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Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

January 01, 1970

Charles Edward (Leopold Charles Edward George Albert;[note 1] 19 July 1884 – 6 March 1954) was a British prince until 1919, the last ruling duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a state of the German Empire, reigning from 30 July 1900 to 14 November 1918, and later a Nazi politician. He was given various positions in the Nazi regime, including leader of the German Red Cross, and acted as an unofficial diplomat for the German government.

Charles Edward
Duke of Albany
Charles Edward in 1933 as SA-Gruppenführer
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Reign30 July 1900 – 14 November 1918
PredecessorAlfred
SuccessorMonarchy abolished
RegentErnst (30 July 1900 – 19 July 1905)
BornPrince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany
(1884-07-19)19 July 1884
Surrey, England
Died6 March 1954(1954-03-06) (aged 69)
Coburg, West Germany
SpousePrincess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein
Issue
Names
Leopold Charles Edward George Albert
HouseSaxe-Coburg and Gotha
FatherPrince Leopold, Duke of Albany
MotherPrincess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Military career
Allegiance
Service/branch
President of the German Red Cross
In office
1 December 1933 – 1945
Preceded byJoachim von Winterfeldt-Menkin [de]
Succeeded byOtto Gessler

Charles Edward's parents were Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont. His paternal grandparents were Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Charles Edward's father died before his son's birth. The boy was born in Surrey, in England, and brought up as a British prince. He was a sickly child who developed a close relationship with his grandmother and his only sibling, Alice. He was privately educated, lastly at Eton College. In 1899, he was selected to succeed to the throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha because he was deemed young enough to be re-educated as a German. He moved to Germany at the age of 15. Between 1899 and 1905, he was put through various forms of education, guided by his cousin, German Emperor Wilhelm II.

The duke ascended the ducal throne in 1900 but reigned through a regency until 1905. In 1905, he had an arranged marriage to Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein. The couple had five children, including Sibylla, the mother of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. The duke was a conservative ruler with an interest in art and technology. He tried to emphasise his loyalty to his adopted country through various symbolic gestures. Still, his continued close association with the United Kingdom was off-putting both to his subjects and to the German elite. During the First World War, he chose to support the German Empire and participated in the Imperial German Army in non-combatant positions due to a disability. The German Revolution deposed him like the other German princes. He also lost his British titles due to his decision to side against the British Empire.

During the 1920s, the former duke became a moral and financial supporter of violent far-right paramilitary groups in Germany. By the early 1930s, he was supporting the Nazi party and joined it in 1933. Charles Edward helped to promote eugenicist ideas which provided a basis for the murder of many disabled people. He was involved in attempting to shift opinion among the British upper class in a more pro-German direction. His attitudes became more pro-Nazi during the Second World War, though it is unclear how much of a political role he played. After the war, he was interned for a period and was given a minor conviction by a denazification court. He died of cancer in 1954.

Early life in Britain edit

Family edit

Charles Edward's father was Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the youngest son of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria.[2] Historian Karina Urbach described Leopold as "the most intellectual of Queen Victoria's children".[3] Charles Edward's mother, Princess Helen, Duchess of Albany, was the daughter of the ruling prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, George Victor, and the sister of Queen Emma of the Netherlands. Royal biographer Theo Aronson described her as a "capable, conscientious" woman[4] and a devout Christian.[5] Leopold, who suffered from haemophilia, died after slipping and hitting his head months before Charles Edward's birth.[6] Charles Edward was in no danger of being affected by haemophilia because a boy cannot inherit the condition from his father.[7]

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the British royal family had developed close familial relationships with continental Protestant, and particularly German, aristocrats.[8] Queen Victoria's immediate family belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; her deceased husband, Prince Albert, was the younger brother of the childless Duke Ernest II.[9] Ernest governed the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, one of the states in the federalised German Empire.[10] Victoria and Albert's eldest daughter, Victoria, was the mother of German Emperor Wilhelm II. Victoria and Albert's eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, was the heir apparent to the British throne. Thus it was their second son, Prince Alfred, who succeeded his uncle Ernest II in 1893.[9] Aronson commented on a painting of the family commissioned to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887:

To each other, these impressive-looking figures might be known by such arch nicknames as Ducky or Mossie or Sossie, but among the group were a host of future kings, queens, emperors and empresses. In time, these direct descendants of Queen Victoria would sit on no less than ten European thrones. With good reason was the old Queen known as the 'Grandmama of Europe'. And in an age when it was still widely believed that monarchs were as important as they looked, it would be only natural... [for a child to assume it was] the most powerful clan on earth.[11]

Childhood edit

 
Charles Edward's birthplace

Leopold Charles Edward George Albert was born on 19 July 1884 at Claremont House near Esher, Surrey. He used the name Charles Edward.[7] The infant was baptised privately at Claremont on 4 August 1884 after falling ill. He was publicly baptised at St George's Church, Esher on 4 December 1884.[12] Charles Edward succeeded to his deceased father's titles at birth and was styled His Royal Highness the Duke of Albany. In addition to being the Duke of Albany, he was also the Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow.[13] Leopold had wanted his firstborn son to be named after Charles Edward Stuart, an 18th-century claimant to the British throne.[14] He had a sister, Alice, who was a year and a half older.[15] Being an intensely anxious child, he often looked to Alice for support, a habit that continued throughout his adulthood.[16] The siblings were nicknamed "Siamese twins".[17]

Charles Edward was brought up as a prince of the United Kingdom for the first 15 years of his life.[2] Theo Aronson described the Albany household at Claremont House as "cosy, comfortable, well-ordered".[15] After her husband's death, the UK parliament had given Helen an annual grant from the civil list of 6,000 pound sterling.[18][note 2] This did not make her as wealthy as she was during her marriage but did allow her to employ several domestic servants, including a number responsible for the children.[20] One of Charles Edward's childhood nannies referred to him as "delicate and sensitive, nervous and tiring". Medical experts consulted by the royal family believed that he had been permanently harmed by the grief his widowed mother had suffered during her pregnancy. No record exists of Charles Edward's own childhood memories, but Alice fondly recalled this period of their lives.[21] Caring for the children was mainly the responsibility of their nannies, but they spent time with their mother for set periods each day. She taught the children practical skills, such as knitting, and gave them their Sunday School lessons. Helen read them literature by various well-known English and Scottish authors of the 19th century. She was an affectionate mother but also a strict one — insisting her children were brought up with stern discipline and encouraged to develop a sense of duty. Her son did not react well to this, becoming afraid of his mother and authority more generally.[22]

 
Charles Edward (front centre) with his sister, mother and maternal family (1895)

Charles Edward, his mother, and his sister were surrounded by members of the wider royal family in proximity to Queen Victoria.[23] They frequently spent time with the Queen at her various estates.[24] Charles Edward was described as Victoria's favourite grandchild. The boy and his sister often visited Balmoral Castle where they prepared for their future positions. Victoria enjoyed her grandchildren acting out dramatic scenes which reflected the religious values she wanted to inculcate in them. Lewis Carroll, a family friend, described Charles Edward as a "perfect little prince" who was well-trained in court etiquette and ceremony.[25] Princess Helen also took her children on visits to her relatives in Germany and the Netherlands.[26][27] Public duties were a part of the royal family's functions, though Aronson suggests they were naive about the deeply unpleasant conditions in which much of the British population lived. Charles Edward's mother was — unusually for a German aristocrat — especially interested in social issues and, according to Alice, the children were encouraged to sympathise with others and engage in charity work.[28] Charles Edward developed an interest in military and royal occasions at a young age. He was given his first ceremonial position in the Seaforth Highlanders regiment of the British Army as a child. Shortly before his 13th birthday, Charles Edward participated in a parade for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The boy climbed on the roof of Buckingham Palace to see the assembled crowds before the event. He was described in contemporary press reports as being the most well-received participant.[29]

Historian Hubertus Büschel indicates that the British royal family had high expectations for their young members' education.[30] Charles Edward's first teacher was a governess called "Mrs Potts" who taught him together with his sister. The siblings developed a lifelong interest in history from her lessons where they were allowed to play-act historical scenes.[31] He was then sent to school without his sister,[32] studying in the private public school system.[30] Charles Edward attended two prep schools, firstly Sandroyd School in Surrey[note 3] and later Park Hill School in Lyndhurst. In 1898 he enrolled at Eton College and his mother hoped he would eventually go on to Oxford University.[7] Eton College was a boarding school closely associated with the British elite.[30] Press reports sometimes accused the boy of behaving self-importantly at school.[33] He was happy at Eton and looked back nostalgically at his time at that school throughout his life.[7] Aronson describes the prince in his early teens as "small, blue-eyed, exceptionally handsome and highly strung".[34] He was not expected to grow up to be a particularly prominent person.[16]

First years in Germany edit

Selection as heir edit

 
Outline of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, coloured in red, in the German Empire

Duke Alfred's only son, Prince Alfred, died in February 1899. The duke was in poor health and the question of who would be his successor became an issue for the family.[9][2] Alfred was seen as an inadequate foreigner among many members of the German governing elite and a number of German princes wanted to split up the duchy among themselves.[35] Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Victoria and Albert's third son, was initially heir presumptive. However, sections of the German press objected to a foreigner taking the throne, and Wilhelm II opposed a man who had served in the British army becoming ruler of a German state.[36][9] Arthur's son, Prince Arthur of Connaught, was at Eton with Charles Edward. Wilhelm II demanded a German education for the boy, but this was unacceptable to the Duke of Connaught. Thus both Charles Edward's uncle and cousin renounced their claims to the duchy, leaving Charles Edward next in line.[9]

The prince was named heir under family pressure.[7] There were reports in the American press that the younger Arthur had beaten Charles Edward up or threatened to do so if he did not accept the position.[37][38] The boy seemed unhappy with the change of situation that had been imposed on him. Historian Alan R. Rushton quotes him as saying: "I've got to go and be a beastly German prince." However, the adults around him appear to have encouraged him to embrace his new role. His sister remembered their mother saying "I have always tried to bring up Charlie as a good Englishman, and now I have to turn him into a good German". Field Marshal Frederick Roberts told him to "Try to be a good German!".[10] Only fourteen years old at the time, Charles Edward's young age — as well as his German mother and lack of his British father — meant that he was deemed able to assimilate into German society in a way an older man would not be. The local newspaper in Coburg praised the choice.[39] There was significant public interest in Germany in what happened to Charles Edward.[39][40] According to historian Alan R. Rushton, some Germans felt "it was now important for the English boy to become a German man and leader of his adopted land".[40]

Education edit

Charles Edward moved to Germany with his mother and sister when he was fifteen. He spoke little German. Duke Alfred wanted to separate Charles Edward from his mother, so she took her son to stay with her brother-in-law — King William II of Württemberg — and found him a tutor.[7] Helen then considered how he should be educated. The priority was reassuring Germans that he was being brought up in a proper German manner. Various members of the extended family made suggestions. Alfred wanted to be given responsibility for his heir but was considered too British. A school suggested by Queen Victoria's daughter Victoria was, according to Alice, felt to have too many Jewish students. Helen ultimately gave Wilhelm control over her son's education.[41][1]

 
Charles Edward with his staff at a military exercise (1904)

According to Urbach, Wilhelm wanted to turn his young cousin into a "Prussian officer".[1] He invited the family to live in Potsdam, the government district of Berlin. Charles Edward attended the Preußische Hauptkadettenanstalt (Prussian Central Cadet Institute) at Lichterfelde.[10] Wilhelm informed Queen Victoria in a telegraph that one of his staff "has chosen eight well-behaved boys to form a class for him".[42] The prince studied the German language and military science.[10] He was made a lieutenant of cavalry on his 16th birthday in 1900,[40] and joined the 1. Garderegiment zu Fuß (1st Foot Guards) at Potsdam.[9][2] In 1903, Charles Edward completed his university entrance qualification. His results were not made public.[43] Charles Edward then studied government management at Prussian government ministries.[40] He attended Bonn University,[7] and studied law, but was not a particularly academic young man and mainly enjoyed participating in the Corps Borussia Bonn.[43]

Wilhelm II took such interest in Charles Edward's assimilation into German society that the latter was known in the Imperial Court as "the Emperor's seventh son".[44] The prince, with his mother and sister, spent a lot of their spare time at the German court in Berlin, where they were treated as members of the emperor's family.[45] Wilhelm had seven children, the older of whom were a similar age to the Albany siblings, Alice later wrote that they were "like another brother and sister to them".[46] The women got on well with Empress Augusta Victoria, while Wilhelm became something of a substitute father for Charles Edward.[45] Wilhelm saw Charles Edward as impressionable.[9] He introduced the prince to his own worldview which included antisemitism, German nationalism and hostility to the Reichstag (parliament).[47][48] During a political scandal in 1908, there were allegations of the young man engaging in homosexual activity with Wilhelm.[49] Charles Edward often did not enjoy his time in Berlin, where the emperor seemed to become resentful of him and frequently bullied him.[7] A 1905 entry in the diary of an official at the Berlin court commented;

The Emperor loves to have fun with him [Charles Edward]. But what usually happens is that he pinches and puffs him so much that the poor little duke actually gets beaten up. Recently his bride, Princess Victoria and her parents were also present; This probably made it particularly embarrassing for the poor little duke, who almost fought back tears and had such an unhappy expression on his face the whole evening, as if he were about to be hanged the next morning.[50]

Regency edit

 
Satirical cartoon, depicting Charles Edward as a small boy with Edward VII.[note 4] Originally appeared in Der Wahre Jacob in 1903, reprinted in L'oncle de l'Europe a collection of illustrations edited by John Grand-Carteret (1906).

