Victoria Louise of Prussia was born as the seventh child of Emperor Wilhelm II, but as his only daughter, she held a place in his heart unavailable to any of his sons. Her marriage to a member of the rival Hanoverian dynasty was considered the happy ending to a conflict often compared to that of Romeo and Juliet – but with a joyful outcome.
The Daughter Who Won the Emperor’s Heart
The birth of the princess on September 13, 1892, at the Marmorpalais in Potsdam was an unusual event for the Prussian court. After six sons, Empress Augusta Victoria could finally note in her diary about a small but strong daughter.
The christening took place on the Empress’s birthday in the Marble Gallery of the New Palace, and the girl was named after two great women of the dynasty – her great-grandmother Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, and great-great-grandmother Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Her family affectionately called her Sissy, although behind this sweet nickname was a personality far from gentle. English governess Anne Topham, who met the nine-year-old princess in 1902, described her as energetic, friendly, but constantly quarreling with her younger brother Joachim. Historian Justin C. Vovk portrayed Victoria Louise as a blend of her paternal grandmother’s intelligence, her mother’s dignity, and the determination and stubbornness of the Emperor himself.
It was her relationship with her father that set her apart from the other imperial children. Crown Prince Wilhelm candidly admitted that his sister was the only sibling to secure a true place in their father’s heart. The governess noticed that the combative emperor became noticeably gentler around family, and his views and opinions were constantly quoted by his daughter. Wilhelm II was the dominant force in her life, but this dominance would soon make way for feelings toward a young prince from a rival dynasty.
Romeo and Juliet of Prussian Palaces
The story began in 1912 with a ceremonial visit. Ernst August, wealthy heir to the title Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, arrived at the Berlin court to thank the emperor for the presence of his sons at the funeral of his brother, Prince George William.
The House of Hanover was then in exile in Gmunden, Austria, bereft of its kingdom by Prussia after the 1866 war. Dynastic enmity between the Hanovers and Hohenzollerns had lasted for nearly half a century.
Yet the meeting between the young people sparked feelings stronger than political animosities. Ernst August and Victoria Louise fell in love, confronting their families with an unprecedented dilemma. The Prussian Crown Prince was clearly displeased by this turn of events and demanded that the Hanoverian prince renounce his claims to the lost kingdom. Negotiations dragged on for many months.
Eventually, a compromise was reached – Ernst August would give up his claim to Hanover in exchange for the opportunity to assume the smaller Duchy of Brunswick, to which his father had hereditary rights. The Hanoverian family had previously been excluded from the succession to Brunswick precisely because of their claims to Hanover. The engagement was announced in Karlsruhe on February 11, 1913, breaking the diplomatic stalemate that had lasted for months.
The Wedding that United Rival Houses
The wedding on May 24, 1913, in Berlin was one of the last great social events for Europe’s royal families before the calamity of World War I. The press commented on the end of the conflict between Hanovers and Hohenzollerns, comparing the union to Romeo and Juliet, but with a happy ending. The ceremony’s opulence matched the importance of an event meant to symbolically close nearly fifty years of hostility.
Empress Augusta Victoria took her only daughter’s departure much harder than expected from a dignified monarch. According to accounts, she spent the entire night after the wedding in tears, unable to come to terms with Victoria Louise leaving home. For the Emperor, his daughter’s decision was further proof of her special status – Wilhelm II could deny her nothing, not even a marriage to a member of a once-hostile family.
Historians continue to debate the true motivations behind this union. Eva Giloi believes the marriage was primarily the result of Prussian desires to end a dynastic conflict. Victoria Louise herself described their union in her letters as a love match. The truth was probably somewhere in the middle – politics and affection merged into a union beneficial to both sides.
Mother of a Queen, Great-Grandmother of a King
The young princely couple settled in a palace in the duchy’s capital and soon started a family. Less than a year after the wedding, in 1914, their first son Ernst August was born. Over the next years, four more children were born – Georg Wilhelm, Frederica, Christian Oscar, and Welf Henry. It was through their daughter Frederica, who became Queen of Greece, that Victoria Louise became the great-grandmother of the current King of Spain, Felipe VI.
The Duchess outlived all her children and at her passing was the last surviving descendant of Emperor Wilhelm II. She occupied the 141st place in the line of succession to the British throne, a reflection of her connection to Queen Victoria, whose name she received. In her autobiography, she ironically recalled her birthday and the 21 cannon shots – instead of 101, which would have been fired for a son. As she noted, equality was not yet on the minds of people in those times.
Margot Cleverly
Margot's journey into women's history began with a box of forgotten letters in a Cambridge archive – suffragettes whose voices had been silenced for over a century. Since then, she's been on a mission to uncover the stories history overlooked.
What she writes about: Queens who ruled from the shadows. Scientists whose male colleagues took credit. Revolutionaries who risked everything. But also ordinary women – those who survived wars, raised families through upheaval, and shaped their communities in ways no one bothered to record.
Margot turns historical figures into real people. She writes with warmth and detail, making centuries-old stories feel surprisingly relevant. Rigorous research meets accessible storytelling – no dusty academic jargon, just compelling narratives backed by solid facts.
When she's not writing, you'll find her in regional archives, collecting oral histories, or visiting sites connected to the women she writes about.