The former Abbey Church in Amorbach (Bavaria)

The English visitor who comes to Amorbach, the small town in the Odenwald, will not only be interested in the famous Abbey Church and its long history but also in the association between the Princely House of Leiningen and the English Royal Family. 

Few English people know that Qucen Victoria’s mother who was born into the House of Saxe-Coburg was first married to Prince Emich Karl of Leiningen who died at an early age leaving her widowed at thirty with two children, Karl and Feodora. Edward Duke of Kent met Victoire of Leiningen when he was visiting German Courts in 1816, and he was as impressed by her appearance and character as by the demcanour of her children Karl and Feodora of Leiningen. Edward Duke of Kent asked Victoire to marry him, she promised to take his proposal into serious consideration. She finally agreed, notwithstanding the fact that she would be giving up an agreeable and independent life but hoping to be compensated by the Duke’s companionship.