The Secret Memoirs of the Courts of Europe, Volume I. | Page 9

On the occasion of her marriage to the prince, she
received from the Prussian Crown the title of Countess of Hohenau,
and the children whom she bore to Prince Albert the elder are now
known as Counts and Countesses of Hohenau. The elder of these
Counts Hohenau bears the name of Fritz, and his wife, before their
banishment from the capital, was one of the most dashing and brilliant
figures in the ultra-aristocratic society of Berlin. No entertainment was
regarded as complete without her presence, and in every social
enterprise, no matter whether it was a flower corso, a charity fair, a
hunt, a picnic, or amateur theatricals, she was always to the fore,
besides being the leader in every new fashion, and in every new
extravagance. Although eccentric--she was the first member of her sex
to show herself astride on horseback in the Thiergarten--and in spite of
her being famed as a thorough-paced coquette, and as a flirt, yet no one
ventured to impugn her good name, until the disgraceful anonymous
letter scandal; and both her husband and herself naturally resent most
keenly that without any hearing or explanation they should have been
banished from the court, and sent to live, first at Hanover, then at
Dresden, but always away from Berlin and Potsdam, solely on account
of an anonymous letter.
The sympathy of society in the affair was all with the Hohenaus, who
although absent from Berlin, may be said to have taken the leading part
in that great controversy which is known to this day as "the anonymous
letter scandal," and which not only divided all Berlin society into
separate hostile camps, but led to innumerable duels, some of them

with fatal results; to the imprisonment of some great personages; to the
ruin of others, and in one word to one of the most talked of court
scandals of the present century. In fact, the anonymous letter affair,
many of the features of which remain shrouded in mystery to this day,
played so important a part in the history of the Court of Berlin during
the first decade of the present emperor's reign, that it deserves a chapter
to itself.
What, however, I wish specially to impress upon my readers is that in
spite of the many scurrilous stories that have been circulated on both
sides of the ocean concerning the alleged intrigues of Emperor William
with the fair sex, since his marriage, nearly eighteen years ago, his
wedded life has been singularly free from storms, and exceptionally
happy. In fact, there are few more thoroughly-devoted couples than
William and Augusta-Victoria, who is to-day far more comely as a
woman than she was as a young girl. So domestic, indeed, are the tastes
of the kaiser, so excellent is he both as a husband and a father, that his
home life may be said to atone for many of his political errors and
shortcomings as a monarch. His loyalty towards his consort is all the
more to his credit, as the Anointed of the Lord in the Old World are
exposed to feminine temptations in a degree of which no conception
can be formed in this country. In most of the capitals of Europe it is in
the power of the sovereign to make or mar the social position of any
man, and of any woman. Social ambitions coupled with an exaggerated
degree of loyalty will lead many a beautiful woman to cross that border
line which separates mere indiscretion from something worse, all the
more that the reputation of being the fair favorite of a monarch, and
able to influence his conduct, is regarded as a title to prestige, and has
the effect of converting the fair one into one of the acknowledged
powers of the land.
For an ambitious woman it is something to be treated by statesmen and
the representatives of foreign governments, as the power behind the
throne, and provided this power is wisely exercised, the intimacy of the
lady with the monarch is regarded by high and low with something
more than mere indulgence.

History has given so lofty a pedestal to Madame de Maintenon, that
there are many women who are eager to emulate her rôle in present
times, and to likewise figure in history. That is why royal personages,
and especially kings and emperors, are exposed to such extraordinary
temptations.
Most women put forth all their charms and powers of fascination to
captivate the attention, and, if possible, the heart of their sovereign,
who is, after all, but human. That is why Emperor William deserves so
much credit for having remained true to his wife, and why Emperor
Francis-Joseph of Austria merits so much indulgence in connection
with the indiscretions which had the effect of keeping him for so many
years parted