Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Princess Feodora
Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, age 21. Painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
Duchess consort of Saxe-Meiningen
Tenure	20 September 1866 – 30 March 1872
Born	(1839-07-07)7 July 1839 Stuttgart
Died	10 February 1872(1872-02-10) (aged 32) Meiningen
Spouse	Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Issue	Ernst, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen Prince Viktor of Saxe-Meiningen
Full name German: Feodora Victoria Adelheid
House	Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Father	Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Mother	Princess Feodora of Leiningen
Religion	Lutheran

Princess Feodora Victoria Adelaide of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (7 July 1839 – 10 February 1872) was a daughter of Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Feodora of Leiningen. By her marriage to Georg of Saxe-Meiningen, she would become Duchess consort of Saxe-Meiningen upon his succession in 1866.

Family

Feodora was the youngest of six children. Her mother was an older half-sister to Queen Victoria, thus making the younger Feodora a niece of the Queen. Her siblings included Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Adelheid, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein.

Marriage and children

Feodora met her future husband (and second cousin) Georg of Saxe-Meiningen while he was on his way to Italy. He had been recently widowed and deeply mourned his first wife Charlotte. Despite this recent tragedy, Georg went on a search to provide a mother for his two young children. Feodora and Georg became engaged almost at once.^[1] On 23 October 1858, they married at Langenburg.

They had three sons:

Their marriage was unhappy however. Georg had never become reconciled to Charlotte's death and Feodora was not temperamentally suited for the life she was expected to lead.^[2] She had no intellectual or artistic attainments; even worse, she had no interest in developing any. Despite this fact, Georg attempted to educate her. He was a great lover of the arts, especially theater. Her mother approved, stating it was "very sensible of him indeed to arrange for his bride to be much occupied with lessons, to take drawing lessons, and to hear lectures on history".^[2] He soon realized however that she would never be as witty and clever as Charlotte. After the death of their third son, Feodora stayed away from Meiningen for as much as decently possible.^[2] In 1866, he succeeded as Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, making her Duchess consort of Saxe-Meiningen.

Feodora contracted scarlet fever in January 1872, and died the following month. Despite the many differences between them, Georg had remained fond of her; when she became sick, he was genuinely distraught and sent telegrams to her parents twice daily.^[2] In the following year, Georg remarried again to Ellen Franz, a former actress.

Ancestry

References

Sources

• Koller, Ann Marie (1984). The Theater Duke: George II of Saxe-Meiningen and the German Stage. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1196-8. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

• A photograph of Princess Feodora