Frederick III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days between March and June 1888, during the Year of the Three Emperors. Known informally as "Fritz", he was the only son of Emperor Wilhelm I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service. Following the unification of Germany in 1871 his father, then King of Prussia, became German Emperor. Upon Wilhelm's death at the age of ninety on 9 March 1888, the thrones passed to Frederick, who had been German Crown Prince for seventeen years and Crown Prince of Prussia for twenty-seven years. Frederick was suffering from cancer of the larynx when he died, aged fifty-six, following unsuccessful medical treatments for his condition.
Alfred was sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 22 August 1893 until his death in 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1866 until he succeeded his paternal uncle Ernest II as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the German Empire.
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she was Duchess of Edinburgh and later Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the wife of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was the younger sister of Alexander III of Russia and the paternal aunt of Russia's last emperor, Nicholas II.
Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the son and heir apparent of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He died aged 24 under circumstances still not entirely clear. He was a first cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of the United Kingdom and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
A queen regnant is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns suo jure over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning king; or a queen regent, who is the guardian of a child monarch and rules pro tempore in the child's stead or instead of her husband who is absent from the realm, be it de jure in sharing power or de facto in ruling alone. A queen regnant is sometimes called a woman king. A princess, duchess, or grand duchess regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over a principality or (grand) duchy; an empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over an empire.
Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein was the last German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to Wilhelm II, German Emperor.
Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia, was the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. She was a granddaughter of both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Emperor Alexander II of Russia.
Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia was the only daughter and youngest child of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, and Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. Through her father, Victoria Louise was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
Louise of Prussia was Grand Duchess of Baden from 1856 to 1907 as the wife of Grand Duke Frederick I. Princess Louise was the second child and only daughter of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She was the younger sister of Frederick William ("Fritz"), the future German Emperor Frederick III, and aunt of Emperor Wilhelm II.
Sophia of Prussia was Queen of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922 as the wife of King Constantine I.
Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark was a daughter of King George I of Greece and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia. She was a sister of King Constantine I of Greece and a first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King George V of the United Kingdom.
Princess Viktoria of Prussia was the second daughter of Frederick III, German Emperor and his wife Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. Born a member of the Prussian royal house of Hohenzollern, she became Princess Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe following her first marriage in 1890.
Maria Kirillovna of Russia was the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh. She was born in Coburg when her parents were in exile because their marriage had not been approved by Tsar Nicholas II. She was generally called "Marie," the French version of her name, or by the Russian nickname "Masha". The family returned to Russia prior to World War I, but was forced to flee following the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern was the daughter of William, Prince of Hohenzollern, and Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. In 1913, she married the deposed King Manuel II of Portugal. After his death, Augusta Victoria married a second time. She had no children from either marriage.
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia was the elder daughter and fourth child of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and Dagmar of Denmark. She was the sister of the last Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II.
Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen was born at Potsdam, the only child of Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his wife, Duchess Charlotte. Feodora was the first great-grandchild of both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
The Imperial Austrian Order of Elizabeth, established in 1898 by Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, was an order created for women. The order was named after Saint Elisabeth of Hungary, but it was also founded to honor and memorialize Francis Joseph's late wife, Empress-Queen Elisabeth.
Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia was the sixth son and youngest child of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia. He was a nephew of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
Queen Victoria, the British monarch from 1837 to 1901, and Prince Albert had 9 children, 42 grandchildren, and 87 great-grandchildren. Victoria was called the "grandmother of Europe".
Princess Charlotte of Prussia was Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen from 1914 to 1918 as the wife of Bernhard III, the duchy's last ruler. Born at the Neues Palais in Potsdam, she was the second child and eldest daughter of Prince Frederick of Prussia, a member of the House of Hohenzollern who became Crown Prince of Prussia in 1861 and German Emperor in 1888. Through her mother Victoria, Princess Royal, Charlotte was the eldest granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
