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 training exercises and visits to foreign ports. She was replaced as flagship by the new battleship . After the new dreadnought battleships began entering service in 1908, "Kaiser Wilhelm II" was decommissioned and put into reserve. She was reactivated in 1910 for training ship duties in the Baltic, but was again taken out of service in 1912. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, "Kaiser Wilhelm II" and her sisters were brought back into active duty as coastal defense ships in the V Battle Squadron. Her age, coupled with shortages of ship crews, led to her withdrawal