He was a son of Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and his wife Princess Ida of Saxe-Meiningen, the sister of Adelaide, queen consort of King William IV of the United Kingdom.
Lady Augusta Katherine Gordon-Lennox was created Gräfin von Dornburg (Countess of Dornburg) by the uncle of her future husband Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach the day before the wedding.
They had no children.In 1885 Queen Victoria granted her permission to share her husband's princely title.
Henceforth she was known as Her Serene Highness Princess Edward of Saxe-Weimar, albeit only in Great Britain, while in Germany she remained only Countess of Dornburg.
Her husband died on 16 November 1902 and she died on 3 April 1904 aged 77 in London.
Her sister Cecilia was the great-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales through her daughter Rosalind.