Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen

Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen (Feodora Karola Charlotte Marie Adelheid Auguste Mathilde; 29May 189012March 1972) was the eldest child of Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen, a younger son of Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld, a daughter of Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld. By marriage, she was known as Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Biography Marriage During a summer visit to the palace Wilhelmshöhe, Feodora was urged by her kinsman Emperor Wilhelm II to make a match with the widowed Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. He had been serving with the Prussian artillery during that time. Georg was the only ruler of a reigning German dynasty who had never visited the Emperor upon his accession in 1888, and who, in turn, had never received any imperial German visitors at his own court.

The Emperor's boycott of the wedding was so strongly resented in Saxe-Meiningen that, when newspapers announced that Wilhelm would not be attending the wedding, the official communication from the royal palace declared that he had never been invited.

On 14 January 1910 in Meiningen, Feodora was married to Wilhelm Ernst. This first marriage had been unhappy, as Karoline disliked the Weimar court, eventually fleeing to Switzerland. After being persuaded to return to court, her death soon after was considered by some to be suicide.

Ancestry