The Story of Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise—Part 9: Marie Louise Chases Freedom

Princess Marie Louise pictured here attending a bazaar

When Marie Louise finally arrived in Windsor, she was informed the reasons for the urgency of her coming back. Prince Aribert had written a letter, saying that her wife had deserted her marital duties, so he was demanding that the marriage be proclaimed null and void, as if it had never been contracted.  According to the message, her husband found life with her “intolerable.” Marie Louise was horrified while she was listening to the list of ‘obscene’ charges that her husband charged against her.

Her humiliation was absolute and she could only take comfort in the knowledge that “there was one accusation which my husband did not bring against me, because he could not, and that was the charge of infidelity.” Her father-in-law, being the sovereign of Anhalt used this prerogative to annul the marriage, citing the justification that Marie Louise had not given his son any children, a proof for marriage invalidity in Anhalt.

In her memoirs, Marie Louise considered her marriage vows binding, so she never married again.  “The reason I have never married again,” she writes in her book, “is because my marriage was according to the Church of England with its solemn and binding vows, and no arbitrary local family law could absolve me from these marriage vows.”  Nevertheless, she recorded her rage over her marital experience and made it known that she disliked her former husband. Years after her marriage’s annulment, Prince Aribert’s gender preference came under heated debate, and news circulated that he was caught in bed with a servant, either by Marie Louise or by his father.

Eventually Marie Louise found solace in her family: “My parents and my sister were there to meet me in the hall. You can imagine all the babel of talk! I was completely bewildered and could not understand or in the least manner grasp why I had been summoned back across two continents in this peremptory manner by my father-in-law.”

Likewise, the circumstances leading to the couple’s annulment remains unclear to this day. In the 1903 edition of the Almanach de Gotha, it was stated that the couple were divorced on December 13, 1900, while the 1904 edition of "Whitaker's Almanac" stated that "her marriage was dissolved by joint request on account of a new family law of that Ducal House."

Summing up the situation, Princess Marie Louise's uncle, Edward VII, said, "Ach, poor Louise, she has returned as she went--a virgin."

The Story of Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise—Part 7: Marie Louise and the Kaiser

Princess Marie Louise was close to her
cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II

Princess Marie Louise nurtured a close relationship to her cousin, the Kaiser. In fact, he held a keen affection to the Christians. Amidst the ravages of World War I, the Kaiser had never forgotten to send a congratulatory note to her aunt during their 50th wedding anniversary. The telegram reached England via Sweden through his cousin, Crown Princess Margaret. As for Marie Louise, she referred to her cousin as sympathetic, cheerful, and warm.


While in Anhalt, the princess often went to Potsdam and had tea with the empress, whom Marie Louise found too stiff. Nevertheless, the two ladies nurtured a friendly and close relationship.  In her memoirs, Princess Marie Louise wrote:

“I want to give all...a true and quite different side to the character of that much-maligned man, William II, German Emperor. At heart he was pro-British, though not, I agree in his policy for there his country and its interests had, of necessity always to be first. He was devoted to his grandmother, Queen Victoria, and admired everything English....I can say in perfect truth that the Emperor did not want war. He was against the invasion of Belgium for two reasons – first, he did not wish Germany to break her word, she having guaranteed to neutrality of Belgium, and second that he knew it would bring this country [Britain] into the war. I can also say that when the Emperor saw the telegram sent to Serbia by Berchtold, he was terribly upset....”

“To return to the affection he had for my parents, the following fact will give you a very touching proof of what I am endeavouring to tell you. In 1916 my parents celebrated their golden wedding. I spite of the war, it was a very happy day...in the afternoon, while we were talking, the steward handed a telegram to my mother. It was from the Crown Princess of Sweden, Margaret, daughter of the Duke of Connaught. The telegram was as follows: “William asks me to transmit to you his loyal and devoted good wishes to dear Uncle Christian and Aunt Helena on the occasion of their golden wedding.”

The Story of Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise—Part 6: Marie Louise Marries Aribert

Princess Marie Louise during her wedding day, flanked by her entourage

The following month Queen Victoria invited Aribert to visit Osborne for her usual inspection of future grandsons and found him entirely suitable. English journalists, however, were less convinced. Even before his arrival, newspapers hinted that there was something ‘not quite right’ about the ‘youthful lover’ but Marie Louise was enraptured and the family agreed with Marie Mallet’s opinion that ‘he really is extremely good looking even for a Prince.’ With the Queen’s blessing, plans were made for a July 6, 1891 wedding at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor. 