Charles Edward inherited the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at the age of sixteen when his uncle Alfred died at the age of 55 in July 1900.[9][2] The boy cried at the funeral — a reaction that Urbach interpreted as an expression of fear about his future rather than grief for an uncle he had relatively little relationship with.[51] Wilhelm appointed Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg as regent until Charles Edward's 21st birthday.[52] In 1901, he attended Queen Victoria's funeral wearing the uniform of the Prussian Hussars.[53] His eldest paternal uncle, who succeeded Queen Victoria as King Edward VII, was seen embracing Charles Edward at the funeral.[54] The new king made his nephew a Knight of the Garter on 15 July 1902, just before the young duke's 18th birthday.[55] Charles Edward's mother decided he was old enough to look after himself in 1903 and left Germany with Alice.[56] In May 1905, Edward appointed him Colonel-in-chief of the Seaforth Highlanders, a British army regiment.[54]

Charles Edward tried his best to assimilate while maintaining some links with Britain such as participating in Anglican religious services.[57] Urbach suggested he learnt the language quickly and commented that his "German essays [at the military academy] were soon receiving higher marks than his English ones".[51] However, various statements made by the Prince during this period suggest he was homesick and unhappy with his situation.[58][10] His entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) described him as a "conscientious young man with a taste for the arts and music", who became popular in Coburg during this period.[7] Aronson similarly commented that he was "cultivated... fond of music and the theatre, interested in history and architecture".[59] Urbach described the young duke as "immature".[43] According to a contemporary news report, he was fond of "sport and adventure".[38] A 1905 article in the London and China Express, a British newspaper focused on foreign affairs, commented that:

All the [German] newspapers sing the praises of the young Duke and describe his sympathetic character and bearing. Above all they are never tired of emphasising how German he has become, how he has completely forgotten the English training of his early youth, identifying himself in every way with the interests of Germany.[60]

Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha edit

Marriage and children edit

 
The Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha with their two eldest children (1908)

As Charles Edward was considered to have an "ambiguous" attitude towards women, according to Urbach, his family decided he needed an arranged marriage at a young age. Wilhelm II chose his wife's niece, Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg as the bride of Charles Edward. She was believed to be well-adjusted and loyal to Wilhelm's royal house.[43] Her nationality was seen as important and Victoria Adelaide lacked any non-German or Jewish ancestry.[61] The young man was told to propose to her and he obliged.[43] A degree of affection did exist between the young couple.[7][54] They married on 11 October 1905, at Glücksburg Castle, Schleswig-Holstein, and had five children.[2] Victoria Adelaide was described, in her grandson's memoirs, as the leading part of the marriage and Charles Edward would initially come to her for advice.[62] His entry in the ODNB comments that they were happy,[7] but Urbach indicates otherwise.[63]

Their children were: Prince Johann Leopold (1906—1972), Princess Sibylla (1908—1972), Prince Hubertus (1909—1943), Princess Caroline Mathilde (1912—1983), and Prince Friedrich Josias (1918—1998).[64] As was expected for upper-class households at the time, caring for the children was largely delegated to the domestic servants.[65] The family mainly spoke English at home, though the children learnt to speak German fluently. Charles Edward's second son, Hubertus, was the favourite child.[66] A profile of the family published in the British newspaper The Sphere in 1914, commented on the children:

The Coburg family are bright, happy children who lead a natural life, spending a great deal of their time in the open air in the fine grounds of their castle. They are very fond of riding. In the winter, which is a severe one in Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, they delight in ski-ing and other outdoor amusements suitable to snowy weather.[67]

Urbach discussed the family in later years. She comments that Charles Edward's children were frightened of their father, who treated them "like a military unit". She noted that the family often appear unhappy in photographs. His younger daughter, Princess Caroline Mathilde, claimed that her father had sexually abused her. The allegation was backed by one of her brothers. Charles Edward was often disappointed by his children's choice of romantic relationships, at a time when he was trying to use strategic marriages to improve the diminished reputation of his royal house.[68]

Peacetime reign edit

 
Charles Edward (1906)

The young duke assumed full constitutional powers upon coming of age on 19 July 1905.[2] At his investiture, he read a speech promising his allegiance to the German Empire and was cheered on by onlookers after he publicly sampled local food. He was happy with his new territories, which he thought were pretty.[69] He joined various patriotic groups to emphasise his loyalties. However, according to Urbach, the duke lacked popularity. This was especially true in Gotha, an impoverished town with left-wing sympathies; to them, he seemed absolutist. In Coburg, a wealthy and conservative town known for its intense nationalism — people were generally more sympathetic to Charles Edward — but disliked a sense of foreignness they detected about him. He continued to have an English accent. He faced criticism for keeping Scottish Terrier dogs and for always appearing in public with a police guard.[70]

Friedrich Facius, described Charles Edward as initially a liberal who shifted in a more authoritarian direction. He was supportive of the emperor and understood the governmental institutions.[2] According to Rushton, the duke's political worldview was "conservative and nationalistic", reflecting what had been inculcated into him by Wilhelm II. He largely left governing to the cabinet he appointed. They used the motto "Everything as it has been" to describe their approach. Charles Edward frequently visited local events. He was interested in new forms of transportation, especially automobiles and airships. He invested in the creation of a new airship docking bay in Gotha, a decision that appeared commercially sensible.[71] He enthusiastically supported the court theatres in both towns and organised the restoration of the Veste Coburg, which was conducted between 1908 and 1924.[2] Charles Edward was a prominent figure in local civic life chairing many cultural or charitable organisations and offering patronage.[72] In 1910, he joined the "Reich Association against Social Democracy [de]", a pro-monarchist political organisation.[73]

Charles Edward was anxious about how people viewed him, with his officials surveying public opinion. The duke frequently tried to emphasise his loyalty to Germany through displays of cultural traditions such as Christmas festivities and folk costumes.[74] He continued to have a good relationship with the British royal family and regularly visited the United Kingdom.[75][7] In 1910, the Daily Mirror published a photograph of him wearing the uniform of the Seaforth Highlanders at an inspection of its veterans.[76] Members of the German political elite were often irritated by his continued close relationship with Great Britain. His decision to wear the uniform of his British regiment at the funeral of Edward VII in 1910 caused particular annoyance. Officials at the German Embassy in London were suspicious of his frequent visits to the United Kingdom. In private, he frequently engaged in British activities even while in Germany. The duke and his wife performed Scottish country dances to bagpipes. His immediate family used English language nicknames.[74] Charles Edward received regular visits from Alice and his brother-in-law Prince Alexander of Teck.[77] He developed a close bond with Edward, Prince of Wales while the latter was a university student in the early 1910s.[78] The duke generally tried to stay out of politics, especially diplomatic issues between Great Britain and Germany, which led to him receiving additional criticism. Büschel believed that Charles Edward's attempts to come across as German during this period were likely an effort to please Wilhelm II and nationalists in Germany, rather than an expression of his own identity.[74]

 
Charles Edward (in a pale, military tunic) visiting an agricultural show in Coburg (1910)

The duke also became a major local landowner and had an annual income of about 2.5 million marks.[note 5][79] By 1918 he would have an estimated wealth of between 50 and 60 million marks.[80] He lived in both Coburg and Gotha for several months each year, as well as visiting his mountain or hunting lodges. He usually worked in the morning and spent the afternoon on leisure activities such as hiking. Recreation took up the bulk of his time and he was frequently abroad or in other parts of Germany. Charles Edward struggled with social interaction, especially with those who were different from him. He stopped local people from entering the countryside surrounding his castles, adding to his seclusion.[79] He tended to spend much of his time in the company of courtiers who regularly offered him praise.[74] Historian Juliet Nicolson has described these years as "the perfect summer" — a time when privileged people enjoyed their wealth and social advantages in denial of the threats to their way of life that were starting to appear in politics and organised labour. Rushton commented that

Charles Edward had every reason to be happy with his life: a growing healthy family, minimal professional duties, the opportunity to live very well and associate with his friends and relatives at the upper echelons of society in Europe... As 1914 began, Charles Edward had not the slightest clue that the golden age of the European nobles was coming to a climax. He continued to hunt and travel, acting as an absolute sovereign... His life as a monarch seemed to exist in a parallel world that had little in common with the majority of his subjects.[79]

First World War edit

The First World War caused a conflict of loyalties for Charles Edward, but he decided to support the German Empire.[9][2] He was in England at the time of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to receive an honorary degree as a Doctor of Civil Laws from Oxford University.[81] He told his sister that he wanted to fight for Great Britain but felt obligated to return to his duchy, where public opinion began to turn against the Duke due to his British origins.[7] He returned to Germany on 9 July. After the war, he would describe the events of 1914 in a letter to his sister as the end of his personal "happiness".[82] At the start of the war he publicly denounced Britain, accusing it of attacking Germany, and renounced his position as Colonel-in-chief of the Seaforth Highlanders.[83] He broke off relations with his family at the British and Belgian courts; this did not suffice to overcome doubts about his loyalties in Germany.[9][2] His attitudes would become more sincerely pro-German as the war years progressed.[7]

 
Charles Edward inspecting soldiers (1914)

Charles Edward could not participate in combat due to having a permanently damaged leg from a sledging accident.[7] He provided non-combat support to the army corps from his territories. He initially participated in the German invasion of Belgium but was soon moved to the Eastern Front. He disliked the way local people he met on the Eastern Front lived and thought that the homes of Jewish people, in particular, were dirty. Charles Edward received an Iron Cross "for bravery" at the end of 1914. In the middle war years, Charles Edward made various visits to the Western Front and areas of conflict in the Balkans.[81] He never held a command. Soldiers from his duchies were awarded the Carl-Eduard-Kriegskreuz (Carl Eduard War Cross).[9][2] According to Urbach, Charles Edward "was more or a less a chocolate soldier, who spent most of his time dining at various casinos behind the front and visiting 'his' Coburg troops".[84]

In 1917, a law change in Coburg effectively banned Charles Edward's British relatives from succeeding to the duchy. That same year, the Gotha G.V bomber, which had been built in Gotha, was used to attack London.[9] The duke was denounced as a traitor in Britain.[7] He was one of a group of noblemen living in Germany and Austria who held British titles but sided with the Central Powers — a group frequently identified in the British press as the "traitor peers".[85][86][87] For instance, soon after the conclusion of the war, The Sunday Post published a report on the "traitor dukes". It included a negative and personally vitriolic profile of Charles Edward's life which called his role in the war "one of the blackest chapters in his ignominious career".[88] In 1915, his cousin King George V ordered his name removed from the register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.[55] The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 began the process of removing his British titles.[89] Urbach observed that Charles Edward did not seem to care that his behaviour might have put his mother, who was living in London under the protection of Queen Mary, at risk of reprisals.[83]

 
The Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and their four eldest children (1918)

Charles Edward worked for the military staff on the Western Front in the later war years. He contributed 250,000 marks out of his personal wealth as financial support for the families of dead soldiers from his territories. A report published in The Times, a few years after the war, commented that he had often assisted British prisoners of war — a decision which it described as a sign of his "consideration and humanity". The duke was alarmed by the murder of the Russian royal family in 1918; Empress Alexandra was one of his cousins. He worried that the same thing would happen to his own family. Rushton wrote that it was the beginning of the fear of communism that would define his political activities in years to come.[90] He joined the League of the Emperor's Loyalists [de], an organisation of supporters of the German emperor, though he preferred German general and de facto military dictator Paul von Hindenburg as a leader.[91] Büschel argued that Charles Edward's First World War experiences were a "school for nationalism, violence, and antisemitism".[92]

The war placed severe burdens on the German population, and after mid-1918, the empire's military situation collapsed. By late in the year an armistice was signed and a revolution broke out in Germany.[93] On the morning of 9 November 1918, the Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Gotha declared Charles Edward deposed. On 11 November, his abdication was demanded in Coburg. Only on 14 November, later than most other ruling princes, did he formally announce that he had "ceased to rule" in both Gotha and Coburg. He did not explicitly renounce his throne.[2] According to Rushton, the slowness of Charles Edward's abdication was due to paranoia that he would be killed. However, the transition of power in Coburg was quite calm and orderly compared to some other parts of Germany. The German nobility were not physically attacked during the revolution, but the situation was deeply frightening and a cause of much resentment for them.[93]

Far-right advocate edit

Aftermath of the First World War edit

Urbach wrote that Charles Edward was not popular and was still seen by some as English. By the end of the war, the left-wing, anti-royalist parts of the press had been nicknaming him "Mr Albany", in a reference to his foreign origins. But he could still live in Coburg fairly contentedly.[94] According to Rushton, he retained much of his prestige and was often seen by his former subjects as essentially still the duke. Coburg was a politically conservative town and the new post-war world was frightening for many people. The inhabitants continued to look to Charles Edward for guidance.[95] In 1919, he also lost his British titles. However, some personal sympathy remained for him among the political establishment in the United Kingdom due to the way German nationality had been forced on him as a teenager.[7] He visited his mother and sister in London in 1921 but was generally unwanted in Britain.[96]

In 1919, his properties and collections in Coburg were transferred to the Coburg State Foundation [de], a foundation that still exists today. A similar solution for Gotha took longer, and only after legal struggles with the Free State of Thuringia was it set up in 1928–34.[2] After 1919, the family retained Callenberg Castle, some other properties (including those in Austria) and a right to live at Veste Coburg. It also received substantial financial compensation for lost possessions. Some additional real estate in Thuringia was restored to the ducal family in 1925.[9] When Charles Edward's mother died in 1922, the British government stopped him from inheriting Claremont House — a development that upset him. While the post-war democratic German state presented little threat to his property, Charles Edward continued to be paranoid about a communist revolution. He claimed in a letter to his sister in 1928 that:[97]

I only hope our winter will remain quiet but the Russians[note 6] seem to be getting our communists on the move... In different parts of Germany they have begun attacking our nationalists, but have luckily been beaten off with cracked crowns. If only the leaders would leave the workmen in peace. They are so sensible, 'wenn sie nicht verhetzt werden' (when they are not poisoned).[98]

1920s political and paramilitary activities edit

Charles Edward continued to describe himself as a monarchist in the post-First-World-War period.[96] He was said to want to return to political power as "King of Thuringia".[9] In practice, however, his enthusiasm for restoration was quite lukewarm. His emotional attachment to the German emperor largely ended with Wilhelm's exile. The former duke began to look for political options which he saw as a stronger alternative to the deposed German emperor.[96]

Charles Edward became far more overtly involved in politics after being deposed,[99] supporting the nationalistic-conservative, völkisch right.[2] The former duke was nostalgic for aspects of pre-war Germany, especially its militarism, and was frightened by communism. Urbach also suggested he had an obsession with masculine physical strength which stemmed from his lack of it.[100] The former duke became associated with various right-wing paramilitary and political organisations.[2] Rushton wrote that he "became a member and patron of the paramilitary group Coburg Einwohnerwehr, the Bund Wiking [de] and the veterans group Der Stahlhelm".[95] The Bund had previously been the Organisation Consul in the early 1920s — a group which he also funded and participated in. It was involved in the politically motivated murders of politicians Karl Gareis [de] and Walther Rathenau. Urbach commented that "Though Carl Eduard did not himself murder, he financed murderers".[101]

Charles Edward also funded various anti-semitic nationalist groups. In 1922, Charles Edward was invited to a traditional event where the best-performing student leaving a local gymnasium[note 7] could make a speech. The schoolboy that year was a Jewish young man called Hans Morgenthau. The former duke expressed his disapproval by turning his back to Morgenthau and holding his nose throughout the speech. On 14 October 1922, the Nazi Party participated in a nationalist event called the German Day [de] in Coburg, which involved a significant amount of violence. That evening, Charles Edward attended a meal run by the party where Hitler spoke. The next day he shook hands with Hitler, becoming the first nobleman to publicly support him.[102]

He hid Hermann Ehrhardt, a Freikorps commander and later leader of the Organisation Consul, in one of his castles with a store of weapons, after Ehrhardt participated in the unsuccessful Kapp Putsch against the government.[103] In 1923, the value of the German mark collapsed. Both the extreme left and right of politics saw this as an opportunity to change the system of government. Communists tried to start a revolution in Thuringia and Saxony. Ehrhart and 5,000 followers — including Charles Edward's eldest son — responded by preparing to march into Thuringia. The federal German government then removed the left-wing state governments in those areas reestablishing its authority from the perspective of public opinion. While Charles Edward was irritated by the unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch by the Nazi Party a short time later because it disrupted Ehrhart's own attempts to take power — the leader of Bavaria, Gustav von Kahr, had been planning a coup against the federal government with Ehrhart before Hitler began a coup against him — the former duke did hide Nazis in one of his castles afterwards.[104]

Early involvement with the Nazi Party edit

 
Charles Edward in 1930

From 1929 onwards, Charles Edward provided financial support to the Nazi Party.[92] He was attracted by the party's militarism and anti-communism.[7] The former duke and Waldemar Pabst established the "Society for Studying Fascism" in 1931. The organisation was meant to design a plan for governing Germany based on the example of Italian fascism. Mussolini's dictatorship interested Charles Edward and others like him. It seemed to them that fascism was a method of running a country which could merge the traditional aristocracy and a new elite.[105]

Charles Edward was a useful ally for the Nazis in the period before they gained power, with extensive links in Franconia and across Germany.[106] In 1929, his support contributed to Coburg becoming the first town in Germany to elect a Nazi Party council. The election had taken place due to a dispute about a Nazi supporter being dismissed from his job for attacking Jews. Charles Edward's visits to Nazi party events were covered in the local press, increasing the party's profile and prestige.[107] The former duke was elected leader of the National Klub in 1932. This was a social club which membership largely consisted of businessmen who disliked the postwar system of government. He encouraged them to join the Nazi Party and by the end of the year 70% had done so.[108] Also in 1932, he took part in the creation of the Harzburg Front, through which the German National People's Party and other groups with similar views became associated with the Nazi Party. He also publicly called on voters to support Hitler in the presidential election of 1932. While the Nazi party lost that election across Germany, they won in Coburg.[106]

