Article in the Dutch newspaper "De Tijd", dated November 10, 1894

Source:

De Tijd: godsdienstig-staatkundig dagblad, issue of November 10, 1894

https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?query=Prinses+Alix&coll=ddd&page=1&facets%5Bperiode%5D%5B%5D=1%7C19e_eeuw%7C1890-1899%7C&identifier=ddd:010385777:mpeg21:a0003&resultsidentifier=ddd:010385777:mpeg21:a0003&rowid=1

The article:

Prinses Alix van Hessen.

In het stille drama, dat in het zuiden van Rusland is afgeloopen, onder de medelijdende of in elk geval belangstellende blikken van bijna geheel Europa en Azië, heeft ook de draagster van bovenstaande naam eene rol gekregen.

Reeds langen tijd is er sprake geweest van het huwelijk van den grootvorst-troonopvolger, thans keizer van Rusland, met Prinses Alix van Hessen, en er is zeer verschillend over gesproken. Nu eens werd beweerd dat grootvorst Nicolaas op een poolsche dame — elders zegt men zelfs op een Jodin — verliefd was, en zich verzette tegen den wensch van zijnen vader, die hem wilde verbinden aan de prinses van Hessen, — dan weer deelde men mee dat prinses Alix te standvastig bleef in haar protestantsch geloof, om het te verwisselen tegen het russisch-orthodoxe. Het is moeilijk te zeggen wat er van deze geruchten waar is, — inzonderheid aan het russische Hof worden de persoonlijke zaken zeer geheim gehouden, — maar zoo er iets dergelijks bestond, dan heeft de vreeslijke ziekte van den Czaar aan alle bedenkingen een einde gemaakt, want de jonge prinses is reeds tot de grieksch-russische Kerk overgegaan en heeft met den jongen Keizer de ringen gewisseld.

Wij laten hier eenige bijzonderheden volgen omtrent de toekomstige Keizerin van het groote Russische Rijk.

De verloofde van czaar Nikolaas II is thans ruim 22 jaar en het jongste kind van wijlen den groothertog Lodewijk IV van Hessen en van prinses Alix, dochter van de koningin van Engeland, sedert 16 jaar overleden.

„Prinses Alix, slank en groot, bezit bij een innemende bevalligheid van uitdrukking en manieren een groote bekoorlijkheid. Haar gelaat is van een zeldzame schoonheid, haar oogen zijn blauw en vol uitdrukking, het schoone hoofd wordt omlijst door prachtig aschblond haar” — aldus beschrijft de Figaro haar uiterlijk.

De prinses is het bedorven kind van het huis van Hessen, en inzonderheid van haar broeder, den regeerenden Groothertog, die haar onderscheidt van zijn andere zusters, misschien ook omdat zij slechts vier jaar jonger is dan hij, en zij hun eerste opvoeding, om zoo te zeggen, te zamen ontvingen. Langen tijd had de prinses als onderwijzeres een Engelsche, miss Jackson, een vrouw van algemeene ontwikkeling en diepe kennis, die er zich op toelegde om van hare leerlinge, met de hulp van de beste professoren aan de universiteit van Darmstadt, een beschaafde jonge dame te maken.

De goede aanleg van prinses Alix maakte deze taak overigens niet moeilijk. Toch is de prinses geen blauwkous; integendeel, zij houdt veel van kunst en sport. Men zegt dat zij een uitmundende paardrijdster is en een eerste lawntennis speelster. Zij schildert, speelt prachtig piano en spreekt het Russisch, het Fransch en het Engelsch even goed als het Duitsch.

Toen miss Jackson wegens gezondheidsredenen Darmstadt moest verlaten, werd hare plaats ingenoomen door een Duitsche, freule Von Fabrice, dochter van generaal Fabrice, die intertijd minister van oorlog was. Freule Von Fabrice is tegenwoordig hofdame der prinses.

Na den dood van haar vader bleef prinses Alix bij haar broeder, den groothertog Ernst Lodewijk, in diens nieuw paleis te Darmstadt, dat door groothertog Lodewijk IV was gebouwd met de hulp van de koningen van Engeland, zijn schoonmoeder. Het innige familieleven aan het hof van Darmstadt kwam ten volle overeen met den eenvoudigen smaak van de prinses. Zij heeft ook lang geaarzeld vóór zij haar toestemming gaf, toen de czaar van Rusland hare hand vroeg voor zijn oudsten zoon.

Twee dingen weerhielden haar vooral: het groote gewicht van de toekomstige plichten, die zij op zich nam, en hare geloofsverandering, de laatste het meest, en zij heeft blijkbaar nooit geheel haar innerlijk verzet tegen een afval van haar geloof kunnen overwinnen. Men beweert dan ook algemeen, dat haar van den kant des overleden russischen Keizers veel toegevendheid is betoond op het punt van geloofsverandering.

Toch schijnt de liefde, die zij voor den Czarewiets had opgevat, ook vele harer tegenwerpingen te hebben overgewonnen.

De toekomstige Czarina zal zeker zeer bemind worden door het russische volk; zij heeft alle eigenschappen om daar de sympathieën terug te vinden, die zij te Darmstadt achterlaat. Schoon, goed, verstandig, beschaafd en milddadig, zal zij spoedig een grooten invloed hebben op haren echtgenoot, een invloed, waarover de europeesche politiek zich niet zal hebben te beklagen.

Prinses Alix heeft drie zusters: prinses Victoria, getrouwd met den vorst Lodewijk van Battenberg; prinses Elisabeth, getrouwd met den grootvorst Sergius, oom van den nieuwen Keizer, zoodat prinses Alix haar zuster „tante” moet noemen, en prinses Iréne, de gemalin van prins Hendrik van Pruisen, broeder van den duitschen Keizer.

