Thursday, September 18, 2008

Hermine to Marry Kaiser -- official

September 19, 1923.

Kaiser Wilhelm II's adult children have apparently around and have accepted Princess Hermine. Today, the engagement between Kaiser Wilhelm II and Princess Johann of Schoenaich-Carolath was officially announced at Doorn.
The princess, whose husband died in 1920, is 35-years-old and has five children, the oldest of whom is 14. She owns a considerable estate in Silesia.

Kaiser Wilhelm II, who abdicated and went into exile in the Netherlands in 1918, is a widower. His wife, Augusta Viktoria, died in April 1921.
It was suggested that the Kaiser's surviving sons did not approve of the marriage because Hermine was a mere serene highness. She was born as Princess of Reuss. However, the family has since made it clear that they -- along with Crown Princess Cecilie -- now approve of their father's marriage to Princess Hermine.
The future Kaiserin is described as blonde, "with a graceful carriage and displays a queenly dignity."
Two of the Kaiser's sons, Crown Prince Wilhelm and Prince August Wilhelm, were present for the official announcement.
The New York Times notes that Wilhelm's forthcoming marriage is a "political event of importance," that has lost him "the last remnants of personal popularity" in Germany. According to the newspaper's reporter, German royalists now feel that the Kaiser has betrayed the memory of his late wife, as well as betraying the true ideal of a Kaiser."
The writer goes on to say that "the reactionary press" in Germany "betray considerable embarrassment and tries to let the exiled monarch down easy by telling its readers that while the first feeling of resentment is quite natural still his loneliness and temperamentare extenuating circumstances."

The date of marriage has not been announced, but the wedding is expected to be celebrated quietly at Doorn.

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