The most popular man in Germany is the Kaiser, and the Kaiserin is the most popular woman. William II may have his critics, but no one can deny that in him Augusta Victoria has found what she considers an ideal husband. The only domestic tyranny that I heard of his engaging in is, that every birthday he gives the Kaiserin twelve hats for a present. These hats he picks out himself, and she has to wear them. From the pictures one sees of the Kaiserin wearing a hat one does feel that he is a sort of barbarian and rather rough on his wife. On her last birthday when I was in Berlin, she would allow no gifts to be given her--perhaps she wanted one year without hats--and instead, she requested all the givers to send wine, jams and preserves to the soldiers. This collection was called the Kaiserin's birthday gift. [Illustration: _The Kaiserin of Germany._] Except for the present war, the life and reign of Augusta Victoria has been a peaceful one, and it is now twenty-eight years since she became the first lady in the land. She was born in the little castle of Dolzig in Schleswig-Holstein, and there she spent her childhood with her two younger sisters and her brother. The young Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, the present Kaiser, was a half cousin of the young Princess, their mothers being half sisters. Prince Wilhelm had seen her but once at an English court party given by a mutual relative, and it was not until he was invited to a hunting-party at her father's castle that they became acquainted. [Illustration: _The Crown Princess Cecilia._] [Illustration: _Princess Eitel Friedrich, Wife of Second Son._] The hunting-party was in 1878, and it brought a great booty. The story goes that after the hunt the young Prince was walking in the garden when suddenly he came upon the young Princess--that was the beginning of the courtship, and a year later they were married. When Bismarck heard the news he exclaimed, "A happy ending to a kingdom's drama." Bismarck had probably arranged the match, for Schleswig-Holstein was restless and needed to be bound more securely to the states of Germany. [Illustration: _Princess Adalbert, Wife of Third Son._] The Prince and Princess entered Berlin through the Brandenburg Gate. Six years later, Emperor Wilhelm I died, and less than a year later his son died, and Kaiser Wilhelm II and Augusta Victoria ascended the throne. On the 6th of May, 1882, the present Crown-Prince was born. His father was so excited that he opened the window of the Marble Palace and yelled across to his father's palace, "Father, it is a boy. Hurrah! The fourth German Kaiser!" The child was christened with the full name of Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst. [Illustration: _Princess August Wilhelm, Wife of Fourth Son._]