'A beautiful very hot morning. — Drove Beatrice in the nice little pony carriage, with my charming ponies — On coming home, found a telegram from Fräulein Bauer saying: “Pce Fritz has fallen out of the window, no wounds, but he is unconscious, & the Princess is in the greatest anxiety.” Dreadfully shocked & alarmed. Telegraphed at once to dear Alice & Frl: Bauer, asking to hear again, & when we were at luncheon I telegraphed to Fanny Baillie for details, as to how the accident happened. Alas! before this was sent off I got a telegram from Pss Charles of Hesse saying “Poor Fritz just expired.” That was after 1. Too, too dreadful, my poor darling Alice! This was such a pretty sweet boy on whom poor dear Alice doted. His health had often caused his Parents great anxiety. Wrote at once to poor dear Alice, who is never out of my thoughts. The absence, so far, of all details, is very trying. — Drove with Beatrice, by Aberarder. — Only she & Leopold dined with me. Endless telegrams kept coming in, but no news from Darmstadt, only from Miss Hardinge, to say dear Alice was calm. —”
30th May 1873 -
“A splendid, very hot morning. — Constantly thinking of poor dear Alice & most anxious for news. — Rode up Craig Gowan, Fanny D. walking with me. The view was splendid, but it was very hot. Walked down the steep part. — Received a telegram from Miss Hardinge saying that the poor child had fallen out of Alice’s bedroom window, that at first there had been some hope, but that it soon vanished. — Received many telegrams. Such immense sympathy is shown. — Saw Ly Erroll for a moment who had just arrived. — In the afternoon drove to the Glassalt with Beatrice & the 2 Maids of Honour. — It was looking lovely. Took tea in the dear little house & then walked to the end of the Loch. — Leopold, the 3 Ladies & Ld Ripon dined. — Had good accounts of poor dear Alice.”
On 29th May Frittie ( as he was known within the family) and his brother Prince Ernst Louis were playing a game and Ernst ran into a room to the right of their mothers. As he got closer to the window, Alice ran out the room to move him away. Wanting to see his brother in the other room, Friedrich climbed onto a chair next to an open window. The chair tipped up, causing him to fall out of the window onto a balustrade twenty feet below. At first he survived, but his haemophilia caused a severe brain haemorrhage, which killed him a few hours later. He died aged just two.
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