Following the election of the Nazi Party locally in 1929, the Jewish population of Coburg experienced growing amounts of physical abuse and discrimination. Rushton writes that the former duke's publicly expressed beliefs and financial support contributed to the growth of hatred towards Jewish people in Coburg and Germany as a whole. It was widely known that Charles Edward and his wife were antisemitic. According to Rushton, Charles Edward would have been aware of the violent behaviour of the movements he was involved in but never objected. The First World War had convinced him of the merits of political violence.[102]

 
Charles Edward (furthest left) at his daughter's wedding (1932)

In 1932, his daughter Sibylla married Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, the eldest son of the Crown Prince of Sweden and second-in-line to the Swedish throne. The marriage meant that Sibylla would be expected to become Queen of Sweden (which however did not happen). Charles Edward used the event as a public display of his ideology and to improve the damaged prestige of the duke's family. More than a decade after the First World War it was a chance for them to appear important in international royal circles again.[109] George V stopped Edward, Prince of Wales from attending the wedding due to objections to the former duke's political views,[110] although some of his British relatives did attend.[68] The wedding received much coverage in the German and foreign press. Coburg was decorated with Swedish and Nazi flags. 5000 men in Nazi uniforms marched outside Veste Coburg.[110] The marriage was congratulated by Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring.[68]

Nazi party figure edit

In 1933, the Nazi Party came to power in Germany.[111] Charles Edward started flying the Nazi flag over Veste Coburg.[112] He formally joined the Nazi Party in March 1933; he also became an Obergruppenführer in the SA.[9] A photo collection of senior figures in the new regime published by a German private company included him at number 43.[111] Charles Edward stated publicly in 1934 that he would "blindly follow Hitler forever".[113]

 
Charles Edward (fourth left, front) seated with Joseph Goebbels, Jozef Lipski, Hermann and Emmy Göring (1935)

According to Urbach, the former duke became a "highly honoured" member of the party, appearing in photographs with its senior members and setting up an office in Berlin which he could use to form relationships. She wrote that he was proud of his Nazi Party membership and that the SA uniform allowed him to feel more like his pre-war self. He lost his SA uniform after the Night of the Long Knives, this upset him a great deal, but he accepted the politically motivated murders. He was later given a Wehrmacht general's uniform.[114] Charles Edward was made president of the National Socialist Automobile Association, an organisation which provided vehicles for the German state, including those used to carry out the Holocaust.[92] From 1936 to 1945, he served as a member of the Reichstag, representing the Nazi Party.[9] In appointment diaries — which he kept from 1932 to 1940 — he often expressed his enthusiastic support for the party. For instance, he recorded the results of the 1936 one-party election in detail and praised the outcome. Büschel commented that the former duke appeared to see himself as fully a German by this stage in his life.[115]

German Red Cross and eugenics edit

 
Charles Edward speaking at a meeting of the German Red Cross (1936)

On 1 December 1933 Charles Edward was appointed head of the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (German Red Cross). Hitler approved the appointment because he knew the former duke well. He believed that Charles Edward was a supporter of the Nazis' ideas relating to race and eugenics. The organisation was quickly made to conform with the government's goals. Rushton comments that "Two years after the founding of the new regime, the DRK [German Red Cross] was remodelled into a paramilitary organization with the goal of providing support for soldiers in a time of conflict". In 1937, Ernst-Robert Grawitz was made deputy leader in order to increase the organisation's links with the SS. Charles Edward was made "an officer of the chancellery of the Fuhrer", giving him access to private information on government business. The senior roles in the German Red Cross were increasingly filled by Nazi Party members, and members of the organisation were taught that "the Jews, Slavs, chronically ill, handicapped... were nothing more than worthless".[116] Historian Jonathan Petropoulos wrote of the German Red Cross's role in the regime that

The German Red Cross, which Heinrich Himmler's SS infiltrated, helped conceal the true horrors of the concentration camps and psychiatric institutions, the latter serving as the sites for the murderous T-4 program that targeted the mentally and physically disabled. The duke [Charles Edward] used his venerable name and excellent manners to assist the Nazis in their propaganda campaign. He helped deceive the International Red Cross and its president, Carl Jacob Burckhardt, and this included orchestrating Burckhardt's 1935 inspection tour, during which he visited Dachau.[92]

Eugenics — the idea that a human population can be "improved" over generations by encouraging some people to have children and discouraging others — was a concept originating in the 19th century that became increasingly popular among German academic circles in the decades before the Nazis came to power. At the start of the 20th century, children born into poorer families tended to be less healthy and more likely to develop behaviour that was considered destructive than their richer counterparts — it, therefore, made implicit sense to people that the differences between social classes might be genetic. Anxieties about the genetic health of the German nation were heightened by the First World War when large numbers of able-bodied men were killed or crippled while men who were incapable of combat remained at home. Growing amounts of scientific research into eugenics took place over subsequent years and Hitler endorsed the idea during the 1920s. The Great Depression intensified concern that disabled people were a drain on public resources with scientists and non-Nazi politicians increasingly discussing the idea of voluntary sterilisation for these groups. The Nazi Party expressed strong support for eugenics during the early 1930s.[117]

Charles Edward was on the governing body of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute from 1933 to 1945. He was secretary of its executive board from 1934 to 1937. In those positions, he was involved in promoting eugenicist ideas to the German public, particularly to individuals with power in German society.[118] The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring introduced mandatory sterilisation for certain groups of people who were deemed an unwanted burden on the German nation.[119] The German government organised multiple schemes to murder disabled people later on in the regime's reign. The first scheme, targeted at children, ran from 1939 to the end of the war and killed 5,300 disabled children. The second scheme, which ran from late 1939 to mid-1941, killed more than 70,000 disabled people at six killing centres in Germany and Austria — mainly through gassing. Grawitz was heavily involved in this. In August 1941, this scheme was stopped, as it was felt to be upsetting the German people and undermining their motivation in wartime. A third scheme in the later war years used more covert methods — to a large extent deliberate starvation. It is estimated to have killed between 100,000 and 180,000 people.[120]

Most evidence which could clarify the level of involvement of the German Red Cross in these events was destroyed, accidentally or deliberately, by the end of the war. While most transportation of victims was done by a proxy organisation created for that purpose, the German Red Cross was involved in transporting some of them. Many of the nurses who were involved in murdering disabled people were employees of the German Red Cross who had been indoctrinated by the organisation.[121] Rushton believed that Charles Edward would have known about these schemes. He was a heavy consumer of media and had many social connections. Evidence collected by the regime at the time and later studies have suggested that it was common knowledge among the German population.[122] Princess Maria Karoline, a member of the former duke's extended family, was murdered by the programme in 1941 — even though upper-class disabled people generally had a degree of protection due to their use of private healthcare and their families' political connections. According to Rushton, Charles Edward had not intervened because "he had not been concerned that anything would happen to her". He received a letter of condolence claiming that she had died of natural causes, which he did not believe. Unusually for a man who rarely missed family events, he did not attend the funeral.[123]

Unofficial diplomat edit

 
Charles Edward (centre) with John Barton Payne, Chairman of the American Red Cross in Hawaii, United States (1934)

The Nazi regime made significant use of Charles Edward as an informal diplomat.[124] Charles Edward made his first worldwide tour on behalf of the new German government in 1934.[125] He visited Japan, where he attended a conference on the protection of civilians during war and delivered Hitler's birthday greeting to Emperor Hirohito.[9] The conference allowed Charles Edward to be seen by a global audience as a humanitarian figure, improving the regime's international reputation. Hitler was interested in an alliance with the Japanese government and Charles Edward used the visit to develop links with the Japanese royal family. In a report he wrote about the tour for Hitler, the former duke often expressed prejudiced views and complained about perceived Jewish influence in the United States.[126]

 
Charles Edward (front left) with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on a visit to Rome (1938)

Charles Edward hosted an international press tour associated with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's visit to Germany in 1937. He also hosted Edward and Wallis Simpson themselves during their visit. He visited Italy in 1938, meeting King Victor Emmanuel III and dictator Benito Mussolini. He went on a trip to Poland where he met Polish officials half a year before the country was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union.[127]

 
Charles Edward (left) meeting the British ambassador to Germany, Sir Nevile Henderson, in 1939.[note 8]

Charles Edward was particularly significant to Nazi attempts to cultivate pro-German sentiments among the British aristocracy.[124] Urbach comments that Charles Edward went on "endless reconnaissance trips [to Britain] in the 1930s".[129] He wanted to help the German government establish an alliance with the British and also have Claremont House returned to him personally.[130] Urbach wrote that Charles Edward reintegrated himself into aristocratic social life in Britain, with the help of his sister, and associated with prominent aristocrats and politicians — including Neville Chamberlain and the British royal family.[124] He was president of the German version of the Anglo-German fellowship[131] and lobbied figures believed to be pro-German.[7] He was made head of the organisation after the regime decided that it was not pro-Nazi enough.[131] He attended George V's funeral in a German military uniform and helmet.[132] He also visited veterans' meetings in the United Kingdom.[9] The British Secretary of State for War, Duff Cooper described a party that was organised on Charles Edward's behalf at Alice's country home in 1936;

The point of it was to meet the Duke of Coburg, her brother. It was a gloomy little party—so like a German bourgeois household... I was tactfully left alone with the Duke of Coburg after luncheon in order that he might explain to me the present situation in Germany and assure me of Hitler’s pacific intentions. In the middle of our conversation his Duchess [Victoria Adelaide] reappeared carrying some hideous samples of ribbon in order to consult him as to how the wreath that they were sending to the funeral [of George V’s] should be tied. He dismissed her with a volley of muttered German curses and was afterwards unable to pick up the thread of his argument.[133]

Charles Edward's ODNB entry argued that his advocacy had little success and that he failed to understand the degree to which the people he had grown up around by this time saw him as a foreigner.[7] In contrast, Urbach argued in her 2015 book that the strains experienced by British society during the interwar period had a radicalising effect on sections of the British elite and that there was significant sympathy for fascism — albeit discomfort with Nazism in particular — among the aristocracy. She suggested that Charles Edward may have had some influence on instances of appeasement of Germany in the 1930s, such as the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, British acceptance of the German remilitarisation of the Rhineland and the Munich Agreement.[124]

In 1940, Charles Edward travelled through Moscow and Japan to the US, where he met President Roosevelt at the White House.[9] He claimed that the German Red Cross was protecting the welfare of the recently conquered Polish people. The American Red Cross was quite hostile to the visit and there was some criticism in US newspapers — overall, however, he was fairly well received in the US press. The former duke signed an agreement with the American Red Cross allowing them to send humanitarian aid to Poland, though much of this was ultimately confiscated by the SS. In Japan, he worked to improve relations between the German and Japanese governments after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact had caused a dispute between them. He went on a visit to Japanese-occupied Manchukuo — touring hospitals and similar institutions with journalists. Büschel suggests that this was likely an attempt, by the Japanese authorities, to convince world opinion that people in Manchukuo were being given suitable humanitarian assistance by their new rulers.[134]

Second World War edit

 
Charles Edward on a visit to Washington D.C, United States (1940)

Charles Edward was again on the opposite side of a war to his birth country when the Second World War broke out in 1939 — there is no evidence that this caused him any distress or led him to doubt his political convictions.[135] Although the former duke was too old for active service during the Second World War, his three sons served in the Wehrmacht.[136] In 1941 he began to use a diary to note down news about the war, using different coloured pens for different sources of information. When his son Hubertus died in an air crash in 1943, he noted in the diary "Hubertus † fürs Vaterland" (Hubertus died for the Fatherland). He underlined the shorthand cross for death in the colour he used for reports from the Wehrmacht.[137] In 1942, Charles Edward was asked by his relative Prince Eugene of Sweden to arrange for Martha Liebermann, an elderly Jewish woman, to be granted permission to immigrate to the United States. He did nothing to help and Liebermann later took her own life after being ordered to report for deportation[138] to Theresienstadt Ghetto.[139]

 
Charles Edward on a trip to Vichy or German-occupied France (1941)

Charles Edward's support for Nazism grew more intense during the war years and never relented.[7] Hitler considered making him King of Norway after the war.[140] The former duke probably ceased to act as an informal diplomat after 1940.[141] His health was declining and he appeared older than his years.[142][135] He continued to wear uniforms and travelled to countries that were either occupied by Germany, members of the Axis powers or neutral. Travelling abroad was a privilege afforded to few German civilians during the war years. It is unclear what Charles Edward was doing politically during this period, but he was being paid 4,000 Reichsmarks a month by the German government, from a fund Hitler had organised for associates that were useful to him.[143] In 1940, Charles Edward helped mediate a diplomatic dispute between the British and German governments about the treatment of prisoners of war, stopping a number of prisoners on both sides from being shackled.[144] In 1943, at Hitler's behest, Charles Edward asked the International Red Cross to investigate the Katyn massacre.[9]

In April 1945 code breakers at Bletchley Park deciphered an order from Hitler stating that Charles Edward should not be allowed to be captured. According to Urbach, this meant that Hitler wanted him killed.[145] That month, Charles Edward agreed to the surrender of Veste Coburg to US forces. He gained their assistance in putting out a fire in the castle museum which had been started by the bombardment. He was on the US Army's list of suspected war criminals and was put under house arrest, until being moved to a prisoner of war camp in November.[146] His interrogators saw him as ignorant, obnoxious and possibly mentally unstable. He said in an interview that he would accept an offer to participate in a new German government, made a series of demands relating to the idea and claimed that "no German is guilty of any war crimes". The comments were deemed so useful for Allied propaganda that they were used for a radio broadcast in April 1945. He also expressed the view that it had been right to remove Jews from public life and that Germans were naturally unsuited to democracy.[147]

Postwar period and death edit

Trial and final years edit

 
Charles Edward's daughter with her husband and children (1946)

After the end of the Second World War, Charles Edward was interned by the American military authorities from 1945 to 1946.[2] His sister lobbied for his release on health grounds.[148][149] After his release, the former duke and his wife moved into a cottage outside Callenberg Castle. The castle was being used as a home for refugees. Alice visited the couple in 1948; according to her account, they were impoverished and her brother was severely unwell with arthritis. She persuaded the authorities to let them move into part of one of his residences, closer to where her sister-in-law could buy food.[150]

In April 1946, Charles Edward's daughter Sibylla gave birth to a son, Carl Gustaf,[151] who at birth was third in the line of succession to the Swedish throne. In January 1947, Sibylla's husband died in a plane crash,[152] and in October 1950, Gustaf V of Sweden died, at which point Charles Edward's grandson became Crown Prince of Sweden, later becoming King Carl XVI Gustaf.[153]

Charles Edward's trial spanned four years and included two appeals.[154] Alice and many other associates spoke on his behalf, minimising his involvement in the regime.[155] A year or so after the war, the priority of the Western Allies had shifted away from punishing former Nazis towards preparing their occupation zones to become part of the Western Bloc during the Cold War.[156] In 1950 (or August 1949, according to his ODNB entry), the former duke was found by a denazification court to be a Mitläufer and Minderbelasteter (roughly: 'follower' and 'follower of lesser guilt').[7][9] The former duke's biographer Carl Sandler called the result a "farce".[157] Charles Edward also lost significant property due to his participation in the Second World War. Gotha was part of Thuringia, and therefore situated in the Soviet occupation zone. The Soviet Army confiscated much of the family's property in Gotha.[2] However, Coburg had become part of Bavaria in 1920[136] and was occupied by American forces. As such the family was able to retain extensive property in what would become West Germany.[2]

Charles Edward spent the last years of his life in seclusion, forced into relative poverty by the fines he had been required to pay by the denazification tribunal,[158] and the seizure of much of his property by the Soviets.[159] However, his lifestyle to a large extent returned to normal after his trial.[160] In 1953, he was taken by ambulance and wheelchair to view the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom at a cinema in Coburg. He reportedly appeared to be close to crying while watching his relatives, including his sister.[161] According to a column published that year in The Scotsman, the former duke had reestablished links with the Seaforth Highlanders, a British Army regiment of which he had once been colonel-in-chief, which was now stationed in Germany. The column comments that:

