TSAR NICHOLAS II & GEORGE V

Two autograph notes, one in the hand of Nicholas II, in pencil, the other by George V, in pen, in German, proposing a toast to the health of the Emperor and their respective German regiments, with covering letter, Berlin, 1913

Footnotes

The letter which explains the circumstances under which these notes were written was penned by George V's equerry, Sir Frederick Ponsonby, and reads "When the King and the Emperor of Russia were in Berlin they went to luncheon with their respective German Regiments and agreed to use the same words when proposing the health of the Emperor and the Regiment. They each took down the toast on slips of paper." As a matter of courtesy it was customary for monarchs to wear the uniforms of the host country's regiments, and a photograph taken at the time (a copy of which is in the Royal Collection) shows Tsar Nicholas in the uniform of the 8th (1st Westphalian) Hussar 'Emperor Nicholas II of Russia' regiment and George V in the uniform of the 8th (Rhenish) Cuirassiers 'Count Geßler' regiment. The King had been appointed the honorary role of Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment in January 1902 whilst Prince of Wales and served as such until the outbreak of war in 1914 (www.rct.co.uk).

The cousins, who bore an uncanny physical resemblance, were in Berlin to celebrate the wedding of Kaiser Wilhelm's daughter Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia to Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover on 24 May 1913. It was a sumptuous affair and brought together the crowned heads of Europe in what was to be the last great social gathering of European royalty before the outbreak of the first world war just fourteen months later.

Provenance: Sir Frederick Edward Grey Ponsonby, 1st Baron Sysonby (1867-1935); Maj. Gen. Sir John Ponsonby (1866-1952); private collection UK.