Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen
- For the wife of Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, see Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen (1890-1972).
| Feodora | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen Princess Feodora Reuss YL | |||||
 | |||||
| Spouse | Prince Heinrich XXX Reuss (Younger Line) | ||||
| |||||
| House |
House of Reuss House of Saxe-Meiningen | ||||
| Father | Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen | ||||
| Mother | Princess Charlotte of Prussia | ||||
| Born |
19 May 1879 Potsdam | ||||
| Died |
26 August 1945 (aged 66) Hirschberg, Silesia | ||||
Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen (Feodora Victoria Auguste Marie Marianne) (19 May 1879 – 26 August 1945) was born at Potsdam, was the only child of Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his wife Princess Charlotte of Prussia (the eldest daughter of Frederick III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain). Feodora was the first great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.
Upbringing
She was regularly neglected by her mother, Charlotte, and often looked after by her grandmother, Empress Frederick. Charlotte often referred to Feodora as "stupid", which upset her grandmother Empress Victoria The latter once wrote to her own mother, Queen Victoria, expressing her concern for Feodora's upbringing.
Marriage
In early October 1897, Feodora's betrothal with Prince Heinrich XXX Reuss (1864–1939) was announced.[1]
At Breslau on 26 September 1898 Feodora married Prince Heinrich. They had no children.
Health
Feodora suffered from a lifetime of ill-health, believed to be porphyria, inherited from her maternal great-great-great-grandfather George III of the United Kingdom. That diagnosis followed medical tests carried out on her remains and those of her mother.
Last years
Feodora Reuss spent her last years at the Sanatorium Buchwald-Hohenwiese, Kowary, near Hirschberg, Silesia; the hospital being close to the home she had made with her husband at nearby Schloss Neuhoff. Tiring of years of illness and dubious treatment - and possibly also in reaction to the Potsdam Conference ceding part of Silesia to Poland - she committed suicide at the age of 66 on 26 August 1945.
Ancestry
References
- ↑ "German Princes Betrothed", The New York Times (Berlin), 3 October 1897
Sources
- Röhl, John C. G.; Warren, Martin; Hunt, David (1998). Purple Secret: Genes, "Madness" and the Royal Houses of Europe. London: Bantam Press. ISBN 0-593-04148-8.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||