On the occasion of a regimental ball, an invitation was sent to the Duke, with a note from the C.O. (Lieut.-Colonel P. J. Johnston) saying that, owing to the distance, it was doubtful if he would be able to attend, but it was the wish of all officers of the battalion that their old Colonel-in-Chief should be asked. The Duke replied that, although his health did not allow him to accept, he was deeply touched by the invitation, "renewing old connections which existed between the Seaforth Highlanders and myself for so many years, and which I honestly hope and wish will not be severed again". He said he would be pleased to receive as guest any comrade who should happen to pass Coburg, where he lives, and signed himself "Charles Edward. Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke of Albany."[162]

Death edit

Charles Edward died of cancer in his flat in Coburg on 6 March 1954, at the age of 69.[159] He had reportedly told his son Friedrich Josias that Queen Victoria had always wanted him to be a "good German".[163] His obituary in The Times commented that "... he was Hitler's man... Whether, and to what extent, he was admitted to the inner council of the Nazi gang is as yet an open question."[136] Representatives of various royal houses across Europe sent condolences but the British royal family did not comment.[164]

 
Burial site near Callenberg Castle

Charles Edward's funeral was held on 10th March and presided over by a Lutheran dean who had been a church official under the Nazi regime. He claimed that Charles Edward was a good man who had been manipulated by others and mistreated by the Allies. The former duke's death was officially mourned in Coburg. A civil servant, who refused to fly a flag at half mast for his funeral, was reported to the district council in Bayreuth and condemned by a member of the Parliament of Bavaria. Victoria Adelaide received many letters of support in the weeks after her husband's death, including from former senior Nazis. Charles Edward's burial took place on 12 October, watched by a crowd of well-wishers.[164] He is buried at the Waldfriedhof Cemetery (Waldfriedhof Beiersdorf) near Callenberg Castle, in the Beiersdorf district of Coburg.[7]

Legacy edit

Family perceptions edit

His sister's autobiography For My Grandchildren (1966) discusses Charles Edward's life. She felt that her brother had been a victim of prejudice during the First World War and only chose to stay in Germany due to his family. She suggested that he had a minimal role in the Nazi regime. Urbach argued that the autobiography is intentionally misleading and selective.[165] In his biography of Alice, published in 1981, Aronson comments that some members of the British royal family felt that Charles Edward had supported the regime "due to his conviction that Hitler had saved Germany from Communism". He wrote that Alice felt that her brother had been poorly treated while imprisoned after the end of the war — "he found conditions almost unbearable.… Many of his fellow prisoners died there …" — but also told him "No doubt, their jailers had seen some of the ghastly German concentration camps and were determined to treat these old officers with the utmost severity".[166]

An amateur historian called Rudolf Preisner, from Coburg, wrote the first biography of Charles Edward's life in 1977. The former duke's son Friedrich Josias wrote a letter to Preisner criticising the book. Among other errors, he felt that the book was overly sympathetic to his father, who he believed knew about the Holocaust. He wrote that his brother, Hubertus, had witnessed deportations of Jewish people to extermination camps and often talked about the subject with the family. Friedrich Josias planned to write a biography about his father but never did so.[167]

21st-century media portrayals edit

In December 2007, Britain's Channel 4 aired an hour-long documentary called Hitler's Favourite Royal about Charles Edward. A review in The Guardian described the film as "A solid documentary on a feeble man and a wretched family."[168] Another review in The Telegraph suggested the documentary had been overly sympathetic to Charles Edward, stating that the "story emerged as a tale of pure tragedy. Which it undoubtedly was, in parts", but that he was depicted "As if the trauma of being elevated to a dukedom and losing it had somehow robbed him of his ability to tell right from wrong."[169]

Urbach wrote that there was some disagreement among the production team of the 2007 documentary, on whether Charles Edward should be portrayed as a man who struggled with politics in a country that was foreign to him, or as an ideological Nazi, and that this led to a contradictory depiction of his character. She said that the recovery of new evidence during the period between 2007 and 2015 showed that he was "obviously not a naive victim of circumstances but a very active supporter of Hitler". Urbach argued that Charles Edward had a similar kind of character to Hitler, commenting that the two men shared "ideologies and of course their narcissistic personalities (the only creatures they both declared a fondness for were their dogs)." She also described his life as "an example of thorough re-education... away from the constitutional monarchy he was reared in to dictatorship."[170] Urbach's 2015 book Go Betweens for Hitler discusses how various aristocrats including Charles Edward acted as informal diplomats for Nazi Germany. A review in The Times commented on Charles Edward that:

For many years thereafter [the German Revolution], Carl Eduard was regarded as a mere footnote in history; a harmless, potty old aristocrat, washed up by the seismic upheavals of the early 20th century. However, that benign interpretation has been recently revised. We now know that Carl Eduard was a member of the Nazi Party, a sponsor of paramilitary terrorism and—as Urbach's excellent book demonstrates—an important 'go-between' for Hitler.[171]

Büschel suggested in his 2016 biography of Charles Edward that the various pressures placed on the nobleman from childhood until the outcome of the First World War may have led to him developing split personality disorder and narcissism. He commented that Charles Edward was influenced by "coercion, fear, indoctrination, the effort to "stay on top", and probably also inner homelessness and loneliness". He suggests that this was similar to many of the duke's German contemporaries. However, Büschel believed that Charles Edward freely chose to support the Nazi regime when the option of leaving Germany would have been fairly easy for him.[172]

Rushton in his 2018 book about the former duke's relationship to the murder of disabled people, described Charles Edward's life as "the story of a man born to royalty who became ensnared in the politics of human destruction. It is a tragic story."[173] Rushton suggested there would have been risks to Charles Edward and his family if he had chosen to object to any actions of the regime, giving examples of other former nobles who were persecuted. Rushton noted that Charles Edward had already lost his status as a British Prince and German Duke, making his new identity as a Nazi party leader deeply emotionally important to him. Rushton argued that the factors affecting Charles Edward's behaviour were similar to many Germans. However, the historian also noted that the duke had a close friendship with Hitler and could have influenced him.[174]

Notes edit

  1. ^ He used the German language version of his name (German: Leopold Carl Eduard Georg Albert) in Germany.[1] This article uses the English language version of his name throughout.
  2. ^ According to the Bank of England's model for tracking inflation, £6,000 in 1890 was the equivalent to £637,962.29 in 2023.[19]
  3. ^ Now located in Wiltshire.
  4. ^ Charles Edward says "Uncle Edward is it true that I should only have half of this cake?". It is a reference to Edward VII holding the title of Duke of Saxony, which was traditionally held by the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
  5. ^ According to Historical statistics, a currency converter created by the University of Stockholm, 2,500,000 marks in 1910 was the equivalent of 122152.50 British pounds at the time.
  6. ^ Russia was part of the Soviet Union, a communist state, at the time.
  7. ^ Academically focused German secondary school
  8. ^ Charles Edward had been at Eton with Henderson and this photograph may have been taken at a meeting of the Anglo-German Fellowship that Henderson addressed in May 1937, shortly after his appointment as British ambassador.[128]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Urbach 2017, p. 30.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Facius 1977.
  3. ^ Urbach 2017, p. 27.
  4. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 30.
  5. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 52.
  6. ^ Reynolds 2006.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Zeepzat 2008.
  8. ^ Urbach 2017, pp. 22–23.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oltmann 2001.
  10. ^ a b c d e Rushton 2018, p. 12.
  11. ^ Aronson 1981, pp. 61–62.
  12. ^ "The Infant Duke Of Albany". Daily News (London). 5 December 1884. Retrieved 23 March 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ Burke & Burke 1885, p. 103.
  14. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 48.
  15. ^ a b Aronson 1981, p. 50.
  16. ^ a b Urbach 2017, p. 28.
  17. ^ Büschel 2016, p. 47.
  18. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 38.
  19. ^ "Inflation calculator". Bank of England. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  20. ^ Aronson 1981, pp. 38, 49.
  21. ^ Büschel 2016, pp. 49, 51.
  22. ^ Aronson 1981, pp. 50–52, 58.
  23. ^ Rushton 2018, p. 11.
  24. ^ Aronson 1981, pp. 62–75.
  25. ^ Büschel 2016, pp. 49–51.
  26. ^ Büschel 2016, p. 49.
  27. ^ Aronson 1981, pp. 84–90.
  28. ^ Aronson 1981, pp. 96–99.
  29. ^ Büschel 2016, pp. 50–51.
  30. ^ a b c Büschel 2016, p. 50.
  31. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 58.
  32. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 60.
  33. ^ Büschel 2016, p. 51.
  34. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 109.
  35. ^ Büschel 2016, p. 44.
  36. ^ Urbach 2017, pp. 28–29.
  37. ^ "Unwilling Prince Is Now a German Duke". The New York Times. 20 July 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  38. ^ a b "Kicked into the Kingdom". Wellsville Daily Reporter. 15 July 1905. p. 2.
  39. ^ a b Urbach 2017, p. 29.
  40. ^ a b c d Rushton 2018, p. 14.
  41. ^ Aronson 1981, pp. 111–112.
  42. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 112.
  43. ^ a b c d e Urbach 2017, p. 32.
  44. ^ Sandner 2004, p. 195.
  45. ^ a b Rushton 2018, pp. 12–13.
  46. ^ Aronson 1981, p. 118.
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Bibliography edit

  • Aronson, Theo (1981). Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. Cassell. ISBN 9780304307579.
  • Burke, Bernard; Burke, John (1885). Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Vol. 47. Burke's Peerage Limited.
  • Büschel, Hubertus (2016). Hitlers adliger Diplomat [Hitler's royal diplomat] (in German). Frankfurt: S. Fischer Verlag. ISBN 9783100022615.
  • Cadbury, Deborah (10 March 2015). Princes at War: The Bitter Battle Inside Britain's Royal Family in the Darkest Days of WWII. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610394048 – via Google Books.
  • Feuchtwanger, E. J. (January 2006). Albert and Victoria: The Rise and Fall of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. A&C Black. ISBN 9781852854614 – via Google Books.
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  • Henderson, Neville (1940). Failure of a Mission: Berlin 1937–1939. London: Arcole Publishing. ISBN 9781789127850.
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  • Moorhouse, Roger (18 July 2015). "Go Betweens for Hitler by Karina Urbach". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  • Mott, Sophia (2019). Dem Paradies so fern. Martha Liebermann [So far from paradise. Martha Liebermann] (in German). Berlin: Ebersbach & Simon. ISBN 9783869151724.
  • O'Donovan, Gerald (7 December 2007). "Last night on television: Hitler's Favourite Royal (Channel 4) - Spoil (Channel 4)". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  • Oltmann, Joachim (18 January 2001). "Seine Königliche Hoheit der Obergruppenführer" [His Royal Highness the [SA] group leader]. Zeit Online (in German).
  • Palmer, Charles (5 August 1916). "Traitors Near the Throne". John Bull. British Newspaper Archive.
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan (1 February 2018). "Hubertus Büschel. Hitlers adliger Diplomat: Der Herzog von Coburg und das Dritte Reich" [Hubertus Büschel. Hitler's Noble Diplomat: The Duke of Coburg and the Third Reich.]. The American Historical Review. 123 (1): 320–321. doi:10.1093/ahr/123.1.320. ISSN 0002-8762 – via Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson.
  • Priesner, Rudolf (1977). Herzog Carl Eduard zwischen Deutschland und England: eine tragische Auseinandersetzung [Duke Carl Eduard between Germany and England: a tragic confrontation] (in German). Hohenloher Druck- und Verlagshaus. ISBN 9783873540637.
  • Reynolds, K.D. (28 September 2006). "Leopold, Prince, first duke of Albany". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16475. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Rudberg, Erik, ed. (1947). Svenska dagbladets årsbok 1946 [Svenska Dagsbladet Yearbook 1946] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Svenska Dagbladet. SELIBR 283647.
  • Rushton, Alan R. (2018). Charles Edward of Saxe-Coburg: The German Red Cross and the Plan to Kill "Unfit" Citizens 1933-1945. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781527513402.
  • Sandner, Harald (2004). "II.8.0 Herzog Carl Eduard". Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 1826 bis 2001 [The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 1826 to 2001] (in German). Andreas, Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (preface). Coburg: Neue Presse GmbH. ISBN 9783000085253.
  • Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, H.H. Prince Andreas (2015). I Did It My Way. Memoirs of HH Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Eurohistory.com. ISBN 9781944207007.
  • Swift MacNeill, J. G. (11 April 1916). "A Slur on the House of Lords". The Times.
  • Urbach, Karina (2017). Go-Betweens for Hitler (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191008672.
  • Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy. London, UK: Vintage Books. ISBN 9780099539735.
  • Weir, Alison (18 April 2011). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. Random House. ISBN 9781446449110 – via Google Books.
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Further reading edit

  • Sandner, Harald (2010). Hitlers Herzog: Carl Eduard von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha: die Biographie [Hitler's Duke: Carl Eduard of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: The Biography]. Aachen.

External links edit

  Media related to Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at Wikimedia Commons

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 19 July 1884 Died: 6 March 1954
German nobility
Preceded by Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
30 July 1900 – 14 November 1918 		Abolished
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Vacant
Title last held by
Prince Leopold 		Duke of Albany
(creation of 1881)
1884–1919 		Deprived
Titles in pretence
Loss of titles — TITULAR —
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
14 November 1918 – 6 March 1954
Reason for succession failure:
German Revolution of 1918–19 		Succeeded by
— TITULAR —
Duke of Albany
28 March 1919 – 6 March 1954
Reason for succession failure:
Titles Deprivation Act 1917 		Succeeded by

