At a moment when the entire world has its eyes fixed upon the invalid
of the Villa Zurio, it appears to us to be of interest to publish the
portrait of his son, Prince William. The military spirit of the
Hohenzollerns is found in him in all its force and exclusiveness. It
was hoped that the accession of the crown prince to the throne of
Germany would temper the harshness of it and modernize its aspect, but
the painful disease from which he is suffering warns us that the
moment may soon come in which the son will be called to succeed the
Emperor William, his grandfather, of whom he is morally the perfect
portrait. Like him, he loves the army, and makes it the object of his
entire attention. No colonel more scrupulously performs his duty than
he, when he enters the quarters of the regiment of red hussars whose
chief he is.
His solicitude for the army manifests itself openly. It is not without
pride that he regards his eldest son, who will soon be six years old,
and who is already clad in the uniform of a fusilier of the Guard.
Prince William is a soldier in spirit, just as harsh toward himself as
severe toward others. So he is the friend and emulator of Prince Von
Bismarck, who sees in him the depositary of the military traditions of
the house of Prussia, and who is preparing him by his lessons and his
advice to receive and preserve the patrimony that his ancestors have
conquered.
Prince William was born January 27, 1859. On the 29th of February,
1881, he married Princess Augusta Victoria, daughter of the Duke of
Sleswick-Holstein. Their eldest son, little Prince William,
represented with his father in our engraving, was born at Potsdam, May
6, 1882.--_L'Illustration._
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