In Berlin, "love has triumphed over etiquette" as Kaiser Wilhelm II has finally approved of the marriage of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and Princess Agathe of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, the daughter of Viktor II, Duke of Ratibor and Countess Maria Breunner-Enkvoirth,
The young couple, according to the Chicago Tribune, have been betrothed privately for some time, but the Kaiser, a "rigid upholder of the Hohenzollern family traditions," could not bring himself to approve a marriage between a member of the Prussian royal family with the daughter of a duke. It also did not help that the Ratibors are Catholic.
Influential friends of the couple appear to have persuaded the emperor to give his consent to the marriage. Wilhelm II sent a New Year's message to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm giving his consent to the marriage. He also sent a message to the Duke of Ratibor saying that Princess Agathe would be welcomed into the Hohenzollern family.
The Ratibors celebrated the engagement with "great festivities."
Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Karl Ernst Alexander Heinrich of Prussia was born at Schloss Kamenz, in Kamenz, Prussia, on July 12, 1880. He was the youngest child of Prince Albert of Prussia and Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg. The Prince is a great-grandson of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and King Willem I of the Netherlands. He and the Kaiser are second cousins.
The prince studied at the University of Bonn, where he received a doctorate in Philosophy. He spent his childhood at Erbach, at his grandmother's home, Schloss Reinhartshausen, and in Brunswick, where Prince Albrecht served as regent.
Princess Agathe Charlotte Pauline Marie of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst is eight years younger than her fiancee. She was born at Rauden on July 24, 1888 and is the third of four children. She has two older brothers, Hereditary Prince Viktor, Prince Hans and a younger sister, Princess Margarete.
Prince Friedrich Wilhelm has two older brothers, Prince Friedrich Heinrich and Prince Joachim Albrecht. In 1909, Prince Joachim Albrecht fell out of favor with the Kaiser after he married a divorced woman, Marie Blich-Sulzer. The Kaiser would not recognize the marriage and cut off most of Joachim Albrecht's appanage.
The date of the wedding has not been announced. It is expected that there will be conversations with Vatican officials due to Princess Agathe's religion.
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