January 01, 1970
charles, edward, duke, saxe, coburg, gotha, charles, edward, leopold, charles, edward, george, albert, note, july, 1884, march, 1954, british, prince, until, 1919, last, ruling, duke, saxe, coburg, gotha, state, german, empire, reigning, from, july, 1900, nove. Charles Edward Leopold Charles Edward George Albert note 1 19 July 1884 6 March 1954 was a British prince until 1919 the last ruling duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha a state of the German Empire reigning from 30 July 1900 to 14 November 1918 and later a Nazi politician He was given various positions in the Nazi regime including leader of the German Red Cross and acted as an unofficial diplomat for the German government Charles EdwardDuke of AlbanyCharles Edward in 1933 as SA GruppenfuhrerDuke of Saxe Coburg and GothaReign30 July 1900 14 November 1918PredecessorAlfredSuccessorMonarchy abolishedRegentErnst 30 July 1900 19 July 1905 BornPrince Charles Edward Duke of Albany 1884 07 19 19 July 1884Surrey EnglandDied6 March 1954 1954 03 06 aged 69 Coburg West GermanySpousePrincess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig HolsteinIssuePrince Johann Leopold Princess Sibylla Prince Hubertus Princess Caroline Mathilde Prince Friedrich JosiasNamesLeopold Charles Edward George AlbertHouseSaxe Coburg and GothaFatherPrince Leopold Duke of AlbanyMotherPrincess Helena of Waldeck and PyrmontMilitary careerAllegianceGerman Empire 1900 1918 Nazi Germany 1933 1945 Service wbr branchGerman ArmyWehrmachtSturmabteilung SA President of the German Red CrossIn office 1 December 1933 1945Preceded byJoachim von Winterfeldt Menkin de Succeeded byOtto Gessler Charles Edward s parents were Prince Leopold Duke of Albany and Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont His paternal grandparents were Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha Charles Edward s father died before his son s birth The boy was born in Surrey in England and brought up as a British prince He was a sickly child who developed a close relationship with his grandmother and his only sibling Alice He was privately educated lastly at Eton College In 1899 he was selected to succeed to the throne of Saxe Coburg and Gotha because he was deemed young enough to be re educated as a German He moved to Germany at the age of 15 Between 1899 and 1905 he was put through various forms of education guided by his cousin German Emperor Wilhelm II The duke ascended the ducal throne in 1900 but reigned through a regency until 1905 In 1905 he had an arranged marriage to Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig Holstein The couple had five children including Sibylla the mother of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden The duke was a conservative ruler with an interest in art and technology He tried to emphasise his loyalty to his adopted country through various symbolic gestures Still his continued close association with the United Kingdom was off putting both to his subjects and to the German elite During the First World War he chose to support the German Empire and participated in the Imperial German Army in non combatant positions due to a disability The German Revolution deposed him like the other German princes He also lost his British titles due to his decision to side against the British Empire During the 1920s the former duke became a moral and financial supporter of violent far right paramilitary groups in Germany By the early 1930s he was supporting the Nazi party and joined it in 1933 Charles Edward helped to promote eugenicist ideas which provided a basis for the murder of many disabled people He was involved in attempting to shift opinion among the British upper class in a more pro German direction His attitudes became more pro Nazi during the Second World War though it is unclear how much of a political role he played After the war he was interned for a period and was given a minor conviction by a denazification court He died of cancer in 1954 Contents 1 Early life in Britain 1 1 Family 1 2 Childhood 2 First years in Germany 2 1 Selection as heir 2 2 Education 2 3 Regency 3 Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha 3 1 Marriage and children 3 2 Peacetime reign 3 3 First World War 4 Far right advocate 4 1 Aftermath of the First World War 4 2 1920s political and paramilitary activities 4 3 Early involvement with the Nazi Party 5 Nazi party figure 5 1 German Red Cross and eugenics 5 2 Unofficial diplomat 5 3 Second World War 6 Postwar period and death 6 1 Trial and final years 6 2 Death 7 Legacy 7 1 Family perceptions 7 2 21st century media portrayals 8 Notes 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 Further reading 11 1 External linksEarly life in Britain editFamily edit Charles Edward s father was Prince Leopold Duke of Albany the youngest son of the reigning British monarch Queen Victoria 2 Historian Karina Urbach described Leopold as the most intellectual of Queen Victoria s children 3 Charles Edward s mother Princess Helen Duchess of Albany was the daughter of the ruling prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont George Victor and the sister of Queen Emma of the Netherlands Royal biographer Theo Aronson described her as a capable conscientious woman 4 and a devout Christian 5 Leopold who suffered from haemophilia died after slipping and hitting his head months before Charles Edward s birth 6 Charles Edward was in no danger of being affected by haemophilia because a boy cannot inherit the condition from his father 7 Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the British royal family had developed close familial relationships with continental Protestant and particularly German aristocrats 8 Queen Victoria s immediate family belonged to the House of Saxe Coburg and Gotha her deceased husband Prince Albert was the younger brother of the childless Duke Ernest II 9 Ernest governed the Duchy of Saxe Coburg and Gotha one of the states in the federalised German Empire 10 Victoria and Albert s eldest daughter Victoria was the mother of German Emperor Wilhelm II Victoria and Albert s eldest son Prince Albert Edward was the heir apparent to the British throne Thus it was their second son Prince Alfred who succeeded his uncle Ernest II in 1893 9 Aronson commented on a painting of the family commissioned to commemorate Queen Victoria s Golden Jubilee in 1887 To each other these impressive looking figures might be known by such arch nicknames as Ducky or Mossie or Sossie but among the group were a host of future kings queens emperors and empresses In time these direct descendants of Queen Victoria would sit on no less than ten European thrones With good reason was the old Queen known as the Grandmama of Europe And in an age when it was still widely believed that monarchs were as important as they looked it would be only natural for a child to assume it was the most powerful clan on earth 11 Childhood edit nbsp Charles Edward s birthplaceLeopold Charles Edward George Albert was born on 19 July 1884 at Claremont House near Esher Surrey He used the name Charles Edward 7 The infant was baptised privately at Claremont on 4 August 1884 after falling ill He was publicly baptised at St George s Church Esher on 4 December 1884 12 Charles Edward succeeded to his deceased father s titles at birth and was styled His Royal Highness the Duke of Albany In addition to being the Duke of Albany he was also the Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow 13 Leopold had wanted his firstborn son to be named after Charles Edward Stuart an 18th century claimant to the British throne 14 He had a sister Alice who was a year and a half older 15 Being an intensely anxious child he often looked to Alice for support a habit that continued throughout his adulthood 16 The siblings were nicknamed Siamese twins 17 Charles Edward was brought up as a prince of the United Kingdom for the first 15 years of his life 2 Theo Aronson described the Albany household at Claremont House as cosy comfortable well ordered 15 After her husband s death the UK parliament had given Helen an annual grant from the civil list of 6 000 pound sterling 18 note 2 This did not make her as wealthy as she was during her marriage but did allow her to employ several domestic servants including a number responsible for the children 20 One of Charles Edward s childhood nannies referred to him as delicate and sensitive nervous and tiring Medical experts consulted by the royal family believed that he had been permanently harmed by the grief his widowed mother had suffered during her pregnancy No record exists of Charles Edward s own childhood memories but Alice fondly recalled this period of their lives 21 Caring for the children was mainly the responsibility of their nannies but they spent time with their mother for set periods each day She taught the children practical skills such as knitting and gave them their Sunday School lessons Helen read them literature by various well known English and Scottish authors of the 19th century She was an affectionate mother but also a strict one insisting her children were brought up with stern discipline and encouraged to develop a sense of duty Her son did not react well to this becoming afraid of his mother and authority more generally 22 nbsp Charles Edward front centre with his sister mother and maternal family 1895 Charles Edward his mother and his sister were surrounded by members of the wider royal family in proximity to Queen Victoria 23 They frequently spent time with the Queen at her various estates 24 Charles Edward was described as Victoria s favourite grandchild The boy and his sister often visited Balmoral Castle where they prepared for their future positions Victoria enjoyed her grandchildren acting out dramatic scenes which reflected the religious values she wanted to inculcate in them Lewis Carroll a family friend described Charles Edward as a perfect little prince who was well trained in court etiquette and ceremony 25 Princess Helen also took her children on visits to her relatives in Germany and the Netherlands 26 27 Public duties were a part of the royal family s functions though Aronson suggests they were naive about the deeply unpleasant conditions in which much of the British population lived Charles Edward s mother was unusually for a German aristocrat especially interested in social issues and according to Alice the children were encouraged to sympathise with others and engage in charity work 28 Charles Edward developed an interest in military and royal occasions at a young age He was given his first ceremonial position in the Seaforth Highlanders regiment of the British Army as a child Shortly before his 13th birthday Charles Edward participated in a parade for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria The boy climbed on the roof of Buckingham Palace to see the assembled crowds before the event He was described in contemporary press reports as being the most well received participant 29 Historian Hubertus Buschel indicates that the British royal family had high expectations for their young members education 30 Charles Edward s first teacher was a governess called Mrs Potts who taught him together with his sister The siblings developed a lifelong interest in history from her lessons where they were allowed to play act historical scenes 31 He was then sent to school without his sister 32 studying in the private public school system 30 Charles Edward attended two prep schools firstly Sandroyd School in Surrey note 3 and later Park Hill School in Lyndhurst In 1898 he enrolled at Eton College and his mother hoped he would eventually go on to Oxford University 7 Eton College was a boarding school closely associated with the British elite 30 Press reports sometimes accused the boy of behaving self importantly at school 33 He was happy at Eton and looked back nostalgically at his time at that school throughout his life 7 Aronson describes the prince in his early teens as small blue eyed exceptionally handsome and highly strung 34 He was not expected to grow up to be a particularly prominent person 16 First years in Germany editSelection as heir edit nbsp Outline of Saxe Coburg and Gotha coloured in red in the German Empire Duke Alfred s only son Prince Alfred died in February 1899 The duke was in poor health and the question of who would be his successor became an issue for the family 9 2 Alfred was seen as an inadequate foreigner among many members of the German governing elite and a number of German princes wanted to split up the duchy among themselves 35 Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Victoria and Albert s third son was initially heir presumptive However sections of the German press objected to a foreigner taking the throne and Wilhelm II opposed a man who had served in the British army becoming ruler of a German state 36 9 Arthur s son Prince Arthur of Connaught was at Eton with Charles Edward Wilhelm II demanded a German education for the boy but this was unacceptable to the Duke of Connaught Thus both Charles Edward s uncle and cousin renounced their claims to the duchy leaving Charles Edward next in line 9 The prince was named heir under family pressure 7 There were reports in the American press that the younger Arthur had beaten Charles Edward up or threatened to do so if he did not accept the position 37 38 The boy seemed unhappy with the change of situation that had been imposed on him Historian Alan R Rushton quotes him as saying I ve got to go and be a beastly German prince However the adults around him appear to have encouraged him to embrace his new role His sister remembered their mother saying I have always tried to bring up Charlie as a good Englishman and now I have to turn him into a good German Field Marshal Frederick Roberts told him to Try to be a good German 10 Only fourteen years old at the time Charles Edward s young age as well as his German mother and lack of his British father meant that he was deemed able to assimilate into German society in a way an older man would not be The local newspaper in Coburg praised the choice 39 There was significant public interest in Germany in what happened to Charles Edward 39 40 According to historian Alan R Rushton some Germans felt it was now important for the English boy to become a German man and leader of his adopted land 40 Education editCharles Edward moved to Germany with his mother and sister when he was fifteen He spoke little German Duke Alfred wanted to separate Charles Edward from his mother so she took her son to stay with her brother in law King William II of Wurttemberg and found him a tutor 7 Helen then considered how he should be educated The priority was reassuring Germans that he was being brought up in a proper German manner Various members of the extended family made suggestions Alfred wanted to be given responsibility for his heir but was considered too British A school suggested by Queen Victoria s daughter Victoria was according to Alice felt to have too many Jewish students Helen ultimately gave Wilhelm control over her son s education 41 1 nbsp Charles Edward with his staff at a military exercise 1904 According to Urbach Wilhelm wanted to turn his young cousin into a Prussian officer 1 He invited the family to live in Potsdam the government district of Berlin Charles Edward attended the Preussische Hauptkadettenanstalt Prussian Central Cadet Institute at Lichterfelde 10 Wilhelm informed Queen Victoria in a telegraph that one of his staff has chosen eight well behaved boys to form a class for him 42 The prince studied the German language and military science 10 He was made a lieutenant of cavalry on his 16th birthday in 1900 40 and joined the 1 Garderegiment zu Fuss 1st Foot Guards at Potsdam 9 2 In 1903 Charles Edward completed his university entrance qualification His results were not made public 43 Charles Edward then studied government management at Prussian government ministries 40 He attended Bonn University 7 and studied law but was not a particularly academic young man and mainly enjoyed participating in the Corps Borussia Bonn 43 Wilhelm II took such interest in Charles Edward s assimilation into German society that the latter was known in the Imperial Court as the Emperor s seventh son 44 The prince with his mother and sister spent a lot of their spare time at the German court in Berlin where they were treated as members of the emperor s family 45 Wilhelm had seven children the older of whom were a similar age to the Albany siblings Alice later wrote that they were like another brother and sister to them 46 The women got on well with Empress Augusta Victoria while Wilhelm became something of a substitute father for Charles Edward 45 Wilhelm saw Charles Edward as impressionable 9 He introduced the prince to his own worldview which included antisemitism German nationalism and hostility to the Reichstag parliament 47 48 During a political scandal in 1908 there were allegations of the young man engaging in homosexual activity with Wilhelm 49 Charles Edward often did not enjoy his time in Berlin where the emperor seemed to become resentful of him and frequently bullied him 7 A 1905 entry in the diary of an official at the Berlin court commented The Emperor loves to have fun with him Charles Edward But what usually happens is that he pinches and puffs him so much that the poor little duke actually gets beaten up Recently his bride Princess Victoria and her parents were also present This probably made it particularly embarrassing for the poor little duke who almost fought back tears and had such an unhappy expression on his face the whole evening as if he were about to be hanged the next morning 50 Regency edit nbsp Satirical cartoon depicting Charles Edward as a small boy with Edward VII note 4 Originally appeared in Der Wahre Jacob in 1903 reprinted in L oncle de l Europe a collection of illustrations edited by John Grand Carteret 1906 Charles Edward inherited the ducal throne of Saxe Coburg and Gotha at the age of sixteen when his uncle Alfred died at the age of 55 in July 1900 9 2 The boy cried at the funeral a reaction that Urbach interpreted as an expression of fear about his future rather than grief for an uncle he had relatively little relationship with 51 Wilhelm appointed Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe Langenburg as regent until Charles Edward s 21st birthday 52 In 1901 he attended Queen Victoria s funeral wearing the uniform of the Prussian Hussars 53 His eldest paternal uncle who succeeded Queen Victoria as King Edward VII was seen embracing Charles Edward at the funeral 54 The new king made his nephew a Knight of the Garter on 15 July 1902 just before the young duke s 18th birthday 55 Charles Edward s mother decided he was old enough to look after himself in 1903 and left Germany with Alice 56 In May 1905 Edward appointed him Colonel in chief of the Seaforth Highlanders a British army regiment 54 Charles Edward tried his best to assimilate while maintaining some links with Britain such as participating in Anglican religious services 57 Urbach suggested he learnt the language quickly and commented that his German essays at the military academy were soon receiving higher marks than his English ones 51 However various statements made by the Prince during this period suggest he was homesick and unhappy with his situation 58 10 His entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ODNB described him as a conscientious young man with a taste for the arts and music who became popular in Coburg during this period 7 Aronson similarly commented that he was cultivated fond of music and the theatre interested in history and architecture 59 Urbach described the young duke as immature 43 According to a contemporary news report he was fond of sport and adventure 38 A 1905 article