family's stay in Darmstadt, on the occasion of the celebration for Cecilie's official engagement in April 1930, to send Alice to a psychiatric hospital located in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. Marriage and settling in Germany Wedding With her sister Sophie having become engaged almost at the same time as her to another member of the House of Hesse, Prince Christoph of Hesse, Cecilie made the preparations for her wedding in the company of her younger sister, aged 16. The two princesses thus went to London, in the spring of 1930, in order to obtain new clothes. Shortly after, they returned to Paris to put together their trousseau and buy their wedding dresses. The nuptials of Sophie and Christoph were celebrated at Schlosshotel Kronberg in Kronberg im Taunus on 15 December 1930. The wedding of Cecilie and Georg Donatus took place at the Neue Palais in Darmstadt on 2 February 1931. To the surprise of the foreign guests, who expected a much colder welcome from a population that had dethroned Grand Duke Ernest Louis in 1918, the wedding aroused the enthusiasm of the people, who gathered in droves to attend the event and cheer their former princely family. The couple were married in a double religious ceremony, both Orthodox and Lutheran. The ceremony brought together some fifty guests from all over Europe, but took place in the absence of the bride's mother Princess Alice, who was still hospitalized in Switzerland. Motherhood and reconnecting with Alice After their marriage, Cecilie and Georg Donatus moved to Schloß Wolfsgarten, the main residence of Grand Duke Ernest Louis and his wife Grand Duchess Eleonore, since their deposition. In Hesse, the young couple led a relatively simple life, punctuated by frequent stays abroad. Cecilie was involved in several charitable organizations and became the head of Alice Frauen Verein, an association dedicated to women. She also quickly gave birth to three children: Prince Ludwig (born 25 October 1931), Prince Alexander (born 14 April 1933) and Princess Johanna of Hesse (born 20 September 1936). Very close to her family, Cecilie was concerned about the situation of her mother, who remained institutionalized until the beginning of 1933. During this period, the relationship between Alice and her children became complicated. Cecilie maintained correspondence with her mother, and visited her once in Kreuzlingen. However, Alice was angry with those close to her for having her intitiutionalized and her anger manifested itself in fits