While the empress takes but little part in politics, on her favorite ground, that women should have no concern whatsoever in the conduct thereof, she has at least on two occasions, to my knowledge, intervened in important crises. Thus in 1892, when General Count Caprivi, having differed with William on the subject of the new education laws, had written to tender his resignation of the office of chancellor, the empress at once indicted an autograph letter, in which, with expressions of mingled pathos and dignity, she appealed to him so strongly not to desert her husband, or to subject the latter to the anxiety, the trouble, and even the odium of another ministerial crisis, that he at once traveled down to Hübertüsstock, where the emperor was staying, and informed him that he withdrew his resignation, and would remain in office.
Two years later, when Caprivi again resigned, it was largely the personal entreaties contained in the letters which she addressed to old Princess Hohenlohe which led to the latter's withdrawal of the opposition that, until then, had stood in the way of Prince Hohenlohe's acceptance of the chancellorship.
Like most other consorts of reigning sovereigns and princesses of the blood, Empress Augusta-Victoria holds the colonelcy of a number of Prussian and Russian regiments, whose uniform she occasionally wears in a somewhat feminized form at those grand military reviews of which the kaiser is so fond. Her favorite garb of this kind is the uniform of the second regiment of Pomeranian Cuirassiers, one of the oldest and most celebrated corps of cavalry of the Prussian army. The regimental tunic is of snow-white cloth, and held in its place by the silver shoulder-straps of a colonel is the orange ribbon of the Order of the Black Eagle, which crosses her breast to the left hip, where the jewel of the order is attached by a large rosette. The star of the order is worn on the left breast, while just above it are a number of smaller decorations. With this white tunic, with its silver buttons, its silver embroidery and scarlet facings, a white cloth skirt is worn, while in lieu of the helmet now in use by the regiment, the empress has adopted the old-fashioned, broad-brimmed cavalier hat, with the flowing white ostrich plumes which the officers of the corps were wont to don in the early part of the last century. Thus attired, the empress takes her place by the side of her husband at the saluting point at any of the grand reviews at which she may happen to be present, and as soon as a regiment of which she happens to be colonel approaches, she at once canters, takes her place at its head as commanding officer, and leads it past her husband in true military fashion, saluting with her riding whip before returning to his side.
Sometimes she is accompanied by one or another of the emperor's sisters, or else by the handsome young Grand Duchess of Hesse, all of whom hold honorary colonelcies, and who appear on such occasions on horseback and in uniform. The Grand Duchess of Hesse, who holds the command of an infantry regiment, wears not merely the tunic, but likewise the helmet of the corps in question, and looks particularly fascinating on these occasions.
Empress Augusta-Victoria and her mother-in-law, the Empress Frederick, are the only two women who have ever been admitted to the Order of the Black Eagle, the highest order of the kingdom of Prussia, and neither the consort of Old Emperor William nor any of the earlier queens of Prussia, not even Queen Louise, ever received this distinction. The innovation dates from the time of the late Emperor Frederick. The first thing he did on becoming emperor was to take the ribbon of the order from his own uniform and hang it across the shoulders of his wife, in token of gratitude, and in recognition of the fact that, had it not been for her championship and faithful guard of his interests, Bismarck would have carried the day, and debarred him from accession to the crown. While the emperor's action, of course, excited a good deal of criticism amongst the older dignitaries of the order, and among the members of the government and court, it was heartily approved of by the world at large, as being not only well deserved, but also a singularly pathetic demonstration on the part of the dying monarch of his profound sense of obligation to his most devoted consort.
When Emperor William in turn ascended the throne, he at once proceeded to follow his father's example, and to invest his own wife with the Black Eagle, in order to place her, as the reigning empress, upon the same level in this particular respect, as her mother-in-law, the dowager empress. It may be taken for granted that henceforth the Order of the Black Eagle will remain a prerogative of all the consorts of the kings of Prussia and emperors of Germany.
The whole youth of the empress was spent at Prinkenau, the fine country seat of her parents, which is now owned by her brother. Those days were varied only by visits to her uncle, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, who makes his home in England, where he is married to Queen Victoria's daughter Helena, and to her relatives, the Prince and Princess Hohenlohe. The emperor first made her acquaintance during a day's shooting at Prinkenau. He was en route to the château, when, having lost his way in the forest, he met a young girl, of whom he inquired his whereabouts and how to proceed. This was the Princess Augusta-Victoria, and he always declared that he fell in love with her from that moment.
She was, therefore, a total stranger to Berlin court life and Berlin society at the time of her marriage, and at first found it very difficult to adapt herself to the formal etiquette by which royal personages are surrounded at Berlin. It was here that her American aunt, Countess Waldersee, came to her assistance, instructed her, and acted as her mentor, not only in matters of etiquette and manner, but in the attitude to be observed towards the various members of Berlin society as well.
It is as a mother that the empress shows herself in one of her most charming lights. She is, indeed, an ideal mother, and, in spite of her manifold duties, personally supervises, not merely the education of her children, but even every little detail connected with their comfort and well-being. In fact the empress, as well as the emperor, are at their best when surrounded by their children, in whose company they spend far more time than fashionable people in less exalted spheres of society consider it necessary or pleasant to do.
The empress is extremely economical as regards the clothing of her children, and the suits of the elder princes are cut down to fit their younger brothers.