Haar eenige broeder, de groothertog van Hessen, is in het begin van dit jaar getrouwd met prinses Victoria, derde dochter van den hertog van Edinburg, tegenwoordig hertog van Saksen Koburg-Gotha.

English translation (my own):

Princess Alix of Hesse.

In the silent drama that has unfolded in the south of Russia, under the pitying or at any rate interested glances of almost all of Europe and Asia, the bearer of the above name has also been given a part.

For a long time there has been talk of the marriage of the Grand Duke, Heir to the Throne, now Emperor of Russia, with Princess Alix of Hesse, and has been widely discussed. Sometimes it was claimed that Grand Duke Nicholas was in love with a Polish lady — elsewhere it is even said with a Jewess — and that he opposed the wish of his father, who wanted to marry him to the princess of Hesse, — then again it was reported that Princess Alix remained too firm in her Protestant faith to exchange it for the Russian Orthodox one. It is difficult to say what is true of these rumours — particularly in the Russian Court personal matters are kept very secret — but if there were any such thing, the Tsar's dreadful illness has put an end to all suspicions, for the young princess has already converted to the Greco-Russian Church, and has exchanged rings with the young Emperor.

We give here some details of the future Empress of the great Russian Empire.

The betrothed of Tsar Nicholas II is now more than 22 years old and the youngest child of the late Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and of Princess Alix [sic], daughter of the Queen of England, who died 16 years ago.

"Princess Alix, slender and tall, with an endearing grace of expression and manner, possesses great charm. Her face is of a rare beauty, her eyes are blue and full of expression, her fair head is framed by beautiful ash-blonde hair" — thus the Figaro describes her appearance.

The Princess is the spoiled child of the house of Hesse, and especially of her brother, the reigning Grand Duke, who distinguishes her from his other sisters, perhaps also because she is only four years younger than he, and they received their first education, so as to to say, together. For a long time the Princess had as her teacher an Englishwoman, Miss Jackson, a woman of general education and deep learning, who devoted herself to making of her pupil, with the help of the best professors at the University of Darmstadt, a cultured young lady.

The good talent of Princess Alix did not make this task difficult. Yet the Princess is not a blue stocking; on the contrary, she is very fond of art and sports. She is said to be an excellent horse rider and a first-rate lawn tennis player. She paints, plays the piano beautifully and speaks Russian, French and English as well as German.

When Miss Jackson had to leave Darmstadt for health reasons, her place was taken by a German lady, Fräulein Von Fabrice, daughter of General Fabrice, who was Minister of War at the time. Fräulein Von Fabrice is now lady-in-waiting to the Princess.

After the death of her father, Princess Alix remained with her brother, the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, in his new palace at Darmstadt, which had been built by Grand Duke Louis IV with the help of the Kings of England, his mother-in-law. The close family life at the court of Darmstadt corresponded fully to the simple taste of the Princess. She also hesitated for a long time before giving her consent when the Tsar of Russia asked for her hand in marriage to his eldest son.

Two things chiefly restrained her: the great weight of the future duties which she assumed, and her change of faith, the latter the most, and she was evidently never quite able to overcome her inner resistance to an apostasy from her faith. It is generally said, therefore, that she was shown much indulgence on the part of the late Russian Emperor in the matter of a change of faith.

Yet the love she had developed for the Tsarevich seems to have conquered many of her objections.

The future Tsarina will certainly be very loved by the Russian people; she has all the qualities to find there the sympathies she left behind in Darmstadt. Beautiful, good, sensible, cultured and generous, she will soon have a great influence on her husband, an influence which European politics will not have to complain about.

Princess Alix has three sisters: Princess Victoria, married to Prince Louis of Battenberg; Princess Elisabeth, married to the Grand Duke Sergei, uncle of the new Emperor, so that Princess Alix must call her sister "aunt", and Princess Irène, consort of Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of the German Kaiser.

Her only brother, the Grand Duke of Hesse, married Princess Victoria, third daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, now Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Above: Nicholas and Alix.

Alix's letter to Toni Becker, dated November 14, 1894

Source:

Briefe der Zarin Alexandra von Russland an ihre Jugendfreundin Toni Becker-Bracht (2009), edited by Lotte Hoffmann-Kuhnt

The letter:

Den 14ten Nov 1894

Meine liebe Toni,

Ich muss Dir heute einige Zeilen schicken, da ich eben allein bin & Dir als "Mädchen" noch einige Zeichen senden will. Ich wohne in Ella's Haus in meinen alten Zimmern von vor fünf Jahren & all die alten Bilder tauchen wieder vor mir auf. Wie viel ist aber seitdem passiert, sein Vater & der meine genommen. Oh, Kind, diese Reise ist zu unbeschreiblich traurig & ergreifend gewesen & der Einzug in Moskau & hier. Aber es ist eine Beruhig[ung] mit meinem armen Jungen zugleich beten zu können & nun erst bald als seine Frau, da werde ich beständig bei ihm sein können & ihm helfen, & trösten. Es ist gar hart so jung in solcher verantwortlicher Stellung zu sein — aber der liebe Gott wird ihm helfen & die Gebete seiner Treuen. Die himmlische Krim — so hart sie zu verlassen, wie dankbar, dass ich seinen geliebten Vater noch einige Male sehen konnte. So allein zu sein, ist ganz merkwürdig. Meine Geschwister kommen morgen — eine traurige Hochzeit wird's werden. — Schreibe mir doch bald & oft & erzähle mir viel von zu Hause & meinen alten Freunden. Von euch Mädchen allen träumte ich in der vergangenen Nacht und lud euch ein auf den Wolfsgarten. — Dass kein wirklicher Abschied von Darmstadt war, ist viel besser, es wäre ja hart gewesen. Gott gebe dass wir uns nächstes Jahr wiedersehen.

