Daisy, Princess of Pless, 1873-1943: A Discovery

Pauline Carey is an actor, playwright, and fiction writer. She is the
author of Magic and What’s in a Name?

In 1891, the well-born Englishwoman Daisy Cornwallis-West married Hans
Heinrich of Pless, a German prince and heir to a fortune. They moved to
a castle in Silesia (then part of Germany) and spent both World Wars in
Germany until her death in 1943.

This biography is a dense read that ultimately delivers a moving
portrait of a privileged woman, caught in catastrophic events of
history, who was not content to stay at home.

From her arrival in Silesia, she busied herself doing good works among
the thousands of mainly Polish workers on Hans’s payroll. She then
moved into social reform, agitating for the cleansing of the local
river, setting up “cripple schools” for workers’ children, and
lace schools that revived an ailing Silesian industry. As World War I
loomed, she used her friendships with King Edward of England, Emperor
Wilhelm of Germany, and other powerful connections to try to avert the
disaster.

When war came, Daisy offered her services to the Red Cross for work
among the German wounded but was continually the target of a hostile
press and often accused of spying. She was ordered out of Berlin,
dismissed from a hospital, and not allowed to visit her second home, the
Castle of Pless, which had become the centre of the German command. She
vigorously fought the accusations, and her husband, now aide-de-camp to
the Emperor, supported her throughout. Yet Daisy was not happy in her
arranged marriage, and she and Hans were divorced in 1922. Her longing
for love runs as a melancholy strain through a story that has no happy
ending.

John Koch, a former history student who was born in Silesia close to
Daisy’s former home, has adapted his 1990 German biography for
English-speaking readers. The professional presentation of this version,
which includes an index, photos, and maps, is unfortunately marred by
careless editing. The story remains, however, a detailed history of
Daisy’s life and times (which is enriched with generous excerpts from
her letters and diaries) and an absorbing tale of an unconventional
woman who would not shut up.