in the London and China Express a British newspaper focused on foreign affairs commented that All the German newspapers sing the praises of the young Duke and describe his sympathetic character and bearing Above all they are never tired of emphasising how German he has become how he has completely forgotten the English training of his early youth identifying himself in every way with the interests of Germany 60 Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha editMarriage and children edit nbsp The Duke and Duchess of Saxe Coburg Gotha with their two eldest children 1908 As Charles Edward was considered to have an ambiguous attitude towards women according to Urbach his family decided he needed an arranged marriage at a young age Wilhelm II chose his wife s niece Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg Glucksburg as the bride of Charles Edward She was believed to be well adjusted and loyal to Wilhelm s royal house 43 Her nationality was seen as important and Victoria Adelaide lacked any non German or Jewish ancestry 61 The young man was told to propose to her and he obliged 43 A degree of affection did exist between the young couple 7 54 They married on 11 October 1905 at Glucksburg Castle Schleswig Holstein and had five children 2 Victoria Adelaide was described in her grandson s memoirs as the leading part of the marriage and Charles Edward would initially come to her for advice 62 His entry in the ODNB comments that they were happy 7 but Urbach indicates otherwise 63 Their children were Prince Johann Leopold 1906 1972 Princess Sibylla 1908 1972 Prince Hubertus 1909 1943 Princess Caroline Mathilde 1912 1983 and Prince Friedrich Josias 1918 1998 64 As was expected for upper class households at the time caring for the children was largely delegated to the domestic servants 65 The family mainly spoke English at home though the children learnt to speak German fluently Charles Edward s second son Hubertus was the favourite child 66 A profile of the family published in the British newspaper The Sphere in 1914 commented on the children The Coburg family are bright happy children who lead a natural life spending a great deal of their time in the open air in the fine grounds of their castle They are very fond of riding In the winter which is a severe one in Saxe Coburg Gotha they delight in ski ing and other outdoor amusements suitable to snowy weather 67 Urbach discussed the family in later years She comments that Charles Edward s children were frightened of their father who treated them like a military unit She noted that the family often appear unhappy in photographs His younger daughter Princess Caroline Mathilde claimed that her father had sexually abused her The allegation was backed by one of her brothers Charles Edward was often disappointed by his children s choice of romantic relationships at a time when he was trying to use strategic marriages to improve the diminished reputation of his royal house 68 Peacetime reign edit nbsp Charles Edward 1906 The young duke assumed full constitutional powers upon coming of age on 19 July 1905 2 At his investiture he read a speech promising his allegiance to the German Empire and was cheered on by onlookers after he publicly sampled local food He was happy with his new territories which he thought were pretty 69 He joined various patriotic groups to emphasise his loyalties However according to Urbach the duke lacked popularity This was especially true in Gotha an impoverished town with left wing sympathies to them he seemed absolutist In Coburg a wealthy and conservative town known for its intense nationalism people were generally more sympathetic to Charles Edward but disliked a sense of foreignness they detected about him He continued to have an English accent He faced criticism for keeping Scottish Terrier dogs and for always appearing in public with a police guard 70 Friedrich Facius described Charles Edward as initially a liberal who shifted in a more authoritarian direction He was supportive of the emperor and understood the governmental institutions 2 According to Rushton the duke s political worldview was conservative and nationalistic reflecting what had been inculcated into him by Wilhelm II He largely left governing to the cabinet he appointed They used the motto Everything as it has been to describe their approach Charles Edward frequently visited local events He was interested in new forms of transportation especially automobiles and airships He invested in the creation of a new airship docking bay in Gotha a decision that appeared commercially sensible 71 He enthusiastically supported the court theatres in both towns and organised the restoration of the Veste Coburg which was conducted between 1908 and 1924 2 Charles Edward was a prominent figure in local civic life chairing many cultural or charitable organisations and offering patronage 72 In 1910 he joined the Reich Association against Social Democracy de a pro monarchist political organisation 73 Charles Edward was anxious about how people viewed him with his officials surveying public opinion The duke frequently tried to emphasise his loyalty to Germany through displays of cultural traditions such as Christmas festivities and folk costumes 74 He continued to have a good relationship with the British royal family and regularly visited the United Kingdom 75 7 In 1910 the Daily Mirror published a photograph of him wearing the uniform of the Seaforth Highlanders at an inspection of its veterans 76 Members of the German political elite were often irritated by his continued close relationship with Great Britain His decision to wear the uniform of his British regiment at the funeral of Edward VII in 1910 caused particular annoyance Officials at the German Embassy in London were suspicious of his frequent visits to the United Kingdom In private he frequently engaged in British activities even while in Germany The duke and his wife performed Scottish country dances to bagpipes His immediate family used English language nicknames 74 Charles Edward received regular visits from Alice and his brother in law Prince Alexander of Teck 77 He developed a close bond with Edward Prince of Wales while the latter was a university student in the early 1910s 78 The duke generally tried to stay out of politics especially diplomatic issues between Great Britain and Germany which led to him receiving additional criticism Buschel believed that Charles Edward s attempts to come across as German during this period were likely an effort to please Wilhelm II and nationalists in Germany rather than an expression of his own identity 74 nbsp Charles Edward in a pale military tunic visiting an agricultural show in Coburg 1910 The duke also became a major local landowner and had an annual income of about 2 5 million marks note 5 79 By 1918 he would have an estimated wealth of between 50 and 60 million marks 80 He lived in both Coburg and Gotha for several months each year as well as visiting his mountain or hunting lodges He usually worked in the morning and spent the afternoon on leisure activities such as hiking Recreation took up the bulk of his time and he was frequently abroad or in other parts of Germany Charles Edward struggled with social interaction especially with those who were different from him He stopped local people from entering the countryside surrounding his castles adding to his seclusion 79 He tended to spend much of his time in the company of courtiers who regularly offered him praise 74 Historian Juliet Nicolson has described these years as the perfect summer a time when privileged people enjoyed their wealth and social advantages in denial of the threats to their way of life that were starting to appear in politics and organised labour Rushton commented thatCharles Edward had every reason to be happy with his life a growing healthy family minimal professional duties the opportunity to live very well and associate with his friends and relatives at the upper echelons of society in Europe As 1914 began Charles Edward had not the slightest clue that the golden age of the European nobles was coming to a climax He continued to hunt and travel acting as an absolute sovereign His life as a monarch seemed to exist in a parallel world that had little in common with the majority of his subjects 79 First World War edit The First World War caused a conflict of loyalties for Charles Edward but he decided to support the German Empire 9 2 He was in England at the time of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to receive an honorary degree as a Doctor of Civil Laws from Oxford University 81 He told his sister that he wanted to fight for Great Britain but felt obligated to return to his duchy where public opinion began to turn against the Duke due to his British origins 7 He returned to Germany on 9 July After the war he would describe the events of 1914 in a letter to his sister as the end of his personal happiness 82 At the start of the war he publicly denounced Britain accusing it of attacking Germany and renounced his position as Colonel in chief of the Seaforth Highlanders 83 He broke off relations with his family at the British and Belgian courts this did not suffice to overcome doubts about his loyalties in Germany 9 2 His attitudes would become more sincerely pro German as the war years progressed 7 nbsp Charles Edward inspecting soldiers 1914 Charles Edward could not participate in combat due to having a permanently damaged leg from a sledging accident 7 He provided non combat support to the army corps from his territories He initially participated in the German invasion of Belgium but was soon moved to the Eastern Front He disliked the way local people he met on the Eastern Front lived and thought that the homes of Jewish people in particular were dirty Charles Edward received an Iron Cross for bravery at the end of 1914 In the middle war years Charles Edward made various visits to the Western Front and areas of conflict in the Balkans 81 He never held a command Soldiers from his duchies were awarded the Carl Eduard Kriegskreuz Carl Eduard War Cross 9 2 According to Urbach Charles Edward was more or a less a chocolate soldier who spent most of his time dining at various casinos behind the front and visiting his Coburg troops 84 In 1917 a law change in Coburg effectively banned Charles Edward s British relatives from succeeding to the duchy That same year the Gotha G V bomber which had been built in Gotha was used to attack London 9 The duke was denounced as a traitor in Britain 7 He was one of a group of noblemen living in Germany and Austria who held British titles but sided with the Central Powers a group frequently identified in the British press as the traitor peers 85 86 87 For instance soon after the conclusion of the war The Sunday Post published a report on the traitor dukes It included a negative and personally vitriolic profile of Charles Edward s life which called his role in the war one of the blackest chapters in his ignominious career 88 In 1915 his cousin King George V ordered his name removed from the register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter 55 The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 began the process of removing his British titles 89 Urbach observed that Charles Edward did not seem to care that his behaviour might have put his mother who was living in London under the protection of Queen Mary at risk of reprisals 83 nbsp The Duke and Duchess of Saxe Coburg Gotha and their four eldest children 1918 Charles Edward worked for the military staff on the Western Front in the later war years He contributed 250 000 marks out of his personal wealth as financial support for the families of dead soldiers from his territories A report published in The Times a few years after the war commented that he had often assisted British prisoners of war a decision which it described as a sign of his consideration and humanity The duke was alarmed by the murder of the Russian royal family in 1918 Empress Alexandra was one of his cousins He worried that the same thing would happen to his own family Rushton wrote that it was the beginning of the fear of communism that would define his political activities in years to come 90 He joined the League of the Emperor s Loyalists de an organisation of supporters of the German emperor though he preferred German general and de facto military dictator Paul von Hindenburg as a leader 91 Buschel argued that Charles Edward s First World War experiences were a school for nationalism violence and antisemitism 92 The war placed severe burdens on the German population and after mid 1918 the empire s military situation collapsed By late in the year an armistice was signed and a revolution broke out in Germany 93 On the morning of 9 November 1918 the Workers and Soldiers Council of Gotha declared Charles Edward deposed On 11 November his abdication was demanded in Coburg Only on 14 November later than most other ruling princes did he formally announce that he had ceased to rule in both Gotha and Coburg He did not explicitly renounce his throne 2 According to Rushton the slowness of Charles Edward s abdication was due to paranoia that he would be killed However the transition of power in Coburg was quite calm and orderly compared to some other parts of Germany The German nobility were not physically attacked during the revolution but the situation was deeply frightening and a cause of much resentment for them 93 Far right advocate editAftermath of the First World War edit Urbach wrote that Charles Edward was not popular and was still seen by some as English By the end of the war the left wing anti royalist parts of the press had been nicknaming him Mr Albany in a reference to his foreign origins But he could still live in Coburg fairly contentedly 94 According to Rushton he retained much of his prestige and was often seen by his former subjects as essentially still the duke Coburg was a politically conservative town and the new post war world was frightening for many people The inhabitants continued to look to Charles Edward for guidance 95 In 1919 he also lost his British titles However some personal sympathy remained for him among the political establishment in the United Kingdom due to the way German nationality had been forced on him as a teenager 7 He visited his mother and sister in London in 1921 but was generally unwanted in Britain 96 In 1919 his properties and collections in Coburg were transferred to the Coburg State Foundation de a foundation that still exists today A similar solution for Gotha took longer and only after legal struggles with the Free State of Thuringia was it set up in 1928 34 2 After 1919 the family retained Callenberg Castle some other properties including those in Austria and a right to live at Veste Coburg It also received substantial financial compensation for lost possessions Some additional real estate in Thuringia was restored to the ducal family in 1925 9 When Charles Edward s mother died in 1922 the British government stopped him from inheriting Claremont House a development that upset him While the post war democratic German state presented little threat to his property Charles Edward continued to be paranoid about a communist revolution He claimed in a letter to his sister in 1928 that 97 I only hope our winter will remain quiet but the Russians note 6 seem to be getting our communists on the move In different parts of Germany they have begun attacking our nationalists but have luckily been beaten off with cracked crowns If only the leaders would leave the workmen in peace They are so sensible wenn sie nicht verhetzt werden when they are not poisoned 98 1920s political and paramilitary activities edit Charles Edward continued to describe himself as a monarchist in the post First World War period 96 He was said to want to return to political power as King of Thuringia 9 In practice however his enthusiasm for restoration was quite lukewarm His emotional attachment to the German emperor largely ended with Wilhelm s exile The former duke began to look for political options which he saw as a stronger alternative to the deposed German emperor 96 Charles Edward became far more overtly involved in politics after being deposed 99 supporting the nationalistic conservative volkisch right 2 The former duke was nostalgic for aspects of pre war Germany especially its militarism and was frightened by communism Urbach also suggested he had an obsession with masculine physical strength which stemmed from his lack of it 100 The former duke became associated with various right wing paramilitary and political organisations 2 Rushton wrote that he became a member and patron of the paramilitary group Coburg Einwohnerwehr the Bund Wiking de and the veterans group Der Stahlhelm 95 The Bund had previously been the Organisation Consul in the early 1920s a group which he also funded and participated in It was involved in the politically motivated murders of politicians Karl Gareis de and Walther Rathenau Urbach commented that Though Carl Eduard did not himself murder he financed murderers 101 Charles Edward also funded various anti semitic nationalist groups In 1922 Charles Edward was invited to a traditional event where the best performing student leaving a local gymnasium note 7 could make a speech The schoolboy that year was a Jewish young man called Hans Morgenthau The former duke expressed his disapproval by turning his back to Morgenthau and holding his nose throughout the speech On 14 October 1922 the Nazi Party participated in a nationalist event called the German Day de in Coburg which involved a significant amount of violence That evening Charles Edward attended a meal run by the party where Hitler spoke The next day he shook hands with Hitler becoming the first nobleman to publicly support him 102 He hid Hermann Ehrhardt a Freikorps commander and later leader of the Organisation Consul in one of his castles with a store of weapons after Ehrhardt participated in the unsuccessful Kapp Putsch against the government 103 In 1923 the value of the German mark collapsed Both the extreme left and right of politics saw this as an opportunity to change the system of government Communists tried to start a revolution in Thuringia and Saxony Ehrhart and 5 000 followers including Charles Edward s eldest son responded by preparing to march into Thuringia The federal German government then removed the left wing state governments in those areas reestablishing its authority from the perspective of public opinion While Charles Edward was irritated by the unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch by the Nazi Party a short time later because it disrupted Ehrhart s own attempts to take power the leader of Bavaria Gustav von Kahr had been planning a coup against the federal government with Ehrhart before Hitler began a coup against him the former duke did hide Nazis in one of his castles afterwards 104 Early involvement with the Nazi Party edit nbsp Charles Edward in 1930From 1929 onwards Charles Edward provided financial support to the Nazi Party 92 He was attracted by the party s militarism and anti communism 7 The former duke and Waldemar Pabst established the Society for Studying Fascism in 1931 The organisation was meant to design a plan for governing Germany based on the example of Italian fascism Mussolini s dictatorship interested Charles Edward and others like him It seemed to them that fascism was a method of running a country which could merge the traditional aristocracy and a new elite 105 Charles Edward was a useful ally for the Nazis in the period before they gained power with extensive links in Franconia and across Germany 106 In 1929 his support contributed to Coburg becoming the first town in Germany to elect a Nazi Party council The election had taken