In alter Liebe, Deine treue Alix

1000 Grüsse an die Deinen —

viele Küsse für Dich & Pollie

English translation (my own):

Nov 14th 1894

My dear Toni,

I must send you a few lines today as I am alone & wish to send you a few more signs as a "maiden". I live in Ella's house in my old rooms from five years ago & all the old pictures come back to me. But how much has happened since then, his Father & mine taken. Oh, Child, this journey has been too indescribably sad & poignant & moving, in Moscow & here. But it is a consolation to be able to pray with my poor Boy at the same time & now only soon as his Wife, I shall be able to be with him constantly & help him & comfort him. It is terribly difficult to be so young in such a responsible position — but God will help him & the prayers of His faithful ones. The heavenly Crimea — so hard to leave it, how grateful I am that I got to see his beloved Father a few more times. Being alone like this is very strange. My siblings are coming tomorrow —it will be a sad Wedding. — Do write to me soon & often & tell me a great deal about home & my old friends. I dreamed of all of you girls last night and invited you to the Wolfsgarten. — That there was no real farewell to Darmstadt is much better, it would have been hard. God grant that we shall meet again next year.

With old love, your faithful Alix

1000 greetings to yours —

many kisses for you & Pollie

Above: Nicholas and Alexandra at their wedding, painted by W.H. Grove after Lauritz Tuxen, year 1894.

Part 2 of an article about Alexandra in "Queens of the World" section of "Every Woman's Encyclopaedia", year between 1910 and 1912

Source:

Queens of the World in Every Woman's Encyclopaedia, volume 2, published between 1910 and 1912

https://archive.org/details/everywomansencyc02londuoft/page/1140/mode/2up?q=Darmstadt

The article:

QUEENS OF THE WORLD

No. 4 (continued). The Empress of Russia

Continued from page 1023, Part 8

The princess took the keenest interest in helping forward the various philanthropic societies which her mother had founded in Darmstadt, and which had been named after her. They consisted of a hospital, nursing association, and an orphanage, established by Princess Alice at the terrible period of the Franco-German War, and the "Alice Society for the Education and Employment of Women of All Classes," having for its objects the better education of women generally, and the opening up to them of new fields of labour. Princess Alix was a constant visitor at the hospital and at the orphanage. She also developed a keen interest in all that concerned the position of women, and did her utmost, so far as a young princess could, to further her mother's excellent plans for breaking down the barriers which excluded women from many of the educated professions.

Thus she spent the years following her sojourn in Great Britain, assisting her father, and making herself popular with poor and rich alike by her gracious manner and the keen interest which she took in the welfare of all classes.

A Romantic Story

Many speculations were rife about this time as to who the husband of Princess Alix would be. Many alliances were suggested, but apparently the young Princess had fully determined to bestow her hand where she had given her heart. In one of the letters to Queen Victoria her mother had written, she said: "You say rightly, what a fault it is of parents to bring up their daughters with the main object of marrying them. A marriage for the sake of marriage is surely the greatest mistake a woman can make."

Apparently, Princess Alice had become imbued with her mother's views on this subject, and although several suitors were mentioned whose wealth and rank were far beyond her own, Princess Alix refused to consider their proposals. Was this because there was "someone else" at this period? It would almost seem so.

It was known that the young Tsarewitch, who was four years older than Princess Alix, being born at St. Petersburg on May 18, 1868, was very much attracted by the unmarried daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse. But marriage between them was thought to be impossible, for, in the first place, his parents had a much more ambitious matrimonial alliance in view for him, and in the second place, there was the difference in religion; for when a Protestant princess marries into the Russian Royal Family, she is required to enter the Greek Church.

It was in 1884 that Princess Alix first met Nicholas II., but ten years elapsed before she became his wife. His parents were disappointed in his choice; while Queen Victoria objected on the score of religion. Seeing how deep their son's attachment was, however, the former at last yielded to the charms of the Princess, while Nicholas's uncle, the Grand Duke Sergius, came to England and pleaded his nephew's cause so eloquently that at last Queen Victoria consented to the wedding.

Religious Difficulties

The Princess, however, fought long against her conversion to the faith of the Greek Orthodox Church, which was essential to the union. "You cannot love him, then," once exclaimed her brother Ernest, after trying in vain to induce her to make this sacrifice of her religion. "But I do," protested the Princess earnestly, with tears pouring down her cheeks, "indeed I do!" She was quite willing to join the Greek Orthodox Church, but refused to utter the formula declaring her old form of faith to be false and wicked. At the suggestion of Alexander III., however, the obnoxious words were omitted.

This incident illustrates the firmness of mind of the Empress, where a matter of conscience is involved, and for some years after her marriage she was unpopular at the Russian Court on account of the courage she displayed when enforcing her opinions. She introduced many reforms at the Russian Court. She refused to allow smoking among her ladies; she set her face against the idle rich who used Court influence for their own purposes, and abolished much of the pomp and ceremony.

The betrothal of Princess Alix to the Tsarewitch was announced on April 20, 1894, and on November 3 following — which was two days after the death of his father Alexander III., and one day after his accession to the throne of "all the Russias" had been publicly announced at St. Petersburg — Nicholas II. announced that the Princess Alix of Hesse, the bride of his choice, had accepted the orthodox faith under the name of Alexandra, and would be henceforth known as the Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna.

Her Wedding

Princess Alix had been summoned to the bedside of Alexander III. at Livadia, and for some time it was supposed that the marriage would be celebrated during his lifetime. This was not to be, however, and national mourning was suspended for a day on November 26, 1894, when the marriage took place in the private chapel of the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg.

The manifesto issued by Nicholas II. on the occasion of his marriage explains, to a certain extent, why the ceremony took place so soon after the death of his father.