The celebrations coincided with a state visit from the Kaiser who ‘insisted on being present,’ though, for once, proud of his part in bringing the couple together, he behaved himself well. When the ceremonials were over, the newly married couple drove in an open carriage through the streets of Windsor, where crowds of Eton schoolboys who had been given a day off in honour of the occasion, gave them a warm reception. The set out for a honeymoon in Cliveden, and spent further ten days in Marie Louise’s childhood home, Cumberland Lodge, before embarking on a tour of Holland. In the autumn, Prince Aribert took his wife home to the quaint sleepy town of Dessau in eastern Germany.


The new couple spent part of their honeymoon in Bayreuth where Marie Louise met Cosima Wagner, widow of the famous composer, whom she befriended. Cosima introduced Marie Louise into her late husband's music. 


Prince and Princess Aribert, as the couple became known after their marriage, established their home in Dessau. However, the princess found new life quite stringent due to the severe etiquette of the court. Eventually, the couple did not live full time in Dessau but instead move to Berlin from time to time, where Aribert also maintained a residence. 

The Story of Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise—Part 4: Helena Victoria’s Single Blessedness

Princess Helena Victoria was happy with her unmarried life.

Helena Victoria accepted her fate of single blessedness. She devoted her time looking after her brothers, her parents, her grandmother and in supporting her mother’s charitable causes.
 

Despite the absence of romantic pursuits, she was never stifled. In fact, her intelligence and open-mindedness gave her the freedom to become a voracious traveler, visiting her cousins in Germany and Russia. Her two brothers also remained single and, though both Christian Victor, who served in the British Army, and Albert who served in Germany, were far from one another due to active duty, the family remained very close. In fact, the Christians enjoyed the most blissful domestic life 

among Queen Victoria’s children.

Helena Victoria also became the queen’s secretary and companion. She saw her almost daily and joined the queen in her annual trips to Osborne, Balmoral and Windsor. As she lived close to the queen, Helena Victoria was a fixture in state dinners where she had the chance to converse with politicians and statesmen. Eventually, she developed her own firm views about politics and world affairs. At times, she even got into conflict with her equally politically-minded mother.

“[Helena Victoria] talked just as we do about the Government,” wrote Queen Victoria’s lady-in-waiting, Marie Mallett, “…but she only dares to talk openly to me and a few others as Princess Christian is furious with her and everyone else unless they ‘lard’ the Government with fulsome praise.”

Unlike her cousin, Princess Victoria of Wales, who was also unmarried, Helena Victoria was content with her lot, justifying the Queen’s claim that:

“Unmarried people are often very happy, certainly more so than married people who don’t live happily together of which there are so many instances.” This, the queen stated after seeing many of her granddaughters trapped in desperately unhappy marriages. Helena Victoria’s sister, Marie Louise, did not escape this fate.

The Story of Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise—Part 3: The Snipe

Princess Helena Victoria. Her sharp feature
earned her the ridicule of Princess
Alexandra who called her "Snipe."

Helena Victoria was known in the family as Thora. However, the princess of Wales referred to her as the "Snipe" because of her long face and nose and severe features. When she was young, she had high prospects of getting married. In fact, her mother tried to attract her cousin, Prince George (the future George V), towards her but she did not only failed to get the support of the Royal Family, she also incurred Princess 

Alexandra’s ridicule.

The princess of Wales, still unforgiving of the Schelwig-Holstein affair, wrote about this to his son Prince George: "So the Christians have been following you about with their lovely Snipe! Well, it would be a pleasure to welcome that "beauty" as your bride. You see she is quite prepared to take you by storm by already offering you her contrafeit in a frame!" Despite the sarcasm of the princess of Wales, Helena Victoria could have become a good wife for George V and great queen because of her kind hearted nature and intelligence. But it wasn’t her destiny. She spent the rest of her life serving as Queen Victoria’s companions, and later, in charitable works.

However, there were many courtiers who considered Helena Victoria a tough contender for “the highest position there is.” Although she was not as pretty as her cousin or her younger sister, she however exuded common sense and gentleness that made her a favorite of the family.

Princess Helena Victoria was particularly close to her cousin,
Princess Alix of Hesse, later Empress of Russia. 

“Thora is very sensible and level-headed and ought to have a chance,” Marie Mallet noted, “It would have been for instance a godsend to Russia if the Tsar had married her...”

