Preferring to return to enjoying social life in Berlin, she declared after Feodora's birth that she would have no further children, dismaying her mother, Crown Princess Victoria.

[7] Victoria, who became German empress in 1888, perceived a deficit in Feodora's upbringing and gradually became concerned about the girl's physical appearance and mental development,[6] describing the thirteen-year-old as possessing "sharp pinched features" and an unusually short stature.

[7][9] Her grandmother, who placed a high value on education, blamed insufficient parental guidance for the girl's lack of studiousness, commenting that the "atmosphere of her home is not the best for a child of her age... With Charlotte for an example, what else can one expect...

The exiled Prince Peter Karađorđević, thirty-six years older than Feodora, proposed himself as a suitor, though this was likely a bid to gain support for succeeding to the Serbian throne.

[13] Several months after returning from Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June 1897, Feodora became engaged to Prince Heinrich XXX Reuss of Köstritz (1864-1939),[14] with the betrothal announced in early October.

[15] Born in Castle Neuhoff, he was the youngest son of Prince Heinrich IX Reuss of Köstritz (1827-1898) and Baroness Anne Marie Wilhelmine Helene of Zedlitz und Leipe (1829-1907).

Feodora's grandmother Empress Victoria was surprised at the choice of groom, particularly his lack of position, but observed that the bride at least seemed happy.

"[18] The historian John Van der Kiste writes that Feodora was "evidently besotted" with her new husband, and she likely also sought marriage as an escape from her "irksome home life".

[19] Once returned from their honeymoon, Henry spent much of his time on duty with his regiment, while Feodora joined a reading group and attended the opera and theatre in Berlin.

[28] With the outbreak of World War I, Henry was dispatched to the Western Front, while his wife opened a small hospital to treat wounded soldiers.

[31][24] In describing Feodora's life, the historian John Van der Kiste writes that "the princess who had so desperately wanted children of her own had instead continued to battle with constant physical ailments, insomnia and severe depression, and endured many years of ill-health similar to that of her mother".

[32] In the 1990s, the historian John Röhl and his colleagues Martin Warren and David Hunt found Feodora's grave in Poland, exhuming the body for DNA analysis in the belief that it would reveal signs of the genetic disease porphyria however, it was proved inconclusive.