Germany, Crown Princess Cecilie of, née Duchess of Mecklenburg
Artist: Philip de László (Hungarian, 1869-1937)
Collection: Public Collection, Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten, Berlin-Brandenburg
Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Cecilie Auguste Marie, Duchess of Mecklenburg, was born at Schwerin on 20 September 1886, the youngest daughter of Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1851-1897), and his wife Anastasia (1860-1922), only daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaievitch of Russia and the granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I. When Cecilie was only ten years old her father died and her mother, who had never felt at home in Mecklenburg, decided from then on to spend the winters in Cannes and the summers in her Russian homeland. The future Crown Princess grew up in a climate of artistic and cultural open-mindedness, made extensive journeys with her mother and spoke several languages.
From the day the young Cecilie first appeared in Potsdam in 1904 she became renowned for her grace, charm and beauty. Countess Mathilde Keller, one of the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting, noted in her diary: “… very dutiful, intelligent, charming, despite her youth she knows how to deal with people … tall, slender, dark intelligent eyes and dark hair.”[6] At six foot Cecilie was as tall as her future husband. She not only impressed the Prussian court but particularly won the hearts of the Prussians.
On 6 June 1905 Cecilie married Wilhelm, the eldest son of the Emperor Wilhelm II. A year after the marriage, on 4 July 1906, their first son, Wilhelm, was born. Five more children were to follow: Louis Ferdinand (born 1907), Hubertus (born 1909), Friedrich (born 1911), Alexandrine (born 1915) and Cecilie (born 1917). Although the marriage seemed happy and harmonious, Cecilie was hurt deeply by her husband’s numerous affairs. She found her fulfillment in charitable work and in 1913 she founded the “Cecilienhilfe”, a charity whose highest aim was “to enable an appropriate education and instruction for children and young people, as well as the care of old persons or people in need of help.”
