Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – “None of that love for intrigue” (Part two)

Read part one here. Victoria had a point about Charles’s wicked expression. During the Revolution of 1848, he had tried to manoeuvre his older brothers out of the succession to establish himself as regent for the then-16-year-old Frederick. Augusta had already disliked her brother-in-law, but this had now turned into full-blown hatred. The relationship between [read more]

Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – “Angel from heaven” (Part one)

Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was born on 3 February 1808 as the daughter of Charles Frederick, future Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. She was their eldest surviving child as her elder brother, Charles, had died in infancy two years earlier. She also had two younger siblings: Augusta (born 1811) [read more]

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Augusta of Saxe-Weimar

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – The first German Empress (Part two)

Read part one here. On 2 August 1861, William’s brother passed away, and he became King of Prussia with Augusta as his Queen. Her increasing ill-health prevented her from enjoying the role. She underwent several unspecified operations which failed to improve the situation. Victoria would later write of her ever-complaining mother-in-law, “She stands so alone [read more]

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Augusta of Saxe-Weimar

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – The first German Empress (Part one)

Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was born on 30 September 1811 as the daughter of Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. The disappointment in her gender was great as she was not the hoped-for heir. Her younger brother, the future Grand Duke, would not arrive until seven years later. Augusta [read more]