Princess Caroline Reuss of Greiz

Princess Caroline Elizabeth Ida Reuss of Greiz (13 July 1884 – 17 January 1905) was the first wife of Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Biography

Early life Caroline was a daughter of Heinrich XXII, the reigning Prince Reuss of Greiz by his wife Princess Ida, daughter of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont, aunt of Queen Emma of the Netherlands. Her mother died in 1891, and her father died in 1902. She had only one surviving brother, Prince Heinrich XXIV Reuss of Greiz, who was incapable of governing because of the physical and mental ailments that resulted from a childhood accident. Power passed to their cousin Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss Younger Line as a result once their father died. Her younger sister Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz would later marry Emperor Wilhelm II as his second wife.

Marriage The betrothal of Princess Caroline and Wilhelm Ernst, the reigning Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach since 1901, was announced on 10 December 1902. At Buckeburg Castle (the home of her uncle), they married on 30 April 1903. Caroline was reportedly very against the match; at the last second of the wedding, she attempted to draw back, only to be persuaded most forcibly by Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Augusta Viktoria to proceed with the marriage. Caroline wore a dress of white satin trimmed with lace; her cousins Prince George of Schaumburg-Lippe and Prince Heinrich XIV of Reuss zu Schleiz, as well as William Ernest's mother Dowager Hereditary Grand Duchess Pauline attended the wedding.

Life at the Weimar court

The marriage was unhappy, as Caroline found the rigid Weimar court etiquette intolerable. The court was generally considered to be one of the most stifling and etiquette-driven in Germany. She was eventually induced to return, but soon lost health and lapsed into melancholia. She died eighteen months after their marriage, on 17 January 1905, under mysterious circumstances. Dame of the Order of Louise, 1st Class

Ancestry