Her father was the seventh son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1823–1883) by his third wife Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1850–1922).

Her mother was Viktoria Feodora Reuss zu Schleiz (1889–1918), the eldest child of Heinrich XXVII, Prince of Reuss zu Schleiz, regent of Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, granddaughter of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, half-sister of Queen Victoria.

She was a first cousin of: Preparations for the wedding of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands' only child Crown Princess Juliana to the German Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld were underway in 1937 when a diplomatic scandal occurred.

In 1945 however, the communist land reform in the Soviet occupation zone (East Germany) expropriated all movable and immovable assets of the House of Reuss.

Furthermore, a legal restitution claim for movable assets was passed by the Bundestag, leading to vast returns of museum items.