Children of Kaiser Wilhelm & Empress Augusta Victoria (Dona)

good god. I can imagine Dona reading  this news about the supposed "death" of her son...how heartbreaking (and how heartbreaking for those families who really lost someone )

Indeed. Can't imagine how awful it must have been for Dona and his bride! Like I said, they only married the month before this article. I wonder how much Adalbert and his wife saw of one another in the first four years of their marriage which happened to be the first world war. It was unfortunate that they married on the eve of the war as Adalbert must have been serving the whole time, more or less. The war looked as though it may have taken its toll on him as photographs show he aged considerably after the conflict.

Other German princes who died during the first world war:
Prince Wilhelm zu Schonaich-Carolath
Prince Freidrich Wilhelm of Lippe
Prince Otto of Schonburg-Waldenburg
Prince Wolrad Freidrich zu Waldeck und Pyrmont
Prince Ernst of Lippe
Prince Henry XLVI of Reuss
Prince Ernst of Saxe-Meiningen

Prince Adalbert's first cousin once-removed, Prince Maurice of Battenberg was killed around the same time - October 1914.  Also Prince Frederick John of Saxe-Meiningen and Prince Heinrich of Bavaria. Can't think of any others at the moment.

There's an entire list posted somewhere on the Forum. A search using 'killed in action' should bring it up though I can't remember the exact thread.

Mossy's son Max (Adalbert's first cousin) was killed around this period--October 1914. She lost 2 altogether in the War--her 2nd son Friedrich Wilhelm  was KIA in 1916.


Prince Heinrich of Bavaria - KIA Monte Sule, Transylvania 8 Nov. 1916

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse - d. of wounds received in action near Kara (Kurm) Orman, Dobroudja, Roumania 12/13 Sept. 1916

Prince Maximilian of Hesse- d. of wounds received in action at Saint-Jean-Chappelle, near Bailleul, France 13 Oct. 1914

Prince Umberto of Savoy, Count of Salemi  KIA Crespano del Grapfen 19 Oct. 1918

Prince Heinrich of Liechtenstein - d. of wounds received in action at Warsaw 16 Aug. 1915 (served in Austrian Army)

prince Ernst of Lippe- KIA Villiers-les-Guise, near St-Quentin, France 28 Aug. 1914

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Lippe kia Liege, Belgium 6 Aug. 1914 (**oldest royal killed, age 56 and also first to be killed )

Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia  KIA St-Bouvray, near Rouen, France 6 April 1917

Prince Heinrich XLI Reuss - KIA Bivolita, Roumania 29 Nov. 1916

Prince Heinrich XLIV Reuss- d. of wounds received in action at Laon at Glochau 29 Oct. 1918 (**making him last to die in the war)

Prince Heinrich XLVI Reuss(brother of above) - KIA (at the battle of) La Bassée, Belgium 20 Oct. 1914

(**these 2 as well as the Hesse boys were the 2 sets of brothers killed, the Reuss lines confuse me in general)

Prince Heinrich XXXVIII Reuss-- KIA Ligny, near Brabant-sur-Meuse, Belgium 22 Mar. 1918

Prince Oleg Constantinovitch - d. of wounds received in action (while in a cavalry charge against
the Germans) at Vilna 12 Oct.1914 (***he was the only royal on the Allied side to die during WW1 according the Prince David Chavchavadze)

Prince Ernst of Saxe-Meiningen - KIA Maubeuge, Nord, France 27 Aug. 1914

Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen (**father of above)- kia Tarcienne, near Charleroi, Belgium 23 Aug. 1914 (so they died within days of each other    as well as being only father/son duo to be killed)

Prince Albert of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach - KIA Gouzeaucourt, Nord, France 9 Sept. 1918

Prince Wolrad Friedrich of Waldeck and Pyrmont ( son of Georg Viktor, Fürst zu Waldeck und Pyrmont and Princess Luise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg so I'm not sure if he was nephew to Duchess of Albany & Queen Emma of Netherlands or also of Dona, I'll have to check that out further)- KIA Moorslede, Belgium 17 Oct. 1914

Hmmmm I must ask are some of these princes of the aristocracy as opposed to princes of royal blood? I ask because I've heard of them before but never really known. Or are they like the Tecks and Battenbergs who could marry whom ever (although a good many married royalty) and keep the titles and the style of Serene Highness? Is there a difference like in Russia where the have aristo princes and imperial Grand Dukes?

Thankyou.

They were of the blood royal--not morganatic or aristocracy or even mediatized houses.

funny that the NY Times reporter used the fact that the bullet that supposedly killed Adalbert was 'made in Germany', therefore he was killed by German fire.

The French and Brits all used German-made arms.

Friedrich Karl of Prussia was a pilot in the Imperial German Air Service, and died of wounds in a British military hospital a few days after being shot down.

Interesting example of links between royal families in wartime. The Duchess of Connaught was his father's sister, and not only did the Duke and Duchess keep Friedrich Karl's parents informed of developments via Margaret of Connaught in Sweden, Prince Arthur of Connaught visited his cousin in hospital before he died.