Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein

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Victoria Adelaide
Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Tenure11 October 1905 – 14 November 1918
Born(1885-12-31)31 December 1885
Gut Grünholz (Thumby, Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died3 October 1970(1970-10-03) (aged 84)
Greinburg, Austria
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1905; died 1954)​
Issue
Names
Victoria Adelaide Helena Louise Mary Frederica
German: Viktoria Adelheid Helene Luise Marie Friederike
HouseGlücksburg
FatherFriedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
MotherPrincess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (

Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the consort of Duke Charles Edward
from their marriage on 11 October 1905 until his abdication on 14 November 1918.

Early life

Princess Victoria Adelaide's birthplace Grünholz Castle, photographed in 2010.

Princess Victoria Adelaide was born on 31 December 1885 at Castle Grünholz, Thumby, Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia as the eldest daughter of Frederick Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Victoria Adelaide's mother was a sister of

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the title of duke upon the death of his father on 27 November 1885.[citation needed
]

A report in the Alcester Chronicle, a British local newspaper, published in 1909, commented that Victoria Adelaide and her sisters had been allowed by their father to learn a women's occupation in case they ever needed to support themselves. According to the report, Victoria Adelaide had gained a qualification from the "Berlin Royal School of Cookery".[1]

Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

The Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 11 October 1905.

On 11 October 1905, at

Princess Helena of Waldeck and a grandson of Queen Victoria. Five years before the marriage, he had succeeded to the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha upon the death of his uncle Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1900.[2][3] As Charles Edward was considered to have an "ambiguous" attitude towards women, according to historian Karena Urbach, his family decided he needed an arranged marriage at a young age. Victoria Adelaide was chosen by her uncle Wilhelm II, the German Emperor, as the bride of Charles Edward. She was believed to be well-adjusted and loyal to Wilhelm's royal house.[4]

Victoria Adelaide was described, in her grandson's memoirs, as the leading part of the marriage and the Duke would initially come to her for advice.

Prince Friedrich Josias (1918—1998).[7] As was the norm among families of their social class at the time, caring for the children was mainly delegated to domestic servants. Charles Edward was British-born and the family often spoke English at home.[6]

Later life

The family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

In 1918, the Duke was forced to abdicate his ducal throne, following the end of

German Evangelical Church Confederation against the antisemitic German Christians.[9] However, Urbach describes this version of events as a "family myth". She states that Victoria Adelaide's views aligned with her husband's and the former duchess maintained her support for Nazism into the postwar period.[4] In an interview shortly after the war ended she said her husband had been motivated by patriotism and "stumbled on his own idealism".[6] A report in the local newspaper, marking Victoria Adelaide's 80th birthday in 1965, described her warmly commenting that

It will never be forgotten that the Duchess — a niece of the German Empress Augusta Viktoria — was never afraid to go shopping for herself and others at the market with a handle basket, or after 1945 to go shopping by bicycle from Callenberg Castle... [to] Coburg. Because of this self-evident simplicity, the Coburgers count her among their own. They never forget what they owe to their former duchess.[10]

Issue

Name Birth Death Notes
Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 2 August 1906 4 May 1972 married (1; unequally, renouncing his rights to the headship of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), 9 March 1932, Feodora, Baroness von der Horst; divorced 1962; had issue
(2), 5 May 1963, Maria Theresa Reindl; no issue[2]
Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 18 January 1908 28 November 1972 married, 20 October 1932,
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden[2]
Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 24 August 1909 26 November 1943 childless, died during the Second World War[2]
Princess Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 22 June 1912 5 September 1983 married (1), 14 December 1931, Friedrich Wolfgang Otto, Count of Castell-Rüdenhausen; divorced 2 May 1938; had issue
(2), 22 June 1938, Captain Max Schnirring; he died 1944; had issue
(3), 23 December 1946, Karl Otto "Jim" Andrée; divorced 1949; no issue[2]
Prince Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
 29 November 1918 23 January 1998 married (1), 25 January 1942, Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth; divorced 19 September 1947; had issue
(2), 14 February 1948, Denyse Henriette de Muralt; divorced 17 September 1964; had issue
(3), 30 October 1964, Katherine Bremme; no issue[2]

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ "Ladies' Chat". Alcester Chronicle. 25 December 1909. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5
    .
  3. ^ Burke, Bernard (1914). A Genealogic and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, The Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage (76th ed.). London, UK: Harrison and Sons. p. 20.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9780191008672
    .
  5. ^ H.H. Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (2015). I did it my way. Memoirs of HH Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Eurohistory.com, p. 51, 57.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9781527513402
    .
  7. ISBN 9781446449110
    – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Facius, Friedrich (1977). "Karl Eduard". Neue Deutsche Biographie.
  9. ^
    ISBN 3873540630
    .
  10. ^ "„Erste Bürgerin" und Landesmutter. Herzogin Viktoria Adelheid 80 Jahre alt" [“First citizen” and mother of the country — Duchess Viktoria Adelheid 80 years old]. Coburger Tagesblatt (in German). 1 January 1966.
Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein
House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg
Born: 31 December 1885 Died: 3 October 1970
German nobility
Vacant
Title last held by
Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

11 October 1905 – 14 November 1918 		Monarchy abolished
German revolution
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
None
 — TITULAR —
Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

14 November 1918 – 6 March 1954 		Succeeded by
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