Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz (1856–1929).
Marie married in Schwerin on 5 May 1881 her cousin, the German born Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg,the second son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg.[1] The couple had five children who were all raised Roman Catholic, the religion of Princess Marie,[2] lived a quiet life in Venice. While in Venice the family befriended Cardinal Sarto (later Pope Pius X) who often visited the family and acted as a spiritual advisor for them.[3]
Marie née Windisch-Graetz surveyed several archaeological excavations in Austria and Krain. Some of these objects are still found today at Harvard, Oxford and Berlin.
On 21 April 1884 Duke Paul Frederick deferred his and his sons rights of succession to Mecklenburg-Schwerin in favour of his younger brothers and their sons, so they would take precedence over him and his.[1][4] In 1887 her husband, raised a Lutheran, converted to Roman Catholicism, the religion of Marie and their common children.[5]
In 1906 after raising the concerns of his nephew Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, about his expenses Duke Paul Frederick and his wife were ordered to submit expenditures to the controller of the royal household.[6]