The marriage was unhappy, as Caroline found the rigid Weimar court etiquette intolerable.
The court was generally considered to be one of the most stifling and etiquette-driven in Germany.
One source recounted:
"It envelops royalty there in a species of captivity, and while the grand duke lends thereto and is too conservative to admit of any change, it crushes with its trammels the more spirited members of the family".

Her husband was described as:
"One of the wealthiest sovereigns in Europe; stolid, well-behaved, imbued with great pride of race, and a strict sense of what is due to the anointed of the Lord.
He is also one of the most severely respected and proper of German rulers...the Grand Duke is very dull, and his court and environment reflect his character in this respect to such a point that Weimar has become the dreariest capital in Europe".

Caroline caused a scandal by seeking refuge in Switzerland; her husband followed soon after, as it was made understood that she had not fled the marriage but instead had simply sought to be away from her entourage in Weimar.
She was eventually induced to return, but soon lost health and lapsed into melancholia.
She died eighteen months after their marriage, on 17 January 1905, under mysterious circumstances.
The official cause of death was pneumonia following influenza; other sources however have suggested suicide.
The couple had no children together.
She was the last member of the House of Saxe-Weimar to be buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft, the royal family's crypt.
William Ernest later remarried to Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen.
The marriage was unhappy, as Caroline found the rigid Weimar court etiquette intolerable. The court was generally considered to be one of the most stifling and etiquette-driven in Germany. One source recounted:
"It envelops royalty there in a species of captivity, and while the grand duke lends thereto and is too conservative to admit of any change, it crushes with its trammels the more spirited members of the family".
Her husband was described as:
"One of the wealthiest sovereigns in Europe; stolid, well-behaved, imbued with great pride of race, and a strict sense of what is due to the anointed of the Lord. He is also one of the most severely respected and proper of German rulers...the Grand Duke is very dull, and his court and environment reflect his character in this respect to such a point that Weimar has become the dreariest capital in Europe".
Caroline caused a scandal by seeking refuge in Switzerland; her husband followed soon after, as it was made understood that she had not fled the marriage but instead had simply sought to be away from her entourage in Weimar. She was eventually induced to return, but soon lost health and lapsed into melancholia. She died eighteen months after their marriage, on 17 January 1905, under mysterious circumstances. The official cause of death was pneumonia following influenza; other sources however have suggested suicide. The couple had no children together. She was the last member of the House of Saxe-Weimar to be buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft, the royal family's crypt. William Ernest later remarried to Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen.
Princess Caroline Reuss of Greiz