Duchess Marie Antoinette of Mecklenburg

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Duchess Marie Antoinette

Born

(1884-05-28)28 May 1884
Venice

Died

26 October 1944(1944-10-26) (aged 60)
Bled, Yugoslavia

Names
Marie Antoinette Margarethe Mathilde

House

House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
(by birth)

Father

Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg

Mother

Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz

Duchess Marie Antoinette of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, also Manette (Marie Antoinette Margarethe Mathilde; 28 May 1884 – 26 October 1944) was the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin by birth and potential bride for King Alfonso XIII of Spain.

Early life

Marie Antoinette was born in Venice, as the third child and the second daughter of Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg and his Austrian wife, Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz. Her brothers and sisters were Duke Paul Friedrich of Mecklenburg (1882–1904), Duchess Maria Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1883–1883), Duke Heinrich Borwin of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1885–1942), and Duke Joseph of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1889–1889).

Biography

She had a difficult relationship with her cousin Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, who regularly had to amortize her debts. So, Marie Antoinette regularly had to sell archaeological artifacts belonging to her mother, excavated in Austria and Carniola, including Hallstatt Archaeological Site in Vače. Some of these objects are still today in Harvard, Oxford and Berlin. She regularly remained in Bled with her lady in waiting Baroness Antonia Pilars de Pilar. During World War I from 1914 to 1918 they both served in several military hospitals as red cross ladies.

Potential bride for the King of Spain

She was German Kaiser Wilhelm II's candidate for a bride for King Alfonso XIII of Spain although he would marry the Kaiser's maternal first cousin, Princess Victoria Eugenie, niece of British King Edward VII.