Not only did she have to play second fiddle to the Princess of Wales (whose father was *only* a king, and who moreover acquired a throne 8 years after her father) but also, she was outranked her sisters-in- law -- the younger daughters of Queen Victoria (whom their mother refused to allow to leave the country to marry foreign royals) -- when she was alone with them. After all, they were all born princesses of the UK, and had succession rights to the throne. So she outranked Helena, Louise, and Beatrice (the latter being the constant companion of the queen) only the presence of her husband, the Duke.
But once he ascended the throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the reigning duke (succeeding his uncle Ernst II in 1893), things changed dramatically. So my question is: just what exactly happened to the rank of the new duchess consort in Great Britain? How did things pan out in relations with her sisters-in-law and the Princess of Wales? I know that the Edinburgh family left the country in the 1880's, in preparation for the duke's eventual accession to the German throne. But still, they had to pay visits the UK on occasion, before and after the move.
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