Author Topic: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants  (Read 276899 times)

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Eric_Lowe

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #330 on: June 13, 2007, 08:50:57 PM »
One has to remember that with age comes clarity or the reverse. She might rethink her postion after years. Certainly Olga A indicated that she caved in after "family pressure" was set in. Irene once said AA looked a bit like Tataiana... ???

Offline Marlene

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #331 on: June 13, 2007, 09:53:40 PM »

The Fundmental Laws required that the soveriegn and the heir marry Orthodox women - so Alix had to convert.  Ella did not convert until several years after her marriage - at her own decision.

I read that information from a book !!! The Romanov family albums. Irene was trying to look for her sister Alix because the last time they saw each other was in 1913. She defantly disapproved of her sister Ella she decieded to leave Lutheranism and convert to Russian Orthodox with she married Sergei, Alix also did the same thing too after she was married to Nicholas. But still she cared about them and keep contact with them. Irene has not heard from them since but she was living around the time where many where spreading rumors and people claiming to be members of the imperial family she could not have believed all these survivor rumors. But she did believe that the imperial family and Ella was murdered by bolsheviks. Later in her life Anna Anderson was claiming to be Anastasia who she last saw 8 years ago from 1921 but Irene did not believe her dispite her giving out correct facts about Anastasia's life she though of her as nothing but a fraud.
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Eric_Lowe

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #332 on: June 13, 2007, 11:01:38 PM »
Yes...some converted without a hitch like Dagmar (Empress Marie Feodorovna).  ::)

dmitri

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #333 on: August 15, 2007, 09:42:35 AM »
Well conversion was not a difficult issue for a Protestant Princess generally. Of course the Roman Catholic Princesses always found it difficult due to the doctrine that their Church was the only valid one which of course is not true. Poor Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain was made to feel totally humiliated when she converted to the Roman Catholic Church. Back to the real reason for this thread though. I always felt sorry for Princess Irene of Prussia on losing her two sisters and their families and then having to put up with the fraud Anna Anderson.

Offline lori_c

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #334 on: August 15, 2007, 10:30:57 AM »
I do too.  How devastating it must have been for the siblings of the Empress (and all others that were close to the family, not to mention related).  And that Irene seemed to be targeted along with GD Olga & Xenia seems so cruel. 

Though Irene's persona seems not to come through alot in surviving narratives, she seems IMO to possess the same quiet strength that her mother and even Ella possessed.  As well as VMH. Though I don't know if she possessed the same nervous strain from her mother as well.

To have more than one hemophiliac son would be quite a hurdle to say the least.  She seems to have handled it differently than Alix.  But then again, there wasn't the pressure of having to produce an heir nor did she IMO seem to have the "nervous" condition that bordered on hysteria that Alix exhibited.  Not that I personally would blame Alix. As a mother, standing by watching your child edge to the brink of death over and over and over again, would certainly not have drive ME to the brink of a breakdown.  But Irene seems to have handled it differently. And IMO deserves much respect and admiration for it. And it is a credit to Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, that her children were so united and had such a bond.  Except for the end of course when Ella and Alix drifted apart.  But IMO Irene never waivered in her loyalty to her siblings even after the horrible events of the Revolution, WWI  and it's aftermath

dmitri

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #335 on: August 15, 2007, 07:25:37 PM »
Yes you are spot on. Alix was the strange one alright. Fancy alienating a sister like Ella. The poor woman was just trying to warn her sister and was frozen out by Alexandra who simply didn't want to know. Ella was in a perfect position to hear concerns expressed as she lived and worked among ordinary people and heard their frustrations and concerns. What a foolish woman Alexandra was not to listen. Poor Irene losing both sisters. I feel particularly for her. I do hope she and Victoria corresponded as they both lived long lives and saw much change occur.

Eric_Lowe

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #336 on: August 15, 2007, 08:22:34 PM »
She did and her relatives did visit Hemmelmark from time to time. Lady Pam (daughter of Dickie Mountbatten) visited there as a girl according to her sister Countess Mountbatten. However she did lost me when she tried to entice her son Sigismund to leave Costa Rica and move back with her in Germany, when he refused she cut him & his family out of her will. However when her grandaughter Barbara moved back with her, she put her back into the will (she was the sole heiress of Irene's estate). What about the unconditional love of a mother to a child ? She appeared mean to me and her actions towards Marie Paulovna (the younger) was almost emotional blackmail.  >:(

Olishka~ Pincess

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #337 on: August 15, 2007, 08:31:28 PM »
I think Victoria and Irene kept contact with their sisters even if they converted to a different religion. Ella was trying to warn Alexandra about Rasputin but she simply refused to listen. I do not think Irene approved of Rasputin. I think Alexandra was being judged becuase of Rasputin and her being a german princess previously. I realy think they coresponded over the years even during the revolution but from time to time. I realy think Olga and Ella coresponded more with the family than Victoria and Irene. They were somewhere else.

Eric_Lowe

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #338 on: August 15, 2007, 08:43:09 PM »
There again both Irene and VMH did not know the situation in Russia as Ella did.  :(

Olishka~ Pincess

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #339 on: August 15, 2007, 08:56:07 PM »
There again both Irene and VMH did not know the situation in Russia as Ella did.  :(
Of course not they were not living in Russia Victoria and Irene. Ella was living in Russia so she knew the situation well.

Eric_Lowe

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #340 on: August 15, 2007, 09:06:10 PM »
So when Ella warned Alicky, her sisters  (VMH & Irene) were supportive but understood the younger woman stance.  :(

dmitri

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #341 on: August 15, 2007, 09:13:39 PM »
I'm not sure whether they understood it at all. I think there were probably both deeply disturbed about things and hoped that there would be a positive solution. Sadly there was not.

Eric_Lowe

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #342 on: August 15, 2007, 09:19:36 PM »
VMH & Irene both understood Alicky's anguish as a mother and dependent on Rasputin.  :(

dmitri

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #343 on: August 15, 2007, 10:39:59 PM »
I think both women understood her anguish over Alexis. I doubt they understood Rasputin.

Eric_Lowe

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Re: Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia, his family and descendants
« Reply #344 on: August 15, 2007, 10:43:57 PM »
Ella on the other hand knew him only too well.  :(