"Solicitous for the destinies of our new reign," he said, "we have deemed it well not to delay the fulfilment of our heart's wish, the legacy, so sacred to us, of our father, now resting in God; nor to defer the realisation of the joyful expectation of our whole people that our marriage, hallowed by the benediction of our parents, should be blessed by the Sacrament of our Holy Church."

The marriage was made the occasion of much rejoicing. For the first time in recent Russian history the troops were withdrawn from the line of route, and no restraint was placed upon the erection of temporary stands, the climbing of lamp-posts, and the occupation of every coign of vantage, exactly is as done in London on the occasion of a State pageant. The official programme indicated that there would be cavalry escorts with the carriage, and when it appeared without a single mounted soldier, the delight of the people was boundless.

H. I. M. the Empress of Russia, daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse and grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, whose marriage to the Tsar took place in November, 1894. The magnificent national robes and crown are a worthy setting for the Tsarina's stately beauty.

Thus did the young Tsar show his courage on his marriage day, and further enhanced his popularity by issuing a manifesto granting important alleviation of pains, penalties, fines, debts, and arrears of taxes to the peasantry, pardon for the Polish rebels of 1863, mitigation of punishment to Siberian exiles, and a reduction of one third of the terms of imprisonment to all criminals.

Bad times, however, were in store for the Royal couple. Revolution became rampant, and Nihilists stalked the land. To-day they find their chief delight in the society of their children.

Her Children

The eldest, Grand Duchess Olga, was born on November 15, 1895, and then followed the Grand Duchess Tatiana, born June 10, 1897; the Grand Duchess Marie, born June 26, 1899, and the Grand Duchess Anastasia, born June 18, 1901. Not until three years later, on August 12, 1904, was the Grand Duke Alexis, the heir apparent, born. The news of his birth was welcomed with rejoicings all over Russia, and when he was christened three days later in the church of the Peterhof Palace, both the German Emperor and King Edward were represented as godfathers.

At "The Farm," situated in a remote part of the magnificent grounds of Peterhof Palace on the Finnish bay, the Royal children have their pets, and here in the evening they listen to the music rendered by their mother and father. For both the Tsar and Tsarina are very musical. A celebrated violinist once said of the latter that if she were in another sphere of life she would have won great fame. The Tsar, too, plays the violin well, and is very fond of an instrument called the balalaika, which is a kind of guitar with only three strings. He often sings to this instrument, for he possesses a tenor voice of excellent quality. Never are the Tsar and Tsarina so happy as when they have an excuse for staying a few days at "The Farm" in the company of their children. "What a happy family they would be," remarked one who has spent years in their service, "if they were not overshadowed by grim State cares."

A Pathetic Picture

Here is a final picture of the Tsarina. The scene is Reval, on the occasion of the historic meeting of the Tsar and King Edward last summer. Tired and ill, she remarks in a burst of confidence to an officer standing by: "I am feeling so weary that I had far rather have stayed at home, but as my absence would certainly have been misunderstood, I have made a great effort to come."

Could anything be more pathetic?

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20th wedding anniversary badge, year 1914

Source:

The Russian History Museum

http://www.russianhistorymuseum.org/last-days/

This badge was made in 1914 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Nicholas' and Alexandra's wedding.

Painting from the Maple Room of Nicholas and Alexandra on their way to the Anichkov Palace after their wedding

Source:

Gosfond and Stephen R. de Angelis

Above: "The Entrance of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna into the Anichkov Palace after their wedding (in the Winter Palace)." Mazurovsky, V. (b. 1859). Russian School. After 1894.

George's letter to Mary about Nicholas and Alexandra's wedding, dated November 26, 1894

Source:

https://www.rct.uk/sites/royalcollection.org.uk/files/ra_qm_prv_cc1_93.pdf

via tiny-librarian on Tumblr

https://tiny-librarian.tumblr.com/post/151026622472/letter-from-george-duke-of-york-to-his-wife

Nicholas and Alexandra's cousin George, Duke of York, the former Prince of Wales and future King George V of the United Kingdom, wrote this letter to his wife Mary "May" of Teck, Duchess of York, describing Nicholas and Alexandra's wedding in St. Petersburg on November 26, 1894.

The letter:

Antichkoff Palace
St Petersburg
Monday Nov 26th/94.

My own darling sweet May
Many thanks for yr letter of the 22nd just received. The wedding is over & everything went so well, not a single hitch anywhere. Alicky looked lovely & was so dignified & graceful only through the ceremony. They are both as happy as they can possibly be, I never saw two people more in love with each other: I told them both that I could not wish them more than that they should be as happy as you & I were together. Was that right? The wedding took place in the Chapel in the Winter Palace, a most impressive but sad ceremony, it only lasted about ¾ of an hour, poor darling aunt Minny behaved beautifully & she kept back her tears in a wonderful way. After they were married [they] drove back to this Palace where they are going to stay, they got a tremendous ovation from the crowds in the streets. And at this moment there is still an enormous crowd in front of the house, several thousands & they are still cheering, they have been several times to the windows & the people cheered tremendously, it reminded me of our wedding very much.

Luckily it has been fine & bright & every body is in holiday costume, a real ray of sunshine in the middle of the deep mo[u]rning. Now everybody will go away as everything is over; but now is the time that poor aunt Minny will begin to feel & realize her terrible loss, fancy today is her birthday & such a sad one, but in years to come she will always be able to think that it is less sad as it is Nicky’s wedding day. They have both got the most beautiful presents you ever saw, mostly jewellery, but I have not seen them all. Aunt Minny has given her 5 rows of lovely large pearls, they cost £17000, (because Mama told me so) Nicky gave her one row twice as big & two tiaras & several more things, I never saw such magnificent things.

My darling sweet Tootsums I have been thinking so much of you today, oh, if you only know how I love love you my precious one & how I long be with you again, I shall count the hours till we meet. God bless you my own sweet wife with a kiss for your lovely little face from yr ever most loving & devoted husband.

