PRINCE ARIBERT JOSEPH ALEXANDER of ANHALT, born on this date (d: 12/24/1933), was regent of Anhalt from September to November 1918 on behalf of his underage nephew Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt. As regent, following the German revolution, he abdicated in the name of his nephew on 12 November 1918, thus ending the rule of the House of Ascania in Anhalt.

In July 1891 he married Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Princess Marie Louise was the daughter of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, making her a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The bride’s first cousin, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, had been instrumental in arranging the match.

In December 1900, the Duke of Anhalt used his prerogative as reigning Duke to annul the marriage. Princess Marie Louise, on an official visit to Canada at the time, immediately returned to England. According to her memoirs, she regarded her marriage vows as binding, so she never remarried. Her memoirs do, however, indicate rage over her marital experience and an obvious dislike of her former husband.

Though contemporary sources did not directly suggest it was a cause of his marriage dissolution, a number of contemporaries and subsequent historical accounts suggest Aribert was bisexual or homosexual, and some have suggested an indiscretion with a male attendant was the catalyst for the dissolution and that the marriage had never been consummated. However, other sources later suggested he was planning to remarry. 

Right.

Prince Aribert, age 67, died in Munich. Apparently he completely forgot to remarry.