place due to a dispute about a Nazi supporter being dismissed from his job for attacking Jews Charles Edward s visits to Nazi party events were covered in the local press increasing the party s profile and prestige 107 The former duke was elected leader of the National Klub in 1932 This was a social club which membership largely consisted of businessmen who disliked the postwar system of government He encouraged them to join the Nazi Party and by the end of the year 70 had done so 108 Also in 1932 he took part in the creation of the Harzburg Front through which the German National People s Party and other groups with similar views became associated with the Nazi Party He also publicly called on voters to support Hitler in the presidential election of 1932 While the Nazi party lost that election across Germany they won in Coburg 106 Following the election of the Nazi Party locally in 1929 the Jewish population of Coburg experienced growing amounts of physical abuse and discrimination Rushton writes that the former duke s publicly expressed beliefs and financial support contributed to the growth of hatred towards Jewish people in Coburg and Germany as a whole It was widely known that Charles Edward and his wife were antisemitic According to Rushton Charles Edward would have been aware of the violent behaviour of the movements he was involved in but never objected The First World War had convinced him of the merits of political violence 102 nbsp Charles Edward furthest left at his daughter s wedding 1932 In 1932 his daughter Sibylla married Prince Gustaf Adolf Duke of Vasterbotten the eldest son of the Crown Prince of Sweden and second in line to the Swedish throne The marriage meant that Sibylla would be expected to become Queen of Sweden which however did not happen Charles Edward used the event as a public display of his ideology and to improve the damaged prestige of the duke s family More than a decade after the First World War it was a chance for them to appear important in international royal circles again 109 George V stopped Edward Prince of Wales from attending the wedding due to objections to the former duke s political views 110 although some of his British relatives did attend 68 The wedding received much coverage in the German and foreign press Coburg was decorated with Swedish and Nazi flags 5000 men in Nazi uniforms marched outside Veste Coburg 110 The marriage was congratulated by Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goring 68 Nazi party figure editIn 1933 the Nazi Party came to power in Germany 111 Charles Edward started flying the Nazi flag over Veste Coburg 112 He formally joined the Nazi Party in March 1933 he also became an Obergruppenfuhrer in the SA 9 A photo collection of senior figures in the new regime published by a German private company included him at number 43 111 Charles Edward stated publicly in 1934 that he would blindly follow Hitler forever 113 nbsp Charles Edward fourth left front seated with Joseph Goebbels Jozef Lipski Hermann and Emmy Goring 1935 According to Urbach the former duke became a highly honoured member of the party appearing in photographs with its senior members and setting up an office in Berlin which he could use to form relationships She wrote that he was proud of his Nazi Party membership and that the SA uniform allowed him to feel more like his pre war self He lost his SA uniform after the Night of the Long Knives this upset him a great deal but he accepted the politically motivated murders He was later given a Wehrmacht general s uniform 114 Charles Edward was made president of the National Socialist Automobile Association an organisation which provided vehicles for the German state including those used to carry out the Holocaust 92 From 1936 to 1945 he served as a member of the Reichstag representing the Nazi Party 9 In appointment diaries which he kept from 1932 to 1940 he often expressed his enthusiastic support for the party For instance he recorded the results of the 1936 one party election in detail and praised the outcome Buschel commented that the former duke appeared to see himself as fully a German by this stage in his life 115 German Red Cross and eugenics edit nbsp Charles Edward speaking at a meeting of the German Red Cross 1936 On 1 December 1933 Charles Edward was appointed head of the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz German Red Cross Hitler approved the appointment because he knew the former duke well He believed that Charles Edward was a supporter of the Nazis ideas relating to race and eugenics The organisation was quickly made to conform with the government s goals Rushton comments that Two years after the founding of the new regime the DRK German Red Cross was remodelled into a paramilitary organization with the goal of providing support for soldiers in a time of conflict In 1937 Ernst Robert Grawitz was made deputy leader in order to increase the organisation s links with the SS Charles Edward was made an officer of the chancellery of the Fuhrer giving him access to private information on government business The senior roles in the German Red Cross were increasingly filled by Nazi Party members and members of the organisation were taught that the Jews Slavs chronically ill handicapped were nothing more than worthless 116 Historian Jonathan Petropoulos wrote of the German Red Cross s role in the regime thatThe German Red Cross which Heinrich Himmler s SS infiltrated helped conceal the true horrors of the concentration camps and psychiatric institutions the latter serving as the sites for the murderous T 4 program that targeted the mentally and physically disabled The duke Charles Edward used his venerable name and excellent manners to assist the Nazis in their propaganda campaign He helped deceive the International Red Cross and its president Carl Jacob Burckhardt and this included orchestrating Burckhardt s 1935 inspection tour during which he visited Dachau 92 Eugenics the idea that a human population can be improved over generations by encouraging some people to have children and discouraging others was a concept originating in the 19th century that became increasingly popular among German academic circles in the decades before the Nazis came to power At the start of the 20th century children born into poorer families tended to be less healthy and more likely to develop behaviour that was considered destructive than their richer counterparts it therefore made implicit sense to people that the differences between social classes might be genetic Anxieties about the genetic health of the German nation were heightened by the First World War when large numbers of able bodied men were killed or crippled while men who were incapable of combat remained at home Growing amounts of scientific research into eugenics took place over subsequent years and Hitler endorsed the idea during the 1920s The Great Depression intensified concern that disabled people were a drain on public resources with scientists and non Nazi politicians increasingly discussing the idea of voluntary sterilisation for these groups The Nazi Party expressed strong support for eugenics during the early 1930s 117 Charles Edward was on the governing body of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute from 1933 to 1945 He was secretary of its executive board from 1934 to 1937 In those positions he was involved in promoting eugenicist ideas to the German public particularly to individuals with power in German society 118 The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring introduced mandatory sterilisation for certain groups of people who were deemed an unwanted burden on the German nation 119 The German government organised multiple schemes to murder disabled people later on in the regime s reign The first scheme targeted at children ran from 1939 to the end of the war and killed 5 300 disabled children The second scheme which ran from late 1939 to mid 1941 killed more than 70 000 disabled people at six killing centres in Germany and Austria mainly through gassing Grawitz was heavily involved in this In August 1941 this scheme was stopped as it was felt to be upsetting the German people and undermining their motivation in wartime A third scheme in the later war years used more covert methods to a large extent deliberate starvation It is estimated to have killed between 100 000 and 180 000 people 120 Most evidence which could clarify the level of involvement of the German Red Cross in these events was destroyed accidentally or deliberately by the end of the war While most transportation of victims was done by a proxy organisation created for that purpose the German Red Cross was involved in transporting some of them Many of the nurses who were involved in murdering disabled people were employees of the German Red Cross who had been indoctrinated by the organisation 121 Rushton believed that Charles Edward would have known about these schemes He was a heavy consumer of media and had many social connections Evidence collected by the regime at the time and later studies have suggested that it was common knowledge among the German population 122 Princess Maria Karoline a member of the former duke s extended family was murdered by the programme in 1941 even though upper class disabled people generally had a degree of protection due to their use of private healthcare and their families political connections According to Rushton Charles Edward had not intervened because he had not been concerned that anything would happen to her He received a letter of condolence claiming that she had died of natural causes which he did not believe Unusually for a man who rarely missed family events he did not attend the funeral 123 Unofficial diplomat edit nbsp Charles Edward centre with John Barton Payne Chairman of the American Red Cross in Hawaii United States 1934 The Nazi regime made significant use of Charles Edward as an informal diplomat 124 Charles Edward made his first worldwide tour on behalf of the new German government in 1934 125 He visited Japan where he attended a conference on the protection of civilians during war and delivered Hitler s birthday greeting to Emperor Hirohito 9 The conference allowed Charles Edward to be seen by a global audience as a humanitarian figure improving the regime s international reputation Hitler was interested in an alliance with the Japanese government and Charles Edward used the visit to develop links with the Japanese royal family In a report he wrote about the tour for Hitler the former duke often expressed prejudiced views and complained about perceived Jewish influence in the United States 126 nbsp Charles Edward front left with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on a visit to Rome 1938 Charles Edward hosted an international press tour associated with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor s visit to Germany in 1937 He also hosted Edward and Wallis Simpson themselves during their visit He visited Italy in 1938 meeting King Victor Emmanuel III and dictator Benito Mussolini He went on a trip to Poland where he met Polish officials half a year before the country was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union 127 nbsp Charles Edward left meeting the British ambassador to Germany Sir Nevile Henderson in 1939 note 8 Charles Edward was particularly significant to Nazi attempts to cultivate pro German sentiments among the British aristocracy 124 Urbach comments that Charles Edward went on endless reconnaissance trips to Britain in the 1930s 129 He wanted to help the German government establish an alliance with the British and also have Claremont House returned to him personally 130 Urbach wrote that Charles Edward reintegrated himself into aristocratic social life in Britain with the help of his sister and associated with prominent aristocrats and politicians including Neville Chamberlain and the British royal family 124 He was president of the German version of the Anglo German fellowship 131 and lobbied figures believed to be pro German 7 He was made head of the organisation after the regime decided that it was not pro Nazi enough 131 He attended George V s funeral in a German military uniform and helmet 132 He also visited veterans meetings in the United Kingdom 9 The British Secretary of State for War Duff Cooper described a party that was organised on Charles Edward s behalf at Alice s country home in 1936 The point of it was to meet the Duke of Coburg her brother It was a gloomy little party so like a German bourgeois household I was tactfully left alone with the Duke of Coburg after luncheon in order that he might explain to me the present situation in Germany and assure me of Hitler s pacific intentions In the middle of our conversation his Duchess Victoria Adelaide reappeared carrying some hideous samples of ribbon in order to consult him as to how the wreath that they were sending to the funeral of George V s should be tied He dismissed her with a volley of muttered German curses and was afterwards unable to pick up the thread of his argument 133 Charles Edward s ODNB entry argued that his advocacy had little success and that he failed to understand the degree to which the people he had grown up around by this time saw him as a foreigner 7 In contrast Urbach argued in her 2015 book that the strains experienced by British society during the interwar period had a radicalising effect on sections of the British elite and that there was significant sympathy for fascism albeit discomfort with Nazism in particular among the aristocracy She suggested that Charles Edward may have had some influence on instances of appeasement of Germany in the 1930s such as the Anglo German Naval Agreement British acceptance of the German remilitarisation of the Rhineland and the Munich Agreement 124 In 1940 Charles Edward travelled through Moscow and Japan to the US where he met President Roosevelt at the White House 9 He claimed that the German Red Cross was protecting the welfare of the recently conquered Polish people The American Red Cross was quite hostile to the visit and there was some criticism in US newspapers overall however he was fairly well received in the US press The former duke signed an agreement with the American Red Cross allowing them to send humanitarian aid to Poland though much of this was ultimately confiscated by the SS In Japan he worked to improve relations between the German and Japanese governments after the Molotov Ribbentrop pact had caused a dispute between them He went on a visit to Japanese occupied Manchukuo touring hospitals and similar institutions with journalists Buschel suggests that this was likely an attempt by the Japanese authorities to convince world opinion that people in Manchukuo were being given suitable humanitarian assistance by their new rulers 134 Second World War edit nbsp Charles Edward on a visit to Washington D C United States 1940 Charles Edward was again on the opposite side of a war to his birth country when the Second World War broke out in 1939 there is no evidence that this caused him any distress or led him to doubt his political convictions 135 Although the former duke was too old for active service during the Second World War his three sons served in the Wehrmacht 136 In 1941 he began to use a diary to note down news about the war using different coloured pens for different sources of information When his son Hubertus died in an air crash in 1943 he noted in the diary Hubertus furs Vaterland Hubertus died for the Fatherland He underlined the shorthand cross for death in the colour he used for reports from the Wehrmacht 137 In 1942 Charles Edward was asked by his relative Prince Eugene of Sweden to arrange for Martha Liebermann an elderly Jewish woman to be granted permission to immigrate to the United States He did nothing to help and Liebermann later took her own life after being ordered to report for deportation 138 to Theresienstadt Ghetto 139 nbsp Charles Edward on a trip to Vichy or German occupied France 1941 Charles Edward s support for Nazism grew more intense during the war years and never relented 7 Hitler considered making him King of Norway after the war 140 The former duke probably ceased to act as an informal diplomat after 1940 141 His health was declining and he appeared older than his years 142 135 He continued to wear uniforms and travelled to countries that were either occupied by Germany members of the Axis powers or neutral Travelling abroad was a privilege afforded to few German civilians during the war years It is unclear what Charles Edward was doing politically during this period but he was being paid 4 000 Reichsmarks a month by the German government from a fund Hitler had organised for associates that were useful to him 143 In 1940 Charles Edward helped mediate a diplomatic dispute between the British and German governments about the treatment of prisoners of war stopping a number of prisoners on both sides from being shackled 144 In 1943 at Hitler s behest Charles Edward asked the International Red Cross to investigate the Katyn massacre 9 In April 1945 code breakers at Bletchley Park deciphered an order from Hitler stating that Charles Edward should not be allowed to be captured According to Urbach this meant that Hitler wanted him killed 145 That month Charles Edward agreed to the surrender of Veste Coburg to US forces He gained their assistance in putting out a fire in the castle museum which had been started by the bombardment He was on the US Army s list of suspected war criminals and was put under house arrest until being moved to a prisoner of war camp in November 146 His interrogators saw him as ignorant obnoxious and possibly mentally unstable He said in an interview that he would accept an offer to participate in a new German government made a series of demands relating to the idea and claimed that no German is guilty of any war crimes The comments were deemed so useful for Allied propaganda that they were used for a radio broadcast in April 1945 He also expressed the view that it had been right to remove Jews from public life and that Germans were naturally unsuited to democracy 147 Postwar period and death editTrial and final years edit nbsp Charles Edward s daughter with her husband and children 1946 After the end of the Second World War Charles Edward was interned by the American military authorities from 1945 to 1946 2 His sister lobbied for his release on health grounds 148 149 After his release the former duke and his wife moved into a cottage outside Callenberg Castle The castle was being used as a home for refugees Alice visited the couple in 1948 according to her account they were impoverished and her brother was severely unwell with arthritis She persuaded the authorities to let them move into part of one of his residences closer to where her sister in law could buy food 150 In April 1946 Charles Edward s daughter Sibylla gave birth to a son Carl Gustaf 151 who at birth was third in the line of succession to the Swedish throne In January 1947 Sibylla s husband died in a plane crash 152 and in October 1950 Gustaf V of Sweden died at which point Charles Edward s grandson became Crown Prince of Sweden later becoming King Carl XVI Gustaf 153 Charles Edward s trial spanned four years and included two appeals 154 Alice and many other associates spoke on his behalf minimising his involvement in the regime 155 A year or so after the war the priority of the Western Allies had shifted away from punishing former Nazis towards preparing their occupation zones to become part of the Western Bloc during the Cold War 156 In 1950 or August 1949 according to his ODNB entry the former duke was found by a denazification court to be a Mitlaufer and Minderbelasteter roughly follower and follower of lesser guilt 7 9 The former duke s biographer