G.

I can’t write well today I am rather tired.

Above: Nicholas and Alexandra on their wedding day during the ceremony.

Above: George and Mary on their wedding day in 1893.

Above: Marie "Minny" Feodorovna, who had just been widowed a couple of weeks before her son's wedding upon the death of her husband, Tsar Alexander III.

Marie Adelaide Belloc's article on Alexandra in "The Woman at Home", year 1895

Source:

The Woman at Home, 1895

https://books.google.com/books?id=RD4hzb6HfacC&pg=PA430&dq=princess+alix+of+hesse&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjT9LbL9pHpAhXKmq0KHfNNCsU4ChC7BTAHegQICBAG#v=onepage&q=princess%20alix%20of%20hesse&f=false

This article about Alexandra was written by Marie Adelaide Bulloc and published in the March 1895 issue of the English women's magazine The Woman at Home, created by Scottish journalist Annie S. Swan.

The article:

THE CZARINA.

HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE CZARINA OF RUSSIA.

(PRINCESS ALIX OF HESSE.)

BY MARIE ADELAIDE BELLOC.

IN the Exhibition of portraits of Fair Women lately held in London, one of the most admired modern exhibits was a drawing by Kaulbach, lent by the Queen, representing Princess Alix of Hesse, a sad-eyed, sweet-faced girl, strongly recalling to some of the older visitors to the Grafton Gallery the "Princess Alice" of their youth.

The present Czarina of Russia is tall and slight, with hazel eyes and fair hair; she and her elder sister, the Grand Duchess Serge of Russia, enjoy the privilege of being the prettiest granddaughters of Queen Victoria. After her mother's death the future Empress spent a great deal of her life at Windsor and Osborne, and she is, in education and sentiment, quite as English as many of her English-born cousins; whilst to the Queen she recalls, as none of her sisters has ever done, the late Grand Duchess of Hesse, our Princess Alice, whose deep affection and exceptional intellectual powers were of such help to her mother during the dark days which followed the Prince Consort's death.

THE CZAR.

The Czarina was the fourth daughter and sixth child of the Grand Duke and Duchess of Hesse; she was born at Darmstadt on the 6th of June, 1872, and ten days later her mother wrote to the Queen, "Many thanks for your dear letter, and kind wishes for the birth of our Baby — a nice little thing, like Ella, only smaller and with finer features, though the nose promises to be long .... We think of calling our little girl 'Alix (Alice they pronounce too dreadfully in German) Helena Louisa Beatrice,' and, if Beatrice may, we would much like to have her as godmother."

The infant Princess was christened on the first of July, the anniversary of her parents' wedding day, and to the four names already mentioned by her mother, was added, by the Queen's suggestion, that of Victoria; her sponsors were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Cesarewitch and Cesarevna, Princess Beatrice, the Duchess of Cambridge, and the Landgravine of Hesse.

THE CZARINA.

During the six brief years which elapsed before Princess Alice's death, there were constant references in her letters to "Aliky." "She is a sweet, merry little person, always laughing, with a deep dimple in one cheek just like Ernie," and then a little later, "She is quite the personification of her nickname 'Sunny,'" wrote the mother.

The Darmstadt Royal nursery was presided over by Mrs. Orchard, an excellent English nurse, who remained Princess Alix's closest attendant for many years after the break up of the happy, united little family group.

For her own sake it is to be hoped that the young Empress cannot remember the weeks which preceded the death of her mother. Then a child of six years old, Princess Alix herself was one of the first in the Grand Ducal household to be taken with the disease — diphtheria — which, after attacking all the children in turn, as well as their father, resulted in the death of little Princess May, to be followed a few days later by that of the tireless nurse and young house mother, Princess Alice herself. Many fine portraits, and a beautiful recumbent monument by Sir Edgar Boehm, representing the Grand Duchess holding Princess May in her arms, remain to keep living in the minds of Princess Alice's younger children the mother they lost so early, and the subject of my sketch is believed in Germany to have always had for her memory a special cult.

After his wife's death, the Grand Duke's ties with his English connections became still closer, and he made a point of spending a portion of each year at Balmoral. As his elder daughters — Victoria, Princess Louis of Battenberg; Elizabeth, Grand Duchess Serge of Russia; Irene, Princess Henry of Prussia — married, Princess Alix became his closest companion and friend; indeed, so attached was the Grand Duke to his youngest child that he could not bear to be separated from her even for a short time, and he always accompanied her when she paid visits to her married sisters.

The Czarina's first governess was an Englishwoman, Miss Jackson, a lady chosen because of her exceptional culture and intelligence; she directed her Royal pupil's studies, and arranged what lessons should be given to her by the professors of the Darmstadt University; she also laid the foundation of that thorough knowledge and love of music which is one of the most distinguishing traits of the new Czarina's character. When her school-room days came to an end, she had as lady-in-waiting and constant companion Fräulein von Fabrice, the daughter of a distinguished German general; this lady accompanied her to Russia, and will remain with her in her new home.

THE CZAR AND CZARINA.

The new Czar's affection for his orphan cousin was known for a long time before their betrothal was formally announced. After the death of the Grand Duke of Hesse, Princess Alix spent a considerable time with her sister the Grand Duchess Serge, to whom she is tenderly attached, and as the latter was by marriage aunt to the Cesarewitch, the two young people had many opportunities of meeting one another. Their formal engagement took place during the wedding festivities of the young Grand Duke Ernest of Hesse and Princess Victoria Melita of Coburg. Queen Victoria, who was at the marriage, as grandmother to both the contracting parties, was the first to be told the news, and to wish the Cesarewitch and her favourite granddaughter joy; on the same day one of the Russian prince's own friends observed to an English acquaintance, "If this marriage ever takes place, your Princess Alice's daughter will have for a husband a kindly, unaffected and well-intentioned if not brilliant young man; he is his father over again, with some of his mother's highly sensitive nature added."

