Following Victoria's death in 1901, Louise entered the social circle established by her elder brother, the new king, Edward VII. Louise's marriage survived thanks to long periods of separation; the couple reconciled in 1911 and she was devastated by her husband's death in 1914. After the end of the First World War in 1918, at the age of 70, she began to retire from public life, undertaking few public duties outside Kensington Palace, where she died at the age of 91.