A new book by Dr. Ulrike Grunewald, "A Royal Outcast - The Life and Scandal of Princess Louise," draws striking parallels between Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, an ancestress of Queen Victoria, and Diana, Princess of Wales. Both women were born into noble families, possessed beauty and charm, and married older men, leading to unhappy marriages and intense public scrutiny. Grunewald's research highlights how both women became royal outcasts due to scandals, though not entirely of their own making, and both died young in Paris, leaving behind sons who played significant roles in royal history.
Princess Louise, born in 1800, was the last heiress of a small but wealthy German duchy. She married Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, at 16 and was known for her charisma and unconventional nature, earning the title "princess of hearts." Similarly, Diana Spencer, born over 150 years later, married Prince Charles and was celebrated for her warmth and approachability, challenging royal conventions. Both women became mothers to future heirs and experienced the collapse of their marriages due to accusations of infidelity. Louise was accused of an affair with a courtier, while Diana famously alluded to Prince Charles's relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles and confessed to her own adultery.
The consequences of these scandals differed dramatically for the women. Louise was divorced in 1826, stripped of her inheritance, and banished from court, with her subjects threatening revolution to keep her. She never saw her sons again and died at 30 from cancer. Diana divorced Prince Charles in 1996, lost her HRH title, and her prospect of becoming queen. She died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 at 36. Grunewald suggests Louise was erased from history to protect the reputation of her son, Prince Albert, and the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dynasty, while Diana's story is well-documented, securing her place in royal history.