Adelaide was born on 22 June 1870 to Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and his wife, Countess Karoline von Wartensleben.

Though Woldemar's younger brother Alexander succeeded, he was incapable of ruling due to a mental illness.

Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe, a brother-in-law of Wilhelm II, German Emperor was chosen, but a court-settlement allowed Ernest to become the regent of Lippe-Detmold on 17 July 1897.

[2] As Adelaide's great-grandmother was a member of the lower nobility (Modeste Christiane von Unruh) and has one quarter commoner ancestry,[3] her family's claim to full royalty was challenged.

[2] This claim threatened the succession to Saxe-Meiningen, as Adelaide was married to the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen's heir apparent; were her father deemed a lesser royal status, it might be thought that her own claim was not equal enough for her husband's family.