The embarrassment of George’s rejection and the rebuke that she endured from Princess Alexandra made Thora careful in choosing a husband. As early as 1890, her aunt, Victoria, Princess Royal, who married the Crown Prince of Germany, wished “someone nice could be found.” Four years later she tried in vain to have her marry a minor German prince, Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a grandson of Queen Victoria’s half-sister, Feodora. The plan turned out fruitless and the prince rather married Helena’s cousin, Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh. Almost a decade passed and the princess came past her prime, but still suitable candidate was found. In 1899, there were talks of a match with a minor Catholic prince but, in spite of her advanced age, the twenty-seven-year-old princess was careful:

“Thora wishes it to be clearly understood what would be done about the marriage,” Queen Victoria said, “Else, as she said, if she should like him and great difficulties arise afterwards about the religion, it would be very unpleasant and painful.” The plans ended in nothing.

The Story of Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise—Part 2: Birth of the Princesses

Princess Helena Victoria as a child.

Helena Victoria was born on May 3, 1870, at Frogmore House. She was christened Victoria Louise Sophia Augusta Amelia Helena.  Marie Louise was born on Augusta 12, 1872, at Cumberland Lodge. She was christened Franziska Josepha Louise Augusta Marie Christina Helena. Prior to their birth, Queen Victoria made a rather unusually proclamation that affected the princesses’ status in the precedence among members of the royal family. Under letters patent of 1866, Helena Victoria and Marie Louise, together with their two brothers, were allowed to bear the style Highness. The style was in effect in Great Britain, and not in Germany, where they were entitled to the style Serene Highness.

Princess Marie Louise when she was child.

The children spent their childhood at Cumberland Lodge. Although the two girls lived near the court and had their personal French maids, their mother raised them in as much a normal way as possible. They were taught to work with their hands and look after themselves. Princess Helena required her daughters to take care of their rooms and personal appearance. Their clothes were as simple as their condition of princesses permitted it. Their father taught them German lessons while their governesses taught gave them the French language. Since Princess Helena was a staunch advocate of nursing, she instructed them the basics of medical and welfare work, an advocacy that she passed on to her daughters, who themselves became patrons of nursing.

The Story of Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise—Part I: Prelude to Two Great Lives

Queen Victoria desired a love story to last a lifetime, a happily ever-after marriage with the one and only king of his heart, Prince Albert. But it wasn’t meant to be, for at the tender age of 41, 20 years after they exchanged vows and tied their two hearts into one, typhoid struck the better of him, gripping his existence to death, in haste, shattering the queen to pieces and leaving her wearing mourning gown until her own passing. That gloomy December day was the coldest and bitterest in Victoria’s life. No other death that befell her family was more painful than the unbearable grief that struck her upon Dear Bertie’s passing.

Princess Helena and Prince Christian

 Perhaps it was the pain of being alone, or worst, the sorrow of not letting go the ghost of the splendid past that was her married life, and bearing the loss of a partner that Queen Victoria clung on her daughters all the days of the rest of her life. In 1866, when her third daughter Princess Helena, met the impoverished Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the chances of the princess marrying her were at odds. Foremost, his family revolted against Denmark in 1848 and Schleswig-Holstein became a Prussian property. The prospect of the marriage therefore was abhorred by the princess of Wales, whose father was the king of Denmark. She later exclaimed “The Duchies belong to Papa!” Likewise, Prince Christian was jobless and lacked any ambition. He is also a younger son, which limited his chances of inheriting his father’s title. Queen Victoria, for her part, still far from recovering after Prince Albert’s death, was not in a position to lose a daughter, more so a companion whom she had depended on for so long. But she saw the love that tied the couple. Eventually, the queen relented, on the condition that they should live in England and remain close to the court. The prince accepted. Having no future anywhere else, he was contented to settle his life with his bride-to-be. In 1865, the couple’s engagement was announced. They were married on July 5, 1866 at the Private Chapel, Windsor Castle. Unusual for the queen, she wore white mourning cap which draped her back instead of her heavy black mourning gown.

Shortly after the wedding, the couple settled at Cumberland Lodge,  the traditional residence of the Ranger of Windsor Great Park, an honorary position that the queen bestowed upon Christian. In 1867, their first child was born. They named him Christian Victor. Albert followed in 1869. Their two daughters followed: Helena Victoria, in 1870; and Marie Louise in 1872.

Princess Helena Victoria (seated) and Princess Marie Louise (girl standing) with their two brothers.

I find Helena Victoria and Marie Louise the most interesting and colorful figures among Princess Helena’s children. Helena Victoria, who would remain unmarried throughout her life, was a loyal companion to her mother and secretary to Queen Victoria. Marie Louise, meanwhile, endured a tough marital storm that caused her to return to England where she spent the remainder of her life.