Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff

Prince Carl (Charles) of Prussia

Also known as: Prince de Prusse, Prusse, prince Charles de Prusse, le charcutier d'en haut

People · Aristocracy DE Pronunciation
Show in diary 16 mentions

Overview

Prince Carl of Prussia (29 June 1801 – 21 January 1883), a son of King Frederick William III and brother of Emperor Wilhelm I, travelled often in Italy (Wikipedia, «Prince Carl of Prussia»). In the diary he is «le prince de Prusse» or «le prince Charles de Prusse». His court marshal was Count Gerhard Dönhoff, whom Marie knew well: the Mon Journal t.10 index describes Doenhoff as «chambellan de l'empereur d'Allemagne, maréchal de la cour du prince Charles de Prusse» (see #Doenhoff).

Relevance to Marie

Every reference so far is to this prince and to the Hôtel du Louvre in Naples, where he stayed in 1876 and 1877.

  • Naples, April 1876. On arrival Marie finds that «à cet hôtel il y a le prince et la princesse de Prusse, qui occupent les meilleurs appartements» (057.0204); Doenhoff «est ici avec le prince et la princesse Charles de Prusse» (058.0023, 058.0159).
  • Naples, February–April 1877. The Bashkirtseffs move to the entresol of the Hôtel du Louvre because «le premier et le second sont retenus pour le prince Charles de Prusse» (068.1549). On 6 April 1877 King Victor Emmanuel II calls on the prince at the hotel, and Marie stops the King on the staircase (070.0134). The prince then tells the King that Russian girls «font des folies pour l'empereur et que c'est aussi pur que les anges du ciel», to which Marie replies in her diary «Merci, charcutier !» (070.0149). «Charcutier» is her slur for the Germans (069.0566); she uses it for the prince again in 070.0152 and calls him «le charcutier d'en haut», the one upstairs, on 20 April (070.0736). The King asks about her at the prince's (070.0266).
  • July 1877. Rosalie meets «le courrier du prince de Prusse, celui qui est si souvent venu nous apporter des bouquets et des messages de Doenhoff» (072.0515).

References in Diary

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