Princess Marie Gasparine of Saxe-Altenburg
Princess Marie Gasparine of Saxe-Altenburg was a daughter of Prince Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife Princess Louise Caroline Reuss of Greiz. She was the consort of Charles Gonthier, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.Marriage
Marie was considered as a potential spouse for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the eldest son and heir of Queen Victoria. A London newspaper speculated that the prince's choices were limited to seven women, who were all of sufficient royal blood, followers of a Protestant religion, and his age or younger. Some of the other candidates included Marie of the Netherlands, Elisabeth of Wied, Anna of Hesse-Darmstadt, Alexandrine of Prussia, Alexandra of Denmark, Wilhelmine of Württemberg, Catherine of Oldenburg and Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein. Marie was eliminated from this list however, as she was considered "shockingly dressed and always with her most disagreeable mother," and the Prince of Wales ultimately married Alexandra of Denmark in 1863.
On 12 June 1869, Marie married Charles Gonthier, Hereditary Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in Altenburg. Charles succeeded his father on 17 July 1880, and Marie became the Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Their failure to have children meant the end of the House of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Charles' cousin Günther Victor succeeded him in 1909.
Marie Gasparine died on 5 July 1930 in Sondershausen, Weimar Republic.Ancestry
