Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia

Victoria Louise Duchess of Brunswick Photography of Princess Victoria Louise in 1910 Born (1892-09-13)13 September 1892 Marble Palace, Potsdam Died 11 December 1980(1980-12-11) (aged 88) Hanover Spouse Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick Issue Ernest Augustus IV Prince George William Frederica, Queen of the Hellenes Prince Christian Oscar Prince Welf Henry Names Victoria Louise Adelaide Matilda Charlotte House House of Hanover House of Hohenzollern Father Wilhelm II, German Emperor Mother Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein

Victoria Louise of Prussia (German: Viktoria Luise Adelheid Mathilde Charlotte Herzogin zu Braunschwieg und Luneberg von Preussen; 13 September 1892 – 11 December 1980) was the only daughter and the last child of William II, German Emperor and Empress Augusta Victoria. She was their last surviving child. Princess Victoria Louise is the maternal grandmother of Queen Sophie of Spain and the former King Constantine II of the Hellenes. She was the Duchess of Brunswick by marriage.

Marriage

Ernest Augustus, heir to the title of Duke of Cumberland, and grandson of Christian IX of Denmark through the latter's daughter, Princess Thyra of Denmark, came to the court and fell in love with Princess Victoria Louise. Their marriage, on 24 May 1913 in Berlin, put an end to the rift between the House of Hanover and House of Hohenzollern that had begun after the 1866 annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover into the Kingdom of Prussia following the Austro-Prussian War. Their wedding was one of the last great social events of European royalty before World War I. It was celebrated in the presence of George V of the United Kingdom and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, as well as other important royals. Empress Augusta Victoria took the separation from her youngest child and only daughter badly and spent the night weeping.

Victoria Louise and Ernest Augustus had five children:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover	18 March 1914	9 December 1987(1987-12-09) (aged 73)	married firstly 1951, Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; had issue. married secondly 1981, Countess Monika of Solms-Laubach; no issue.
Prince George Wiliam	25 March 1915	8 January 2006(2006-01-08) (aged 90)	married 1946, Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark; had issue.
Princess Frederika, Queen of the Hellenes	18 April 1917	6 February 1981(1981-02-06) (aged 63)	married 1938, Paul of Greece; had issue.
Prince Christian Oscar	1 September 1919	10 December 1981(1981-12-10) (aged 62)	married 1963, Mireille Dutry (b. 10 January 1946); divorced 1976; had issue.
Prince Welf Henry	11 March 1923	12 July 1997(1997-07-12) (aged 74)	married 1960, Princess Alexandra of Ysenburg and Büdingen; no issue.

Titles and styles

• 13 September 1892 – 24 May 1913: Her Royal Highness Princess Viktoria Louise of Prussia
• 24 May – 1 November 1913: Her Royal Highness Princess Ernest Augustus of Hanover

• in Britain: Her Royal Highness Princess Ernest Augustus of Cumberland

• 1 November 1913 – 30 January 1953: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Brunswick
• 20 January 1953 – 11 December 1980: Her Royal Highness The Dowager Duchess of Brunswick

As the wife of a prince of the House of Hanover, Viktoria Louise also bore the titles Princess of Hanover, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and Duchess of Brunswick and Lüneburg.

Regimental Commissions

• Regimentschefin (Regimental Chief) and Oberst à la suite (Honorary Colonel), 2. Leib-Husaren Regiment Königin Victoria von Preußen Nr. 2, ca. 1909

Chivalric Orders

• Dame, First Class, Order of Louise, Prussia
• Dame, First Class, Shefkat Nishani (Order of Charity), Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
• Medjidie Order for Princesses, Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
• Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa (Spain)

Legacy

Publications

Approximate translations of the titles into English are given in parentheses.

• Ein Leben als Tochter des Kaisers ("Life as Daughter of the Emperor")
• Im Strom der Zeit ("In the Stream of Time")
• Bilder der Kaiserzeit ("Pictures from the Imperial Period")
• Vor 100 Jahren ("100 Years Ago")
• Die Kronprinzessin ("The Crown Princess", referring to her sister-in-law, Duchess Cecily of Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
• Deutschlands letzte Kaiserin ("Germany's Last Empress", referring to her mother, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein)

Pop Culture

“Die Prinzessin von Preussen” (The Princess of Prussia, Victoria Louise) by artist Shaun von Knasick of the band Star Chamber released on Toten Troll Records, London, England, 2003.

Gallery

• 
  The princess and her mother in Berlin (1911)
• The Princess on horseback, c. 1912
  The Princess on horseback, c. 1912
• 
  The Family im the Sanssouci Park, painting by William Friedrich Georg Pape
• 
  Photograph of the Princess in uniform, c. 1913

Ancestry

Family of Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia

16. Frederick William III of Prussia 8. Wilhelm I, German Emperor 17. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 4. Frederick III, German Emperor 18. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 9. Augusta of Saxe-Weimar 19. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia 2. Wilhelm II, German Emperor 20. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 10. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 21. Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 5. Victoria, Princess Royal 22. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn 11. Victoria of the United Kingdom 23. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 1. Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia 24. Frederik Christian II, Duke of Augustenborg 12. Christian, Duke of Augustenborg 25. Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark 6. Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein 26. Christian-Conrad, Count Danneskiold-Samsøe 13. Louise Danneskiold-Samsøe 27. Johanna Kaas of Mur 3. Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein 28. Charles Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 14. Ernst, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 29. Countess Amalie of Solms-Baruth 7. Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 30. Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen 15. Princess Feodora of Leiningen 31. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 23)