Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Ducky and Ernie: incompatible

November 16, 1901

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine are nearing "action for divorce," reports the New York Times, which based its dispatch on an article in the Cologne Gazette, a German newspaper.

The Gazette is stating that it has learned "authoritatively that no third party is involved," and the marital breakdown is largely due to the couple's incompatibility of their temperaments and tastes."   The newspaper is also intimating that the "lack of a male heir also has a bearing on the case."

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, both of whom are grandchildren of the late Queen Victoria, have one young daughter, Princess Elisabeth.

The newspaper also notes that that Nicholas II of Russia has postponed a visit to Darmstadt because of  the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess's marital problems.     Nicholas' wife, Alexandra, is Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig's sister.  Grand Duchess Victoria Melita is also a first cousin to Nicholas II, as her mother, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Nicholas' late father, Alexander III, were siblings.

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