Carl Sandler called the result a farce 157 Charles Edward also lost significant property due to his participation in the Second World War Gotha was part of Thuringia and therefore situated in the Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Army confiscated much of the family s property in Gotha 2 However Coburg had become part of Bavaria in 1920 136 and was occupied by American forces As such the family was able to retain extensive property in what would become West Germany 2 Charles Edward spent the last years of his life in seclusion forced into relative poverty by the fines he had been required to pay by the denazification tribunal 158 and the seizure of much of his property by the Soviets 159 However his lifestyle to a large extent returned to normal after his trial 160 In 1953 he was taken by ambulance and wheelchair to view the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom at a cinema in Coburg He reportedly appeared to be close to crying while watching his relatives including his sister 161 According to a column published that year in The Scotsman the former duke had reestablished links with the Seaforth Highlanders a British Army regiment of which he had once been colonel in chief which was now stationed in Germany The column comments that On the occasion of a regimental ball an invitation was sent to the Duke with a note from the C O Lieut Colonel P J Johnston saying that owing to the distance it was doubtful if he would be able to attend but it was the wish of all officers of the battalion that their old Colonel in Chief should be asked The Duke replied that although his health did not allow him to accept he was deeply touched by the invitation renewing old connections which existed between the Seaforth Highlanders and myself for so many years and which I honestly hope and wish will not be severed again He said he would be pleased to receive as guest any comrade who should happen to pass Coburg where he lives and signed himself Charles Edward Duke of Saxe Coburg Gotha Duke of Albany 162 Death editCharles Edward died of cancer in his flat in Coburg on 6 March 1954 at the age of 69 159 He had reportedly told his son Friedrich Josias that Queen Victoria had always wanted him to be a good German 163 His obituary in The Times commented that he was Hitler s man Whether and to what extent he was admitted to the inner council of the Nazi gang is as yet an open question 136 Representatives of various royal houses across Europe sent condolences but the British royal family did not comment 164 nbsp Burial site near Callenberg Castle Charles Edward s funeral was held on 10th March and presided over by a Lutheran dean who had been a church official under the Nazi regime He claimed that Charles Edward was a good man who had been manipulated by others and mistreated by the Allies The former duke s death was officially mourned in Coburg A civil servant who refused to fly a flag at half mast for his funeral was reported to the district council in Bayreuth and condemned by a member of the Parliament of Bavaria Victoria Adelaide received many letters of support in the weeks after her husband s death including from former senior Nazis Charles Edward s burial took place on 12 October watched by a crowd of well wishers 164 He is buried at the Waldfriedhof Cemetery Waldfriedhof Beiersdorf near Callenberg Castle in the Beiersdorf district of Coburg 7 Legacy editFamily perceptions edit His sister s autobiography For My Grandchildren 1966 discusses Charles Edward s life She felt that her brother had been a victim of prejudice during the First World War and only chose to stay in Germany due to his family She suggested that he had a minimal role in the Nazi regime Urbach argued that the autobiography is intentionally misleading and selective 165 In his biography of Alice published in 1981 Aronson comments that some members of the British royal family felt that Charles Edward had supported the regime due to his conviction that Hitler had saved Germany from Communism He wrote that Alice felt that her brother had been poorly treated while imprisoned after the end of the war he found conditions almost unbearable Many of his fellow prisoners died there but also told him No doubt their jailers had seen some of the ghastly German concentration camps and were determined to treat these old officers with the utmost severity 166 An amateur historian called Rudolf Preisner from Coburg wrote the first biography of Charles Edward s life in 1977 The former duke s son Friedrich Josias wrote a letter to Preisner criticising the book Among other errors he felt that the book was overly sympathetic to his father who he believed knew about the Holocaust He wrote that his brother Hubertus had witnessed deportations of Jewish people to extermination camps and often talked about the subject with the family Friedrich Josias planned to write a biography about his father but never did so 167 21st century media portrayals edit In December 2007 Britain s Channel 4 aired an hour long documentary called Hitler s Favourite Royal about Charles Edward A review in The Guardian described the film as A solid documentary on a feeble man and a wretched family 168 Another review in The Telegraph suggested the documentary had been overly sympathetic to Charles Edward stating that the story emerged as a tale of pure tragedy Which it undoubtedly was in parts but that he was depicted As if the trauma of being elevated to a dukedom and losing it had somehow robbed him of his ability to tell right from wrong 169 Urbach wrote that there was some disagreement among the production team of the 2007 documentary on whether Charles Edward should be portrayed as a man who struggled with politics in a country that was foreign to him or as an ideological Nazi and that this led to a contradictory depiction of his character She said that the recovery of new evidence during the period between 2007 and 2015 showed that he was obviously not a naive victim of circumstances but a very active supporter of Hitler Urbach argued that Charles Edward had a similar kind of character to Hitler commenting that the two men shared ideologies and of course their narcissistic personalities the only creatures they both declared a fondness for were their dogs She also described his life as an example of thorough re education away from the constitutional monarchy he was reared in to dictatorship 170 Urbach s 2015 book Go Betweens for Hitler discusses how various aristocrats including Charles Edward acted as informal diplomats for Nazi Germany A review in The Times commented on Charles Edward that For many years thereafter the German Revolution Carl Eduard was regarded as a mere footnote in history a harmless potty old aristocrat washed up by the seismic upheavals of the early 20th century However that benign interpretation has been recently revised We now know that Carl Eduard was a member of the Nazi Party a sponsor of paramilitary terrorism and as Urbach s excellent book demonstrates an important go between for Hitler 171 Buschel suggested in his 2016 biography of Charles Edward that the various pressures placed on the nobleman from childhood until the outcome of the First World War may have led to him developing split personality disorder and narcissism He commented that Charles Edward was influenced by coercion fear indoctrination the effort to stay on top and probably also inner homelessness and loneliness He suggests that this was similar to many of the duke s German contemporaries However Buschel believed that Charles Edward freely chose to support the Nazi regime when the option of leaving Germany would have been fairly easy for him 172 Rushton in his 2018 book about the former duke s relationship to the murder of disabled people described Charles Edward s life as the story of a man born to royalty who became ensnared in the politics of human destruction It is a tragic story 173 Rushton suggested there would have been risks to Charles Edward and his family if he had chosen to object to any actions of the regime giving examples of other former nobles who were persecuted Rushton noted that Charles Edward had already lost his status as a British Prince and German Duke making his new identity as a Nazi party leader deeply emotionally important to him Rushton argued that the factors affecting Charles Edward s behaviour were similar to many Germans However the historian also noted that the duke had a close friendship with Hitler and could have influenced him 174 Notes edit He used the German language version of his name German Leopold Carl Eduard Georg Albert in Germany 1 This article uses the English language version of his name throughout According to the Bank of England s model for tracking inflation 6 000 in 1890 was the equivalent to 637 962 29 in 2023 19 Now located in Wiltshire Charles Edward says Uncle Edward is it true that I should only have half of this cake It is a reference to Edward VII holding the title of Duke of Saxony which was traditionally held by the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha According to Historical statistics a currency converter created by the University of Stockholm 2 500 000 marks in 1910 was the equivalent of 122152 50 British pounds at the time Russia was part of the Soviet Union a communist state at the time Academically focused German secondary school Charles Edward had been at Eton with Henderson and this photograph may have been taken at a meeting of the Anglo German Fellowship that Henderson addressed in May 1937 shortly after his appointment as British ambassador 128 References edit a b c Urbach 2017 p 30 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Facius 1977 Urbach 2017 p 27 Aronson 1981 p 30 Aronson 1981 p 52 Reynolds 2006 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Zeepzat 2008 Urbach 2017 pp 22 23 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oltmann 2001 a b c d e Rushton 2018 p 12 Aronson 1981 pp 61 62 The Infant Duke Of Albany Daily News London 5 December 1884 Retrieved 23 March 2023 via British Newspaper Archive Burke amp Burke 1885 p 103 Aronson 1981 p 48 a b Aronson 1981 p 50 a b Urbach 2017 p 28 Buschel 2016 p 47 Aronson 1981 p 38 Inflation calculator Bank of England Retrieved 15 February 2024 Aronson 1981 pp 38 49 Buschel 2016 pp 49 51 Aronson 1981 pp 50 52 58 Rushton 2018 p 11 Aronson 1981 pp 62 75 Buschel 2016 pp 49 51 Buschel 2016 p 49 Aronson 1981 pp 84 90 Aronson 1981 pp 96 99 Buschel 2016 pp 50 51 a b c Buschel 2016 p 50 Aronson 1981 p 58 Aronson 1981 p 60 Buschel 2016 p 51 Aronson 1981 p 109 Buschel 2016 p 44 Urbach 2017 pp 28 29 Unwilling Prince Is Now a German Duke The New York Times 20 July 1905 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 10 September 2023 a b Kicked into the Kingdom Wellsville Daily Reporter 15 July 1905 p 2 a b Urbach 2017 p 29 a b c d Rushton 2018 p 14 Aronson 1981 pp 111 112 Aronson 1981 p 112 a b c d e Urbach 2017 p 32 Sandner 2004 p 195 a b Rushton 2018 pp 12 13 Aronson 1981 p 118 Urbach 2017 pp 30 31 Rushton 2018 p 13 Rushton 2018 pp 13 14 Rushton 2018 p 54 55 a b Urbach 2017 p 31 Rushton 2018 pp 14 15 Buschel 2016 pp 55 56 a b c Rushton 2018 p 15 a b Weir 2011 p 314 Aronson 1981 p 125 Rushton 2018 p 12 15 Urbach 2017 pp 31 32 Aronson 1981 p 165 Foreign Intelligence Germany Marriage of the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha London and China Express 13 October 1905 p 7 via The British Newspaper Archive Buschel 2016 pp 56 Saxe Coburg and Gotha 2015 p 51 57 Urbach 2017 pp 158 175 Weir 2008 pp 314 15 Rushton 2018 p 17 Priesner 1977 pp 90 94 Royal Children of Europe Saxe Coburg Gotha The Sphere 11 July 1914 p 24 via British Newspaper Archive a b c Urbach 2017 p 178 Rushton 2018 p 16 Urbach 2017 pp 32 33 Rushton 2018 p 17 18 Rushton 2018 pp 28 29 Buschel 2016 p 57 a b c d Buschel 2016 pp 56 60 Rushton 2018 pp 17 20 The Duke of Saxe Coburg Inspects Veterans Daily Mirror 18 August 1910 p 13 via British Newspaper Archive Aronson 1981 pp 164 166 Rushton 2018 p 19 a b c Urbach 2017 pp 16 19 28 29 Rushton 2018 p 28 a b Rushton 2018 pp 19 20 Rushton 2018 p 20 a b Urbach 2017 p 66 Urbach 2017 p 65 Swift MacNeill 1916 Palmer 1916 pp 8 Traitor Peers Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 2 April 1919 p 1 via British Newspaper Archive The Scandal of our Traitor Dukes Sunday Post 30 March 1919 p 22 via British Newspaper Archive Foreign Legislation Great Britain American Bar Association Journal Vol 5 Chicago American Bar Association 1919 p 289 Rushton 2018 p 21 23 Urbach 2017 p 67 a b c d Petropoulos 2018 a b Rushton 2018 pp 21 27 Urbach 2017 p 146 a b Rushton 2018 p 29 a b c Urbach 2017 p 148 Urbach 2017 pp 46 49 Urbach 2017 p 147 Urbach 2017 p 144 Urbach 2017 pp 148 149 Urbach 2017 pp 145 151 152 a b Rushton 2018 pp 29 37 Urbach 2017 pp 150 151 Urbach 2017 pp 155 157 Urbach 2017 p 149 a b Urbach 2017 pp 175 177 Urbach 2017 p 58 Urbach 2017 pp 41 42 Urbach 2017 pp 177 178 a b Rushton 2018 pp 48 49 a b Rushton 2018 pp 39 40 Rushton 2018 p 37 Rushton 2018 p 168 Urbach 2017 pp 59 60 75 Buschel 2016 pp 133 138 Rushton 2018 pp 99 103 Rushton 2018 pp 49 57 Rushton 2018 pp 61 66 Rushton 2018 pp 57 61 Rushton 2018 pp 67 98 Rushton 2018 pp 104 110 Rushton 2018 p 116 143 144 Rushton 2018 pp 112 115 a b c d Urbach 2017 pp 179 207 210 Buschel 2016 p 222 Buschel 2016 pp 222 227 Urbach 2017 pp 199 201 207 Henderson 1940 p 19 Urbach 2017 p 182 Urbach 2017 p 188 a b Urbach 2017 pp 203 204 Urbach 2017 p 195 Urbach 2017 p 185 Buschel 2016 pp 240 248 a b Urbach 2017 p 210 a b c The Duke of Saxe Coburg The Times 8 March 1954 p 10 Buschel 2016 pp 138 139 Buschel 2016 p 255 Mott 2019 Rushton 2018 pp 164 166 Urbach 2017 p 114 Buschel 2016 p 138 Urbach 2017 p 214 216 Rushton 2018 p 165 Urbach 2017 p 2 310 Rushton 2018 pp 3 5 Urbach 2017 pp 309 210 Urbach 2017 p 311 Rushton 2018 pp 5 6 Aronson 1981 pp 428 229 434 436 Rudberg 1947 p 43 Prince and opera star killed in plane crash Ottawa Citizen Associated Press 24 January 1947 Retrieved 24 November 2014 Kungens liv i 60 ar King s life for 60 years in Swedish Royal Court of Sweden Archived from the original on 10 August 2017 Retrieved 9 July 2020 Rushton 2018 p 7 Urbach 2017 pp 312 313 Rushton 2018 p 153 Rushton 2018 p 155 Feuchtwanger 2006 p 278 a b Cadbury 2015 p 306 Buschel 2016 p 259 Rushton 2018 p 172 Duke of Albany The Scotsman 27 January 1953 p 6 via The British Newspaper Archive Buschel 2016 p 260 a b Buschel 2016 pp 259 261 Urbach 2017 pp 65 66 144 183 Aronson 1981 pp 428 436 Buschel 2016 p 28 Mangan 2007 O Donovan 2007 Urbach 2017 p 2 145 154 Moorhouse 2015 Buschel 2016 pp 262 264 Rushton 2018 p 2 Rushton 2018 pp 166 172 Bibliography editAronson Theo 1981 Princess Alice Countess of Athlone Cassell ISBN 9780304307579 Burke Bernard Burke John 1885 Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire Vol 47 Burke s Peerage Limited Buschel Hubertus 2016 Hitlers adliger Diplomat Hitler s royal diplomat in German Frankfurt S Fischer Verlag ISBN 9783100022615 Cadbury Deborah 10 March 2015 Princes at War The Bitter Battle Inside Britain s Royal Family in the Darkest Days of WWII PublicAffairs ISBN 9781610394048 via Google Books Feuchtwanger E J January 2006 Albert and Victoria The Rise and Fall of the House of Saxe Coburg Gotha A amp C Black ISBN 9781852854614 via Google Books Facius Friedrich 1977 Karl Eduard Neue Deutsche Biographie in German Henderson Neville 1940 Failure of a Mission Berlin 1937 1939 London Arcole Publishing ISBN 9781789127850 Mangan Lucy 7 December 2007 Last night s TV The Guardian Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 Retrieved 6 May 2020 Moorhouse Roger 18 July 2015 Go Betweens for Hitler by Karina Urbach The Times ISSN 0140 0460 Retrieved 19 December 2022 Mott Sophia 2019 Dem Paradies so fern Martha Liebermann So far from paradise Martha Liebermann in German Berlin Ebersbach amp Simon ISBN 9783869151724 O Donovan Gerald 7 December 2007 Last night on television Hitler s Favourite Royal Channel 4 Spoil Channel 4 The Telegraph Retrieved 19 December 2022 Oltmann Joachim 18 January 2001 Seine Konigliche Hoheit der Obergruppenfuhrer His Royal Highness the SA group leader Zeit Online in German Palmer Charles 5 August 1916 Traitors Near the Throne John Bull British Newspaper Archive Petropoulos Jonathan 1 February 2018 Hubertus Buschel Hitlers adliger Diplomat Der Herzog von Coburg und das Dritte Reich Hubertus Buschel Hitler s Noble Diplomat The Duke of Coburg and the Third Reich The American Historical Review 123 1 320 321 doi 10 1093 ahr 123 1 320 ISSN 0002 8762 via Book Review Digest Plus H W Wilson Priesner Rudolf 1977 Herzog Carl Eduard zwischen Deutschland und England eine tragische Auseinandersetzung Duke Carl Eduard between Germany and England a tragic confrontation in German Hohenloher Druck und Verlagshaus ISBN 9783873540637 Reynolds K D 28 September 2006 Leopold Prince first duke of Albany Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 16475 Subscription or UK public library membership required Rudberg Erik ed 1947 Svenska dagbladets arsbok 1946 Svenska Dagsbladet Yearbook 1946 in Swedish Stockholm Svenska Dagbladet SELIBR 283647 Rushton Alan R 2018 Charles Edward of Saxe Coburg The German Red Cross and the Plan to Kill Unfit Citizens 1933 1945 Cambridge Scholars Publishing ISBN 9781527513402 Sandner Harald 2004 II 8 0 Herzog Carl Eduard Das Haus von Sachsen Coburg und Gotha 1826 bis 2001 The House of Saxe Coburg and Gotha 1826 to 2001 in German Andreas Prinz von Sachsen Coburg und Gotha preface Coburg Neue Presse GmbH ISBN 9783000085253 Saxe Coburg and Gotha H H Prince Andreas 2015 I Did It My Way Memoirs of HH Prince Andreas of Saxe Coburg and Gotha Eurohistory com ISBN 9781944207007 Swift MacNeill J G 11 April 1916 A Slur on the House of Lords The Times Urbach Karina 2017 Go Betweens for Hitler 2nd ed Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 9780191008672 Weir Alison 2008 Britain s Royal Families The Complete Genealogy London UK Vintage Books ISBN 9780099539735 Weir Alison 18 April 2011 Britain s Royal Families The Complete Genealogy Random House ISBN 9781446449110 via Google Books Zeepzat Charlotte 3 January 2008 Charles Edward Prince second duke of Albany Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 41068 ISBN 9780198614128 Subscription or UK public library membership required Further reading editSandner Harald 2010 Hitlers Herzog Carl Eduard von Sachsen Coburg und Gotha die Biographie Hitler s Duke Carl Eduard of Saxe Coburg and Gotha The Biography Aachen External links edit nbsp Media related to Charles Edward Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha at Wikimedia Commons Newspaper clippings about Charles Edward Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW Portraits of Prince Charles Edward Duke of Albany and Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha at the National Portrait Gallery London nbsp Charles Edward Duke of Saxe Coburg and GothaHouse of Saxe Coburg and GothaCadet branch of the House of WettinBorn 19 July 1884 Died 6 March 1954 German nobility Preceded byAlfred Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha30 July 1900 14 November 1918 Abolished Peerage of the United Kingdom VacantTitle last held byPrince Leopold Duke of Albany creation of 1881 1884 1919 Deprived Titles in pretence Loss of titles TITULAR Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha14 November 1918 6 March 1954Reason for succession failure German Revolution of 1918 19 Succeeded byPrince Friedrich Josias TITULAR Duke of Albany28 March 1919 6 March 1954Reason for succession failure Titles Deprivation Act 1917 Succeeded byPrince Johann Leopold Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charles Edward Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha amp oldid 1223964929, wikipedia, wiki, book, 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