Wilhelm II, German Emperor news that Queen Victoria was dying at Osborne House in January 1901, Wilhelm traveled to England and was at her bedside when she died, remaining for the funeral. He also was present at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910. In 1913, Wilhelm hosted a lavish wedding in Berlin for his only daughter, Victoria Louise. Among the guests at the wedding were his second cousin once removed and third cousin Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, who also disliked Wilhelm, and his English cousin, King George V and his wife, Queen Mary. Wilhelm's biographer Lamar Cecil identified Wilhelm's "curious but
SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II battleships rendezvoused with the Baltic cruiser division in the Bay of Pomerania and then departed on the sortie. Two days later, the fleet arrived off Gotland to show the German flag, and was back in Kiel by 30 December. The squadron returned to the North Sea for guard duties, but was withdrawn from front-line service in February 1915. Shortages of trained crews in the High Seas Fleet, coupled with the risk of operating older ships in wartime, necessitated the deactivation of "Kaiser Wilhelm II" and her sisters. During this period, her sister briefly served as the squadron flagship, but "Kaiser