THE CZARINA.

Probably there was no living prince of whom so little was known, and yet who was so often engaged to be married in the imagination of those round him, as the present Czar of Russia. Public rumour assigned him in turn to one of the beautiful Princesses of Montenegro, to Princess Elsa of Wurtemburg, to Princess Hélène of Orleans, to Princess Maud of Wales, and various others of his English cousins, Princess Alix's name, curiously enough, being the one most rarely mentioned in connection with that of her Russian cousin.

It was said, probably with truth, that Princess Alix hesitated for a considerable time before she consented to definitely make up her mind to undertake the heavy duties and harassing life which seem to be a fatal part of each Empress of Russia's existence; and in addition to these considerations there was to the young Princess the even graver one of enforced change of religion. Till lately Lutheran Princesses married to Romanoffs had always to adopt their husbands' faith, Russian names being given to them on their new Orthodox baptisms; this rule was lately relaxed, to the great satisfaction of the German nation, for German Princesses were those most affected. Writing on the matter, the late Princess Alice once observed, "What a good thing! The changing I always thought too bad, and nowadays so intolerant and narrow." Thus knowing her mother's decided views on this subject, it is natural that Princess Alix should have hesitated before consenting to a marriage, of which change of faith was a leading condition, for owing to the Panslavist and intensely Orthodox policy of the late reign, Russia has gone back, at any rate where her Empresses are concerned, to the old system.

THE CZAR AT THE AGE OF SIX.

Still, the following fact should have been, and doubtless was, considered a good omen by the Czarina. Her own sister, the Grand Duchess Serge, favourably impressed with what she saw of the Greek Church, made up her mind, some two years after her marriage, to embrace her husband's religion, and took the opportunity of telling him so during a visit to Jerusalem. Princess Alix had also a good precedent in the Empress Dagmar, who was, it will be remembered, received into the Greek Church on the same day that her solemn betrothal took place in St. Petersburg, and only four days before her marriage was celebrated in the Winter Palace.

The Czar, Nicholas II. strikingly resembles his mother and the Princess of Wales, and bears an almost absurd likeness to his cousin, the Duke of York. He is fair, blue eyed, and well built, though slight in figure; and wears a moustache and rather full whiskers.

THE CZAR WHEN A CHILD.

His childhood was spent in the charming Anitschnoff Palace; but he was only ten years of age when his grandfather, the Czar Nicholas I., was assassinated. The terrible news was told the child without due precaution, and he was so affected by the awful occurrence that for some time his condition gave rise to great anxiety. Fear of the Nihilists, and the knowledge that unknown dangers surround him, have overshadowed the whole of his life, and he is said to have often expressed envy at the ideal existence led by his English and Danish cousins. Those brought into contact with him have noticed the painful effect produced on his nerves by the noise of anything resembling an explosion.

It has often been remarked that a good son makes a good husband. The Czar is devoted to his mother, and when he came back from a long tour in the East — broken, it will be remembered, by an attack on his life made by a Japanese fanatic near Kioto — those who witnessed the meeting between the Czarina and her beloved "Nicky" were profoundly touched by the sight. Speechless with emotion, literally crying with joy, she clung to him, her arms round his neck, audibly thanking God for having allowed him to return safe home.

THE CZAR AT THE AGE OF FIFTEEN.

The little German Grand Duchy has already given three Empresses to Russia, and one of the facts which have contributed to make the present Czar's marriage popular in that great Empire, is the remembrance of the Empress Marie, the mother of the late Czar Alexander III. and the Duchess of Edinburgh, and great-aunt of the present Czarina.

The months which succeeded her engagement were in all respects especially trying to Princess Alix; but the most happy and peaceful days of that period were those spent in England in company with the then Cesarewitch, who delights in nothing so much as in a brief holiday in the land where Nihilism throws no dread shadow, and where, if only as the Princess of Wales' nephew, he is sure of cordial sympathy.

Shortly after the Princess's return to Darmstadt, where she was always a welcome guest in her brother's Grand Ducal Palace, came the first disquieting rumours of Alexander III.'s condition, to be in time followed by a summons to Livadia. The young Princess started without delay, and, after a journey taken in terrible suspense, finally met her betrothed, amid the humble though sincere demonstrations of welcome offered her by her husband's future subjects.

Whilst all Europe was concerning itself with the Princess's marriage, its possible postponement, probable date, and indulging in more or less idle rumours as to her reception into the Greek Church, she herself, following in this as in many other things her mother's example, was proving herself the best of nurses and the most tender of comforters to the dying Czar and his stricken wife, who must indeed have felt that in the matter of their son's marriage they had nothing left to wish for.

The days which followed the late Czar's death are still present to most of us. Princess Alix, although always clothed in pure white, and without any sign of mourning, according to a wish expressed by the newly widowed Czarina, took her full share of the burden of grief crushing the Imperial family. Within a few days of the last act in the sad tragedy enacted at Livadia, the young Czar's betrothed was received into the Greek Church, and given the formal temporary title of Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna.

In his first proclamation to his people Nicholas II. associated himself publicly with his future wife, and it soon became evident, probably for the first and last time in the history of a reigning house, that an Imperial wedding was to follow an Emperor's funeral.

Of the splendid pageant which took place in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, on the 26th of last November, two figures must surely in our recollection stand apart and alone from those surrounding them — those of the Empress-bride and the Empress-widow, one life scarce beginning, and an existence practically ended as regards all that makes life worth living, and yet both striving, especially on that strange wedding-day, to put self aside for the sake of their dead and living; surely no more pathetic sight can ever have been witnessed than that of the still youthful Empress Dagmar dressed for the last time in the white and silver which constitutes in Russia the most brilliant of gala costumes; and those of the vast multitudes who had eyes to see and hearts to understand must have felt truly moved when they saw the gently nurtured, newly wedded Czarina driving "home" after the marriage ceremony through the serried ranks of human beings among whom might so easily have lurked a self-constituted tyrannicide.

