Princess Margaret of Prussia
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Princess Margarete Beatrice Feodora of Prussia (April 22, 1872 - January 22, 1954) was the daughter of the future Frederick III, German Emperor (1831-1888) and his wife, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (1840-1901), daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Margaret, or "Mossy" as she was known in the family, was the youngest of eight children. Together with her sisters, Princess Viktoria and Princess Sophie, Mossy was very close to her mother and embraced English ways.
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[edit] Marriage
On January 25, 1893 she married Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse ('Fischy'), future head of the Hesse-Cassel dynasty and future elected king of Finland. He was a relative of hers, his mother having also been a Prussian princess. The marriage was very happy.
[edit] Children
Margaret and Frederick had six children, including two sets of twins:
- His Highness Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Sigismund of Hesse-Cassel (1893–1916)
- His Highness Prince Maximilian Friedrich Wilhelm Georg of Hesse-Cassel (1894–1914)
- His Highness Prince Philipp of Hesse-Cassel (1896–1980)
- His Highness Prince Wolfgang Moritz of Hesse-Cassel (1896–1989)
- His Highness Prince Christoph Ernst August of Hesse-Cassel (1901–1943) married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, had issue
- His Highness Prince Richard Wilhelm Leopold (1901–1969)
Margaret's family was a unique one among the descendants of Queen Victoria; she bore six children with four pregnancies, having two sets of twins, Philipp and Wolfgang and Christoph and Richard.
Both Friedrich Wilhelm and Maximilian served and were killed during the First World War. Prince Maximilian was serving near Aisne when he was seriously wounded. He died soon afterward and his body was secretly buried in the village of Caestre by the local people, who learned he was the Kaiser's nephew. The priest refused to identify the grave until the Germans had left Belgium and a compensation was paid. Max's younger brother Wolfgang appealed for help to the British authorities, and eventually, after an enquiry was made, Maximilian's body was returned to his family. His older brother, Friedrich Wilhelm died two years later at Kara Orman in Romania.
[edit] Throne of Finland
In 1918, Margaret's husband accepted the offer of the throne of newly independent Finland, but due to German misfortunes in World War I, soon renounced it. She would have become the queen of Finland. Her predecessor as the consort of the monarch of Finland was her first cousin, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna of Russia who was also Grand Duchess Consort of Finland. Later, her husband succeeded his brother as the head of the House of Hesse-Cassel.
Mossy was the last of Emperor Frederick's children to die.
Her ancestry is presented at Ahnentafel of Wolfgang of Hesse.
[edit] Titles from Birth
- Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret of Prussia
- Her Royal Highness Princess Frederick of Hesse-Cassel
