page_title: Victoria, Princess Royal
section_title: Agony of William I and Frederick III's disease
hierarchical_section_title: Victoria, Princess Royal / German Empress / Agony of William I and Frederick III's disease
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der Trauerzug von Kaiser Wilhelm I in Berlin-Mitte, im Hintergrund kann man den alten Berliner Dom sehen.English: Funeral procession of German Emperor William I in Mitte, in the background you can see the old Berlin Cathedral.
context_page_description: Victoria, Princess Royal was German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was created Princess Royal in 1841. She was the mother of Wilhelm II, German Emperor.
  Educated by her father in a politically liberal environment, Victoria was married at age 17 to Prince Frederick of Prussia, with whom she had eight children. Victoria shared with Frederick her liberal views and hopes that Prussia and the later German Empire should become a constitutional monarchy, based on the British model. Criticised for this attitude and for her English origins, Victoria suffered ostracism by the Hohenzollerns and the Berlin court. This isolation increased after the rise to power of Otto von Bismarck in 1862.
  Victoria was empress for only a few months, during which she had opportunity to influence the policy of the German Empire. Frederick III died in 1888 – just 99 days after his accession – from laryngeal cancer and was succeeded by their son William II, who had much more conservative views than his parents.
context_section_description: In 1887, the health of the 90-year-old William I declined rapidly, indicating that the succession was close. However, the crown prince was also ill. Increasingly sickly, Frederick was told that he had laryngeal cancer. To confirm his suspicions, Frederick was examined by British physician Morell Mackenzie, who after a biopsy did not find any sign of illness.
  With the agreement of his physicians, Frederick went with his wife to Great Britain for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in June 1887. On that trip, the couple secretly brought to Windsor Castle three boxes full of personal documents that they wanted to keep away from the eyes of Bismarck and the Hohenzollerns. Always eager to harm the crown prince, the imperial chancellor continued his intrigues against Victoria. With the help of chamberlain Hugo von Radolinski and painter Götz de Seckendorff, he tried to prepare a final report against the crown princess.
  Because the health of the crown prince did not improve, Mackenzie advised him to go to Italy to undergo treatment. Frederick and Victoria went to San Remo in September 1887, causing outrage in Berlin because, despite the continued deterioration in the emperor's health, the couple didn't return to the capital. In early November, Frederick completely lost the use of speech and German doctors were summoned by Victoria to San Remo for further examinations. Finally, he was diagnosed with a malignant tumour and the only possible treatment was the removal of his larynx, but the crown prince refused. Victoria supported her husband in his decision, which caused a serious argument with her son William, who shortly before had arrived in Italy and accused his mother of being happy with Frederick's disease.
  In Berlin, the agony of William I lasted several months until, on 9 March 1888, the first German emperor finally died. His son succeeded him as king of Prussia and German emperor under the name of Frederick III.
caption: Emperor William I's funeral procession
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