Nicholas II.'s liberal policy is believed to be greatly owing to the advice and influence of his young Empress; she has become a true Russian at heart, and one of her first actions as Czarina was to examine several schemes having for their object that of assisting the poverty-stricken peasantry in practical ways; and she is once more proving the immense power wielded by those possessing the allied qualities of goodness and intellect.

THE GRAND DUCHESS SERGE OF RUSSIA.

Alexandra, her childhood and her life as described by her sister Victoria

Source:

Recollections of Victoria Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven

https://cdn.southampton.ac.uk/assets/imported/transforms/content-block/UsefulDownloads_Download/F419AA816BFC4674981B7BEA9538BD33/MB21_transcript.pdf

My 400th post on this blog!

The excerpts:

I might here mention certain fixed rules for our life, which my mother had adopted from those used in her youth. We rose early. ... We breakfasted with our parents at 9 o'clock, and had an hour's exercise out of doors, after which we had what we called "little lunch" consisting of milk, fruit and biscuits at 11, and at 2 o'clock we lunched with our parents. I would mention here that my mother adhered to the diet Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort had instituted for their children. We were never given spiced or rich food, simple dishes being served up for us. We never objected to anything given us at home, but the awful bread and butter puddings without a raisin in them or the stodgy tapioca pudding full of lumps we got in Queen Victoria's houses I still remember with a shudder of disgust. On the rarest of occasions were we given a sweet or a bonbon, but we were always allowed a lump of sugar if we wanted something sweet. ...

After lunch we again went out for 1½ hours in all weathers and had schoolroom tea at 5. This over, we went down to my mother's room where we played about with the younger children. We went to bed at 6.30, later on at 7. when preparations took more time. Morning walks were taken together with the smaller ones, in charge of their nurses, when the pony-carriage always took out two or three little ones, for after my brother Fritz, two sisters were born, Alix and May. The favourite place for our walk was the Akaziengarten which has long since disappeared. It had been made on the outskirts of the town by Louis II, to give occupation to unemployed and was, strictly speaking, no garden at all, but consisted of plots of unkempt grass intersected by sandy paths, and of a sandy mound, planted with acacias. There the little ones ran about in safety and the elders got into the pony-carriage and drove about at a galop round and round. ...

... I was decidedly a tomboy up to the age of 14 and my ideal was the hero of Tom Brown's Schooldays. I ruled the younger with a rod of iron, though my sister Ella being nearest my age, would rebel sometimes against too much ruling. So we ended by dividing the authority over the younger ones between us. ...

On Saturday afternoons we always had a half holiday and our playfellows, the daughters of my mother's secretary, Dr. Becker, and those of our successive physicians, Drs Weber and Eigenbrodt, came to play with us. Our greatest amusement on Saturday afternoon was to go to the Prince Emil Garten, if the weather was fine. It had a sham ruin in a little shrubbery near the house. We used to divide into parties, one led by me, the other by the strongest guest, one party defending the ruin, the other attacking it. ...

... In the summer of 1878, three months before my mother's death, Miss Margaret Hardcastle Jackson came to us, who had been finisheing governess to Lady Mary and Lady Maud Herbert (afterwards Lady Maud Parry). On Lady Herbert's conversion to Roman Catholicism, Miss Jackson left the family. She was a strong British conservative. Though she had been such a short time with us before my mother died, she religiously carried on every rule and suggestion my mother had made. ... She left us after my sister Irene married, as Alix, being so much younger, had not been entirely under her. On her retirement Grandmama gave her apartments at St. Catherine's in Regents Park. She only died during the Great War, luckily not surviving the downfall of the Russian and German Empires. She was so devoted to us all, that she had our photographs placed in her coffin. It was from Miss Jackson's dislike of gossip that we never took any interest in local tittle tattle.

I would like to say that our nurse Miss Orchard, called "Orchie" who came to us in 1865 always remained with my sister Alix and accompanied her to Russia, only leaving her in 1905, when the weakness of age overtook her. Orchie's birthday was always a great fete. Several days before it she stirred her own birthday cake after an English recipe, at which performance we always managed to be present, and on the day Orchie gave a big tea, to which we were all invited.

Our chief instructors were not the governesses, but various teachers from the Volksshule or Gymnasium. We were given by them arithmetic, geography and history lessons. Our religious instructor was Pfarrer Sell, D. D. who became a Professor of Theology at Bonn and always remained in touch with Irene. ... My sister Alix's principal teacher was Fraulein Textor, who had a boarding school for English girls at Darmstadt, and who had been selected for her by my mother just before her death. ...

Every other year at least we went to some seaside resort with our parents, where we bathed and played on the sands to our heart's content. Blankenberghe, then a modest little place with a couple of big hotels on the "Dunes" with a town behind them was one of the places we went to in the '70. ...

Off and on we went to Osborne in the summer and the last year of my mother's life we went to Eastbourne. Here we met the children of my mother's friends and the younger lot of Prussian cousins, who also had been sent over for sea-bathing, and who ranged in age with Irene, Ernie and Alix. ...

... Once when Alix was a baby, we paid a visit to the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Baden at the Mainau. ...

