“house-law,” which, as in the case of other German noble families, regulates the domestic concerns of the House of Hohenzollern.  Bismarck disposes of the assertion that a Hohenzollern prince mortally stricken is not capable of succession as a “fable,” and adds that the Constitution, too, contains no stipulation of the sort.  The influence of his mother on the Emperor’s character did not extend beyond his childhood, while probably the only natural dispositions he inherited from her were his strength of will and his appreciation of classical art and music.  Many of her political ideas were diametrically opposed to those of her son.  Her love of art made her pro-French, and her visit to Paris, it will be remembered, not being made incognito, led to international unpleasantness, originating in the foolish Chauvinism of some leading French painters whose ateliers she desired to inspect.  She believed in a homogeneous German Empire without any federation of kingdoms and states, advocated a Constitution for Russia, and was satisfied that the common sense of a people outweighed its ignorance and stupidity.

The Emperor has four sisters and a brother.  The sisters are Charlotte, born in 1860, and married to the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen; Victoria, born in 1866, and married to Prince Adolphus of Schaumberg-Lippe; Sophie, born in 1870, and married to King Constantine, of Greece; and Margarete, born in 1872, and married to Prince Friederich Karl of Hessen.

The Emperor’s only brother, Prince Henry of Prussia, was born in 1862, and is married to Princess Irene of Hessen.  He is probably the most popular Hohenzollern to-day.  He adopted the navy as a profession and devotes himself to its duties, taking no part in politics.  Like the Emperor himself and the Emperor’s heir, the Crown Prince, he is a great promoter of sport, and while a fair golfer (with a handicap of 14) and tennis player, gives much of his leisure to the encouragement of the automobile and other industries.  Every Hohenzollern is supposed to learn a handicraft.  The Emperor did not, owing to his shortened left arm.  Prince Henry learned book-binding under a leading Berlin bookbinder, Herr Collin.  The Crown Prince is a turner.  Prince Henry seems perfectly satisfied with his position in the Empire as Inspector-General of the Fleet, stands to attention when talking to the Emperor in public, and on formal occasions addresses him as “Majesty” like every one else.  Only in private conversation does he allow himself the use of the familiar Du.  The Emperor has a strong affection for him, and always calls him “Heinrich.”