I've recently been studying the history of post-Versailles Germany, and one of the topics that always draws me in is the exiled life of Wilhelm II. However, when looking deeper into his family and their activities during the era, there was one spot I couldn't find sufficient information on. According to several sources, the marraige between Wilhelm and Hermine was discouraged not only by his supporters, but his children as well. When looking deeper, I couldn't find any reasons as to why. Was it her recent status as a widow? The presence of children from her previous marraige? Her comparatively lesser rank in noblity? I would highly appreciate it if someone could tell me why, as this has been bugging me all week.
Wilhelm II (1859-1941) had been Kaiser and King of Prussia for thirty years before his abdication; he'd been married to Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (1858-1921) for forty years before her death, which completely overset him. Not only did he lose his life's companion, his changed position (and perhaps his role in devastating Europe with WWI) caused his royal relations to snub him, the funeral, and the rituals of condolence that he expected to be paid. But after some months of attention from his closer relatives and friends, his spirits perked up again and he started looking for a new wife, as Augusta Victoria had asked him to on her deathbed. He became engaged to Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz (1887-1947) more than a year later and married her after a few months.
His younger children objected on the same grounds that a lot of people do when a parent remarries: 1) "it's too soon" and 2) "our mother was amazing, how could you replace her with someone so ordinary?" Prince August Wilhelm, Prince Oskar, and Princess Viktoria Luise all asked him not to remarry, and he told them that he understood their feelings but hoped they would be supportive. Hermine hung up a portrait of their mother in her rooms and commissioned a biography to be written of her into order to show them that she respected the empress's memory ... but she also insisted on people using the title Kaiserin for her, as Wilhelm had allowed her to have it, which can't have helped.
Politically, the issues were more pragmatic. Princess Hermine was in debt, which was relieved by her marriage and pre-nup: again, not an unusual reason for people to be suspicious of a marriage today. The monarchists who hoped to see Wilhelm or one of his sons back on the throne someday also thought that the marriage was too big of a step down - even though Hermine was still a princess by birth, she was the princess of one of the tiny German duchies/principalities rather than the daughter of a real king or emperor - and would reflect poorly on the Hohenzollern dynasty. Consider that royal marriage was as much about making a "career move" as it was a personal choice; this was sort of like an executive who was briefly out of work accepting a lower-level position that paid less.