Background
Caroline was a daughter of the reigning Heinrich XXII, Prince Reuss of Greiz by his wife Princess Ida, daughter of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Her mother died in 1891, and her father died in 1902.
Caroline was a daughter of the reigning Heinrich XXII, Prince Reuss of Greiz by his wife Princess Ida, daughter of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Her mother died in 1891, and her father died in 1902.
She had only one surviving brother, Prince Heinrich XXIV Reuss of Greiz, who was incapable of governing because of the physical and mental ailments that resulted from a childhood accident. Marriage Life at the Weimar court The marriage was unhappy, as Caroline found the rigid Weimar court etiquette intolerable. The court was generally considered to be one of the most stifling and etiquette-driven in Germany.
One source recounted: Her husband was described as: "One of the wealthiest sovereigns in Europe.
Stolid, well-behaved, imbued with great pride of race, and a strict sense of what is due to the anointed of the Lord. He is also one of the most severely respected and proper of German rulers..the Grand Duke is very dull, and his court and environment reflect his character in this respect to such a respect that Weimar has become the dreariest capital in Europe".
She was eventually induced to return, but soon lost health and lapsed into melancholia. The official cause of death was pneumonia following influenza.
Other sources however have suggested suicide.
The couple had no children together. William Ernest later remarried to Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen. Titles and styles 13 July 1884 – 30 April 1903: Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline Reuss of Greiz 30 April 1903 – 17 January 1905: Her Royal Highness The Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
"lieutenant envelops royalty there in a species of captivity, and while the grand duke lends thereto and is too conservative to admit of any change, it crushes with its trammels the more spirited members of the family". She was the last member of the House of Saxe-Weimar to be buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft, the royal family"s crypt.