Queen Charlotte of Württemberg

Princess Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe (10 October 1864 – 16 July 1946) was Queen of Württemberg from 6 October 1891 to 30 November 1918 as the second wife and consort of King William II. Charlotte was not only the last queen of Württemberg, but the last surviving queen of any German state.

Biography

Early life Charlotte was born in Schloss Ratiborschitz, Bohemia (now Ratibořice, Česká Skalice, Czech Republic), as a member of the Schaumburg-Lippe branch of an old House of Lippe. She was the daughter of Prince William of Schaumburg-Lippe and his wife, Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau. Charlotte grew up with her siblings on the princely estate at Náchod. In addition to general cultural interests such as music and art, she was also very keen on sporting pursuits, including swimming, tennis, cycling, and — unusual for a woman of the time — skiing. She also had an extraordinary passion for hunting.

Marriage On 8 April 1886 she married the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Württemberg, Crown Prince Wilhelm, who succeeded in 1891 as King William II of Württemberg (Wilhelm II. von Württemberg). She was his second wife, and like her cousin and predecessor Princess Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont was held to be of no political consequence. If the marriage had taken place for reasons of state - Wilhelm had no male heir - it was a miscalculation, as Charlotte produced no children.

As a princess of Württemberg she lived initially in Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart, but as queen in the Wilhelmspalais in Stuttgart. From June to October the royal couple moved to their residence at Friedrichshafen. Finally in November/December Wilhelm and Charlotte regularly took a two-week hunting holiday in Schloss Bebenhausen (the former Bebenhausen Abbey) at Bebenhausen near Tübingen, which after the revolution of 1918 became Charlotte's permanent home.

In 1890, William brought his new wife to England, where the Princess May of Teck commented, "We liked Charlotte very much, she is a good honest soul tho' rather too brusque, she seems to get on well with all the members of the Württemberg family which denotes great tact".

Ancestry