“Princess Alexandrine of Prussia (1842–1906)”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Family and early life

Alexandrine ('Addy') was the youngest child born to Prince Albert of Prussia and his wife Princess Marianne of the Netherlands. She was named after her aunt (and later mother-in-law) the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.^[2] She had two elder surviving siblings, Princess Charlotte (later Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Meiningen), and Prince Albert. Her parents' marriage was dissolved on 28 March 1849.^[3] Her father later remarried in 1853 to one of the court maids-of-honor, Rosalie von Rauch, who was created Countess of Hohenau. The couple had two sons. Their mother also remarried morganatically to a former coachman, producing issue with Johannes van Rossum.

Due to the troubled marriage of her parents, Alexandrine was to all intents and purposes the adopted daughter of her otherwise childless uncle and aunt, King Frederick William IV of Prussia and Queen Elisabeth Ludovika, and became their ward.^[3] They took Alexandrine to live with them, bringing her up as their own offspring.

Marriage

Marriage prospects

As a young woman, Alexandrine was considered as a potential bride for the one-year older Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom), but was not considered "clever or pretty" enough by his sister Crown Princess Victoria ('Vicky') of Prussia.^[2]^[4] The prince married Alexandra of Denmark instead. Despite her comment, Vicky had a fondness for Alexandrine, writing to her mother that she was "such an excellent girl and much admired here". There were also financial advantages to a marriage to Alexandrine; she already had one million dollars through her mother, and would have even more wealth when she married.^[2] Consequently, Vicky tried again to marry her off to another British relative, Prince George, Duke of Cambridge.^[2] Nothing came of this either, however.

Wedding

On 9 December 1865, Alexandrine married her much-older cousin Duke William of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1827–1879).^[1] He was a younger son of Paul Frederick, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg and Alexandrine's aunt and namesake Princess Alexandrine of Prussia. Though the marriage was meant to give her financial security in the future, it was certainly not a love match; Alexandrine cried during the entire wedding ceremony. Vicky described the wedding to her mother,

Marriage and later life

William's older brother Frederick Francis already had many children from his two marriages, so there was no chance of William and Alexandrine succeeding to the throne of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. During their marriage, the couple lived at Bellevue Palace in Berlin; Alexandrine saw little of Mecklenburg, her husband's native country.^[3] The marriage was unhappy, and she tried to escape several times, only to be forced back by pressure from her powerful Aunt Alexandrine.^[2] William managed with difficulty to secure an unimportant command in the Prussian army during the Franco-Prussian War.^[3] He was badly injured from an explosion during the war, but continued to live on until 1879. The couple had one surviving daughter:

After her husband's death, Alexandrine dedicated her life to her daughter, and played very little part in public life.^[2] Alexandrine died on 26 March 1906 at Schloss Marley, near Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany.^[1]^[6] Bellevue Palace was next occupied by Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia and his new bride Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg.

Ancestry

References

1. ^¹²{{Cite web | last = Lundy | first = Darryl | title = The Peerage: Alexandrine Prinzessin von Preußen | url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p10280.htm#i102791 | accessdate = 18 August 2010 }}
2. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶{{cite web|url=http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f160/princess-marianne-1810-1883-a-11049.html|title=Alexandrine|author=The Royal Forums|publisher=|accessdate=6 September 2010}}
3. ^¹²³⁴⁵{{Citation | last = | first = | title = Romances of a Royal House | pages = | newspaper = The Washington Post | location = | date = 20 April 1906 | url = | accessdate = }}
4. ^{{cite book|first=Christopher|last=Hibbert|title=Edward VII: The Last Victorian King|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|year=2007|isbn=|page=41}}
5. ^¹{{Citation | last = | first = | title = A Princess's Trousseau | pages = | newspaper = The Manchester Guardian | location = | date = 20 December 1865 | url = | accessdate = }}
6. ^{{Citation | last = | first = | title = The Duchess of Mecklenburg | pages = | newspaper = The Irish Times | location = | date = 26 March 1906 | url = | accessdate = }}