I always thought that King Friedrich August III. von Sachsen was a good hearted man, but not to all of his subjects:
Begging the King’s Pardon
Grete A young woman tires of her lover’s affections and arranges to terminate them in a most conclusive manner. This is an old story, older than Delilah, and yet periodically throughout history, a femme fatale sets herself apart from the rest and secures ignominy that long outlasts her.
Marie Margarete “Grete” Beier was one such. She met all the most important criteria for world-wide infamy as a murderess—namely, she was young, lovely, promiscuous, and from a good family–her father was the mayor of Freiburg, Saxony. Her victim, too, was well-to-do, a young professional named Pressler. At her trial, the young girl would admit, “with simplicity,” that she poisoned her fiancé with cyanide of potassium before guaranteeing his death by putting his own pistol in his mouth and pulling the trigger. She then planted in his rooms a fake suicide note; a will leaving his assets to Grete; and a forged letter from a supposed Italian wife threatening to ruin his relationship with Grete via a charge of bigamy.
Alas, Grete was naïve to the science of handwriting examination, which tripped her up. Her diabolical, nearly perfect plot to acquire Pressler’s assets while ridding herself of the nuisance of Pressler himself shocked the authorities. She was found guilty of murder and sentenced to die.
But those same authorities had developed tender feelings for poor Grete, who was, after all, only 22, and had acted under the influence of another lover who had lacked her father’s approval. It was thought that this young girl was only partly responsible and as much a victim as poor Pressler. The jury recommended leniency. The judges asked for grace, pointing out that she was a nymphomaniac, a mitigating fact in their minds. But the question of whether she would live or die was by law the decision of the King of Saxony.
King Freidrich August III had this to say: “She is a woman somewhat like the one who was my wife. Away with her.” So the King refused to pardon young Grete because she reminded him of his ex.The King’s decision was decried throughout Europe and made him quite unpopular, but local authorities were compelled to obey. Old statutes were consulted on the proper method of execution, and as they followed these ancient tomes in all their particulars, on July 22, 1908, the girl was forced to dress in a gown—white by some descriptions, black by others. She was led to a stage in the middle of the night surrounded by the men who’d prosecuted her. A priest exhorted her to repent, and the girl was then guillotined.
King Freidrich would be the last King of Saxony; he was deposed ten years later, and we’re all the worse for being robbed of the pleasure of royal scandals from the Continent. Had he followed popular opinion more closely… ?
Link:
http://www.laurajames.com/clews/2005/05/begging_the_kin.html
Grete Beier Luise, Ex-crown Princess and former wife of King Friedrich August III.
