The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: “Poison to her nerves” (Part seven)

Read part six here.

Augusta had grown to resent her son and increasingly saw his wife, Victoria, as a rival. She wrote to her brother in 1867, “I cannot make myself understood to him. And as much as I value his excellent character, I am equally troubled by his future and the direction he is taking or allowing himself to be led in. I love his wife tenderly, but nevertheless regret that she learns so little through experience and that she does not immerse herself sufficiently in the tasks of her profession.”¹ Victoria’s family had grown and was still growing. Still, Victoria would never be close to her three eldest children: William, Charlotte and Henry. Augusta would go on to play a significant role in their lives.²

In 1868, Victoria wrote to her mother, “I spent a very nice morning with the Queen before we left. When one has her to oneself, you know she is quite different – she is so kind and quiet then, and so easy to get on with that it is quite a pleasure to be with her. Indeed, it is my earnest wish and endeavour not only to bear with her but to be of use to her in soothing and calming her, and diverting her attention from those unhappy politics (which act as a poison to her nerves) if she would but let me. You know I  really love her dearly – and pity her from my heart as a most unhappy person with the best of intentions.”³

Augusta also turned her attention to charitable causes. In wartime, she visited hospitals and recruited more volunteers. A school for nurses was opened in Berlin, on her initiative.⁴ Her dedication to nursing continued in peacetime.⁵ The Franco-Prussian War in 1870 allowed Augusta to spend more time nursing, alongside Victoria and the Dowager Queen Elisabeth.⁶ William wrote to his wife, “In the moment of bidding farewell to my troops whom I am leaving in France, I feel impelled to express to your Majesty how deeply and thankfully it has affected me to witness the care that has been bestowed upon the army through your initiative and guidance, in consequence of which we have been helped from every corner of the kingdom and during every stage of our campaign.”⁷

The German victory led to the end of the Second French Empire under Emperor Napoleon III and the proclamation of the German Empire. On 18 January 1781, the proclamation took place in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. William had been reluctant to accept the title of Emperor because he did not wish to see the Prussian title superseded. Augusta only knew she had been made an Empress when she received William’s letter.⁸

The same year she became Empress, Augusta celebrated her 60th birthday. As usual, she celebrated in Baden-Baden, which not everyone enjoyed. Victoria believed Baden-Baden to be “the most odious haunt I know.”⁹ Victoria was also just pregnant with what would prove to be her final child. Augusta had managed to tell Queen Victoria of the pregnancy before the younger Victoria could do so herself. Augusta then arranged a trip to England, and her departure fell just before Victoria was expected to be confined. Victoria gave birth to a daughter named Margaret on 22 April 1872.¹⁰ Queen Victoria wrote, “The dear Empress arrived safely on Thursday. I went down to receive her at the South Western station, and as this was the first time she came as Empress, I had a guard of honour and a sovereign’s escort. She is all kindness and discretion and has a civil, friendly word for everyone – for my good servants and all – which pleases me so much. She spoke most kindly and affectionately of you.”¹¹ She stayed for ten days.

Augusta’s health eventually forced her into a kind of semi-retirement. A lift was installed for her, and she needed assistance getting out of her chair. ¹² Her sister, Marie, had a similar decline in health, but the sisters’ relationship was not good, and they did not find comfort in each other’s company.¹³ Marie died on 18 January 1877, but Augusta wrote to Queen Victoria “kindly and sadly of her poor sister, but strangely with no affection.”¹⁴ Augusta’s main visitor remained her daughter, Louise.

In June 1879, Augusta and William celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. They had also just become great-grandparents for the first time as their granddaughter, Princess Charlotte, had given birth to a daughter named Feodora. A service was held in the chapel at Charlottenburg, where Augusta and William renewed their vows.¹⁵ Then the focus shifted to finding a bride for the future emperor, Fritz and Victoria’s eldest son. On 27 February 1881, he married Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.

During a trip to Koblenz a few months later, Augusta fell as she was getting out of the carriage and sustained serious injuries. She underwent an operation, which was considered to be a matter of life and death. William wrote to his sister Alexandrine, “Augusta has been suffering for several days from an ailment similar to Queen Elisabeth [who had died in 1873], which, like Elisabeth’s, required a serious operation yesterday, and was successfully performed by Dr Busch. Her mood was very good, and she had completely resigned herself to the inevitable and communicated with him.”¹⁶

Augusta survived the operation, but she was never quite the same. From then on, she used a wheelchair or crutches.¹⁷

Part eight coming soon.

1. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.222-224
2. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.225
3. Your dear letter edited by Roger Fulford p.199
4. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.79
5. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.80
6. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.85
7. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.85-86
8. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.88
9. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.89
10. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.90
11. Darling Child edited by Roger Fulford p.40
12. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.106
13. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.109
14. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.109
15. The first German Empress by John Van Der Kiste p.115
16. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.278
17. Augusta by Karin Feuerstein-Praßer p.278