Princess Anna of Prussia
| Princess Anna | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landgravine of Hesse | |||||
 |
|||||
| Born |
17 May 1836 Berlin |
||||
| Died | 12 June 1918 (aged 82) Frankfurt |
||||
| Spouse | Frederick William II, Landgrave of Hesse | ||||
| Issue |
Frederick William III, Landrgrave of Hesse Elisabeth, Hereditary Princess of Anhalt Alexander Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse Frederick Charles, Landgrave of Hesse Princess Marie-Polyxene Princess Sybille Marguerite |
||||
|
|||||
| House | Hohenzollern | ||||
| Father | Prince Charles of Prussia | ||||
| Mother | Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach | ||||
| Full name | |
|---|---|
| German: Maria Anna Friederike |
Princess Maria Anna Friederike (17 May 1836 in Berlin – 12 June 1918 in Frankfurt) was a Princess of Prussia. She was usually called Anna.
Anna was the youngest of the three children of Prince Charles of Prussia and Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
As a beautiful young princess, she was the object of much attention at court. In the winter of 1852, the young Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria met her in Berlin, fell in love, and wished to propose to her. His mother, Archduchess Sophie of Austria, wrote to her sister Queen Elise of Prussia referring to "the happiness that showed itself to him like a fleeting dream and made an impression on his heart -- alas -- much stronger and deeper than I had first thought." However, Anna was already engaged at that time, and as an added complication, there were strong feelings against an alliance with Austria among Prussian statesmen. Franz Joseph's mother asked, "whether there is any hope that this sad marriage, which they are imposing on this charming Anna and which leaves her no prospect of happiness whatsoever, could be prevented," but to no avail.
On 26 May 1853, Anna married Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel at Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin. Anna was the second wife of her new husband, who nine years previously had experienced the traumatic death in childbirth of his beloved first wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia. He never got over this loss, which took place less than a year after his wedding to Alexandra, and it is believed that this was the reason his relationship with Anna was polite but emotionally distant.
They had six children:
Victoria, Princess Royal wrote of Anna:
"...[she] is very pretty, the most splendid figure you ever saw, but I do not like her style quite, her gowns are a good deal fuller than the Empress' and so low, I cannot bear that; and I do not like to see the Princesses dancing about with everybody ...".
...
Wikipedia