Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

Caroline Mathilde's elder sister, Augusta Viktoria was German Empress and Queen of Prussia as the wife of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Karoline Mathilde was Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and later Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein as the wife of Friedrich Ferdinand. Caroline's maternal grandmother Princess Feodora of Leiningen was the half-sister of Queen Victoria.

Caroline Mathilde married Friedrich Ferdinand, the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe and a nephew of Christian IX of Denmark, on 19 March 1885 at Primkenau. Friedrich Ferdinand and Caroline Mathilde had six children:

• Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (31 December 1885 – 3 October 1970)
• Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (21 April 1887 – 15 April 1957)
• Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1 June 1888 – 30 June 1962)
• Princess Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (19 October 1889 – 11 June 1964)
• Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (23 August 1891 – 10 February 1965)
• Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (11 May 1894 – 28 January 1972)

After the overthrow of the Hohenzollern dynasty at the end of World War I, Caroline and her family lived quietly, seldom seen outside Grünholz Castle.^[1]

Caroline died on 20 February 1932, aged 72, at their castle. A few years previously, she had suffered an attack of heart disease and never completely recovered. Her husband was the only family member present on her deathbed.^[1]