and her sister Sophie was preparing to move to Athens in order to marry the Crown Prince of Greece. The Emperor died on 9 March 1888, and Frederick William and Victoria became the new emperor and empress. Frederick, however, was dying of throat cancer, and reigned for only 99 days before succumbing to his illness on 15 June. Viktoria's eldest brother, now Emperor Wilhelm II, despised his parents and, though Frederick had requested in his will that Wilhelm allow Viktoria to marry Sandro, the new emperor instead wrote to Sandro to definitively end the couple's courtship. Sandro returned to Viktoria all the letters and gifts she had sent to him, and wrote her a farewell note. Viktoria, now 22, worried she might end up a spinster. Not considered an attractive girl – especially by herself – Viktoria tried to improve her appearance by dieting "maniacally" to the point of starving herself. Wrote her mother to Queen Victoria in 1889: "Her one craze is to be thin. She starves completely [...]. She will ruin her health." Viktoria likely had some form of disordered eating. Subtly pushed out of the Berlin social sphere by Wilhelm, she lived with her mother and younger sister Margaret at Schloss Friedrichshof in Hesse. Vicky sent the depressed Viktoria to Britain, to recover and spend time with her British relatives. Further suitors Following the collapse of Viktoria's plans to marry Sandro, her mother (now known as "Empress Frederick") and grandmother, Queen Victoria, continued to look for possible suitors, and enlisted the help of the Duchess of Edinburgh and Princess of Leiningen. Though she was not thought of as exceedingly attractive, Viktoria was described as having "immense charm". Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, "refused to consider marrying her"; this news worsened Viktoria's disordered eating. In 1889, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia was proposed, but ultimately turned down the offer; his cousin Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich was also considered. Another suitor was Ernest, the future Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; he later married Viktoria's first cousin Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Crown Prince Carlos of Portugal was proposed by Otto von Bismarck, but Viktoria refused to convert to Catholicism. Even commoners were suggested: the British Captain the Hon. Maurice Bourke, a younger son of Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, was proposed by Queen Victoria; he was seriously considered. As her elder sister, Charlotte, began gossiping about her