Editing Frederick III, German Emperor (section)

===Marriage and family===
{{See also|Rulers of Germany family tree}}
[[Image:Victoria, Princess Royal.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Victoria, Princess Royal]]—eldest daughter of [[Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom]]—whom Frederick married in 1858]]
[[File:The Crown Prince of Prussia and Prince Wilhelm II. at Balmoral Castle. - Oct. 1863.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Frederick and his son, Wilhelm, in October 1863 at Balmoral castle]]
Royal marriages of the 19th century were arranged to secure alliances and to maintain blood ties among the European nations. As early as 1851, [[Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom]] and her German-born husband, [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], were making plans to marry their eldest daughter, [[Victoria, Princess Royal]], to Frederick. The royal dynasty in Britain was predominantly German; there was little British blood in Queen Victoria, and none in her husband.<ref name="VdK-15">Van der Kiste, p. 15.</ref> They desired to maintain their family's blood ties to Germany, and Prince Albert further hoped that the marriage would lead to the liberalization and modernization of Prussia. King [[Leopold I of Belgium]], uncle of both Victoria and Albert, also favoured this pairing; he had long treasured [[Baron Stockmar]]'s idea of a marriage alliance between Britain and Prussia.<ref name="VdK-16">Van der Kiste, p. 16.</ref> Frederick's father, Prince William, had no interest in the arrangement, hoping instead for a [[Russian grand duchess]] as his daughter-in-law.<ref name="VdK-15" /> However, Princess Augusta was greatly in favour of a match for her son that would bring closer connections with Britain.<ref name="MacDonogh-17" /> In 1851, his mother sent Frederick to England, ostensibly to visit the [[Great Exhibition]] but in truth, she hoped that the cradle of liberalism and home of the industrial revolution would have a positive influence on her son. Prince Albert took Frederick under his wing during his stay but it was Albert's daughter, only eleven at the time, who guided the German prince around the Exhibition. Frederick only knew a few words of English, while Princess Victoria could converse fluently in German. He was impressed by her mix of innocence, intellectual curiosity and simplicity, and their meeting proved to be a success. A regular exchange of letters between Victoria and Frederick followed.<ref name="Fred"/>
[[File: Frederico da Prússia - 1855.jpg|thumb|left|Prince Frederick, {{circa|1855}}]]
Frederick proposed to Victoria in 1855, when she was 14 years old. The betrothal of the young couple was announced on 19 May 1857, at Buckingham Palace and the Prussian Court,<ref name="VdK-31">Van der Kiste, p. 31.</ref> and their marriage took place on 25 January 1858 in the Chapel Royal of [[St. James's Palace]], London. To mark the occasion, Frederick was promoted to major-general in the Prussian army. Although it was an arranged marriage, the newlyweds were compatible from the start and their marriage was a loving one;<ref name="MacDonogh-17-18">MacDonogh, pp. 17–18.</ref><ref name="VdK-43">Van der Kiste, p. 43.</ref> Victoria too had received a liberal education and shared her husband's views. Of the two, Victoria was the dominant one in the relationship.<ref name="Fred"/> The couple often resided at the [[Kronprinzenpalais|Crown Prince's Palace]] and had eight children: [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm]] in 1859, [[Charlotte, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen|Charlotte]] in 1860, [[Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia|Henry]] in 1862, [[Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1864-1866)|Sigismund]] in 1864, [[Princess Viktoria of Prussia|Victoria]] in 1866, [[Prince Waldemar of Prussia (1868-1879)|Waldemar]] in 1868, [[Sophia of Prussia|Sophia]] in 1870 and [[Princess Margaret of Prussia|Margaret]] in 1872. Sigismund died at the age of 2 and Waldemar at age 11,<ref name="Kollander-21">Kollander, p. 21.</ref> and their eldest son, Wilhelm, suffered from a withered arm—probably [[Erb's Palsy]] due to his difficult and dangerous [[breech birth]], although it could have also resulted from a mild case of [[cerebral palsy]].<ref name="Röhl-12">Röhl 1998, p. 12.</ref><ref name="MacDonogh-22">MacDonogh, p. 22.</ref> Wilhelm, who became emperor after Frederick's death, shared none of his parents' liberal ideas; his mother viewed him as a "complete Prussian".<ref name="Röhl-101">Röhl 1998, p. 101.</ref> This difference in ideology created a rift between Wilhelm and his parents (which was exacerbated by Bismarck's interference), and relations between them were strained throughout their lives.<ref name="Röhl-101" /><ref name="Röhl-xiii">Röhl 1998, p. xiii.</ref>