mpartiality and all
absence of prejudice at Windsor.

Empress Frederick was naturally deeply offended by the precautionary
measures adopted by the emperor on his father's death, and saw therein
a new and most insulting indication of his unfilial conduct towards
herself. Nor were the relations between the mother and the son
improved, but on the contrary rather aggravated by the presence of the
Prince of Wales at Berlin. The latter remained in the Prussian capital
for a number of weeks after the funeral of Emperor Frederick, and the
English newspapers, which had been most outspoken in their criticisms
of the young emperor's attitude towards his parents, did not hesitate
to declare openly that if the prince was continuing his stay in
Berlin, it was for the purpose of championing the interests of his
favorite sister, and of protecting her from the insults of her son,
and of the latter's mentor and chief counsellor, Prince Bismarck.

There were all sorts of troublesome questions cropping up between the
mother and the son during the first few months of her widowhood, many
of which were inevitable; for certain courses of policy upon
which Emperor Frederick had embarked were disapproved by the young
sovereign's constitutional advisers. Then, too, it would appear that
Frederick III. had taken advantage of his brief tenure of power to
unduly favor his wife and his younger children at the expense of the
Hohenzollern family property in a manner that was not in consonance
with the traditions of the reigning house. It was also whispered
that the late emperor had lent a very large sum of money to his
brother-in-law, the Prince of Wales, and it was further asserted that
the then minister of the imperial household had preferred resigning
his post to countenancing such a use of the money belonging to
the Hohenzollern family. There was the question, moreover, of the
distribution of the palaces. While William was perfectly ready to
permit his mother to keep her residence at Berlin, he felt that he
was entitled, as emperor and chief of the family, to the new palace of
Potsdam, the finest of the lot, and the only one roomy enough for the
abode of a reigning sovereign. It was, therefore, necessary that he
should have possession thereof. His mother, on the other hand, took
the ground that inasmuch as it had been her principal home throughout
her married life, that nearly all her children had been born there,
and that it was in many respects