The Anhalt family

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes...but did you know her thoughts ? Read her letters ?No...not even her sister recorded her thoughts. I guess maybe she does not have an opinion. Did she even has friends ?

[Eddie_uk]

Sorry Eric are you joking?   As we know not all Princesses wrote their memoirs, infact ML was quite unique in that respect. Just because Helena didn't write them doesn't mean she didn't have opinions!

In fact i believe I read soemwhere (please correct me if i'm wrong) that a member of QV'S household said it was such a shame Thora never got married as she would have made a wonderful Queen.

I know Beatrices children thought a lot of her as of course ML did (she was very lonely after her sisters death).

And yes she had some good friends, Queen Victorias lady in waiting Lady Antrim for one as well as many of her cousins.  

[Eric_Lowe]

No I am not joking...the fact that so few cousins wrote about Thora means that either she was not very interesting as a cousin or she is practically a bore. Contrast that with her more interesting cousin Princess Alice of Athlone.

Now the same cannot be said of Princess Charlotte, the Kasier's sister who went everywhere !

This neglect was not only towards poor Thora, but her mother, Princess Helena as well. Only a small and short bio called "Princess Helena: A Princess Reclaimed" was ever written on Lenchen (if we exclude the ones on ALL the daughters of Queen Victoria).  Of all the children of Queen Victoria she was neglected by royal biographers and that is a fact.

[Eddie_uk]

Sorry, i don't get your point Eric   The fact is they both Helena and Thora both led quiet lives compared to Helenas older and more illustrious sisters and Thoras better known cousins.

Sorry, i wasn't being funny, i honestly thought you were joking when you asked if she had thoughts or friends.

Some people just prefer a quieter life  . iI wouldn't particulalry of said they were boring, I'm sure they would both have been extremely interesting women to talk too!  

[Grace]

Exactly, Eddieboy.  

Just because a royal person hasn't written a memoir or been the topic of a biography doesn't necessarily mean that they were a non-person who had no interests or friends or did not contribute to the world around them.

As for letters, Thora may have instructed that her correspondence be destroyed after her death, like many other royals have done.

To say she had no friends or opinions, based on the fact that she never married or was the subject of a book is ridiculous...


Anyway, I suppose we'd better get back to Aribert!  

[Eric_Lowe]

I am sorry I do not see your point as well. Just because that they were not wriiten about doesn't mean that they are boring ture. But if they fail to appear even in other people's correspondence that would say volumes.

For example it was understood that Princess Beatrice was not a sparkling personality and an intellect like her sisters Alice and Vicky. But she prove herself capable of great emotion by standing up to her mother and got herself married. The same happened to her niece Louise of Wales, who threatened to put her head in the stove if her parents forbid her marriage to the Earl of Fife.

Helena and her brood were more retiring than the more sparkling children and grandchildren of Queen Victoria. I am only speaking on comparitive terms. At least Marie Louise had something to say about herself. Poor Thora had neither the strength nor the inclination to break out . The fact that the cousins wrote so little about her seem to indicate she could be even more shy than her sister. Those cousins (whom Alice of Athlone wrote are almost at close as brothers and sisters) seemed to fail to bond with Thora. It is based on these observations that I think she must be either too shy to express herself or have a boring personality.

Anyone is free to believe differently if they have facts to back it up.

Yes lets go back to Aribet

[Eurohistory]

This neglect was not only towards poor Thora, but her mother, Princess Helena as well. Only a small and short bio called "Princess Helena: A Princess Reclaimed" was ever written on Lenchen (if we exclude the ones on ALL the daughters of Queen Victoria).  Of all the children of Queen Victoria she was neglected by royal biographers and that is a fact.

And quite a disappointing book it was indeed.

Arturo Beéche

[Eddie_uk]

I actually found it quite simple and  interesting! I't was nice to read a book directed at just Helena.

ML was quite unique in the fact she recorded her memoirs. I agree Helenas family were more retiring compared to others.

However just because she is not mentioned in many biographies (have you read Lady Antrims book?) or is perhaps not mentioned much by her cousins does not mean she is necessarily boring, to shy to express herself (as Grace rightly points out, she wouldnt be the first royal to have her papers destroyed) or "without opinions"  

Anyway sorry! back to good old Aribert  

[Eric_Lowe]

Any more info on Aribet ?

[Eddie_uk]

Does  any one know if Aribert did plunder ML's dowry or jewels?? I don't suppose they ever saw each other again did they? When did he die?
Thank you

EDIT: i just read it was 1933 when he died!

[Eric_Lowe]

No...I don't think ML was plundered of her jewelry from Aribert. However I did not know what jewels were given to ML from the Anhalts or was she allowed to keep them. The wedding was suprising that it was devoid of wedding photos. Even the Windsor Castle archiev failed to locate a photo of the bride & groom togather  

Go back to jewels, I think the bulk of it came from her wedding jewels recieved from relatives after her wedding, some of them I guess were from her mother, Princess Helena. This is off the subject, but I don't recal seeing Thora bejewelled or dolled up in any photo...

[grandduchessella]

From another thread:

What happened to Aribert of Anhalt after the divorce?

According to an article in the Washington Post, October 8, 1918, Aribert, who just become the regent of Anhalt for his nephew, was described as the most "unsavoroury of all the unpleasant scions of the reigning dynasties."  The writer also said the event that ended the marriage was too much for even the "frightfully corrupt" of Berlin society  and as Aribert was ostcracized by Berlin society, he had not been in the capital for 18 years.  The event "drove Aribert from Berlin."

[Eric_Lowe]

Berlin then was not a good place to be gay, unlike later on under the Weimar Republic.

[Eurohistory]

Berlin was always a hip and happening place for the gay movement, eve in those times it was rather busy...what with all those soldiers and tight uniforms... ;-)

Arturo Beéche

[Eric_Lowe]

But not good for people in high places. We know what happen to Count Philipp Von Eulenburg. He was dropped by Kaiser Bill once the gay scandal broke out