported to be engaged to several different princesses, including Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, who married the Duke of Brunswick in May 1913, and Princess Patricia of Connaught, youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught.

The heir to the Duchy is said to be the late Grand Duke's cousin, Duke Carl Michael, who lives in Russia and serves in the Russian military.   In 1914, he renounced his Mecklenburg citizenship and became a naturalized citizen of Russia.  He is the son of Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia.


Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich left his castle on Saturday evening, stating he was going for a walk.  After he did not return, members of his staff began a search, and his body was found.