Early in November 1878 I fell ill with diphtheria. Well do I remember the Saturday half-holiday when, in spite of a very sore throat, I read aloud parts of Alice in Wonderland to the little ones. That night I had high fever and, the illness being recognised, Ella was moved downstairs to Irene's room. When the latter in her turn developed the disease, Ella, still not showing signs of it, was sent to my grandmother and remained free of it. All the other children and my father went down with it in turn. My father was very ill and so was Ernie, and my poor little sister May died of it on November 16th. The disease was very virulent that year, and of course no serum existed at that time. Slowly the others all recovered and rooms had already been taken for us at the big hotel above the old Schloss at Heidelberg to convalesce. Then my mother fell ill too and we children were all moved to the Schloss at Darmstadt, only my father remaining at the New Palace with her. She had no strength left to resist the disease, thoroughly worn out as she was by nursing us all, and died on the 14th of December, the anniversary of the death day of her beloved father. ...

My mother's death was an irreparable loss to us all and left a great gap in our lives. She had, indeed, been the mistress of the house, a wise and loving wife and mother, whom we respected as much as we loved her. ...

We all went to Osborne to the Queen in January 1879. ...

Of course we had a family physician who came when any of us was not well, but Orchie looked after our little ailments. My father had three standard remedies, with which he was inclined to treat all ailments: tincture of bark "if you felt run down", quinine for all feverish symptoms, and tincture of rhubarb for the stomach. Rhubarb was a loathsome medicine specially when given in the form of a powder, stirred up in water. Orchie's system for punishing lying in the nursery, was to put a pinch of rhubarb powder on the tip of the tongue, the conveyor of the lie, but she progressed with the times, and with the younger lot, a pinch of quinine replaced the rhubarb.

On the whole, we were a healthy family and not given to coddling. ...

... We only spent the summer at Wolfsgarten after my mother's death. ...

Wilhelmine von Grancy, Wilhelmine we called her, remained with us after our mother's death as our lady-in-waiting and later on at Uncle Ernie's Court until her death in 1915. ...

Wilhelmine was a great figure in our house and we were all devoted to her. She had very precise, rather old fashioned manners, but was most broad-minded and took a motherly interest in us all so that we could rely on her advice. ...

Irene, Ernie and Alix were overjoyed at the acquisition of a prospective brother-in-law and Louis and I rarely had the occasion of being alone together. Grandmama was at first not very pleased at our engagement as she wished me, as the eldest, to continue looking after the younger ones and keeping my father company. ...

Sometimes on a Sunday afternoon in our young days, my father would propose taking us crayfishing with him, in the Kranichstein Park. This consisted, on our part in wading in the small brook and turning up stones under which crayfish lay hidden, which we then pounced on and carefully grabbed with our fingers. It was a somewhat wet amusement. My father suggested we should wear any old clothes for this, but my mother firmly decreed that as we messed enough dresses on week days, we should learn to take care of our Sunday clothes and if we were unable to do so, had better not go crayfishing. She used to look on, superintending the arrangements for tea. ...

Early in June we rejoined my father at Darmstadt and together with him, Ella, Irene, Ernie and Alix we went to Russia, stopping at Peterhof for a week before Ella's wedding. We were lodged at the Big Palace and there was always a large family gathering for dinner at "Alexandria". This being the season of the long nights, we afterwards made up a party in many carriages and drove about the park. ...

Alix was a pretty little girl of 12 at the time, and with her loose hair and smart frock looked very well at the wedding. She was led in to the ceremony by the immensely tall Nikolasha who had to stoop down to talk to her. We met him and many members of the Russian family for the first time on that occasion. Serge, of course, we had known since our childhood, as also his brother Paul, they having been so often at the Heiligenberg with their mother and it was one of Serge's standing jokes against Alix to remind her that he had seen her bathed. ...

On February 13 [1890] Papa arrived with Alix, accompanied by Wilhelmine and her brother Albert Grancy. I was able to put the two former up in the quaint house we had taken that winter. ...

Madelaine [Zannotti] was Alix's maid under Orchie and remained her maid when Alix became Empress of Russia. She followed her to Tobolsk but was not allowed to see her in captivity there. ...

I think Papa and Alix enjoyed their stay at Malta. We were asked out to many dinners and dances, picnics, etc. Mark Kerr used to be lent by the Admiral to make himself useful to my guests and Alix nicknamed him "her Malta aide-de-camp."

... On the 19th [May 1891] I went to London and spent a few days there, and with Papa and Alix went on to Balmoral in time for Grandmama's birthday. ...

On the 4th of March [1892] ... whilst we were playing Halma, I was sent for to go up to the New Palace immediately, as Papa had had a stroke during lunch time. By the time I got up to the house Papa had been put to bed in the library. The stroke had affected his whole right side, and he was very restless. On the next morning he was quieter and drowsy, but his breathing had become heavy and irregular. Irene and Henry arrived that night and Louis on the following afternoon. Every day my father's condition grew slowly worse, and he could only be roused with difficulty. Ernie, who was in the South of France, arrived on the 7th and Papa recognized him but could not speak. On the 9th, when Ella and Serge arrived, we were able to rouse him sufficiently to know them, but on the 13th of March he passed away peacefully. His body lay in state for some days and the Hessian mourning for him was universal and sincere. He was one of the kindest-hearted and most just men I have ever known. ...

... We, with little Alice, Irene, Alix and Ernie went to Coburg to spend Easter there. ... That summer Ernie and Alix took a cure at Schwalbach, where I went to see them. ...

... When Nicky visited us [at Walton-on-Thames in 1894], we ... went on the river. He was a good oarsman, but so energetic that by the time we got back he had taken off all the skin under the finger on which he wore his engagement ring to Alix. ...

On April 1st Alix, Louis and I accompanied Ernie to Coburg where he was married to Ducky [Victoria Melita] on the 19th. ...

There was a very large family gathering at Coburg for the wedding, amongst them Grandmama with Aunt Beatrice, Uncle Bertie, the Connaughts, Vladimir and Miechen of Russia, Ella and Serge, Henry and Irene and William II. Nicky was sent to represent him by his father and it was in Coburg that he and Alix became engaged. They had been in love with each other ever since she and Papa had spent a winter at Petersburg a couple of years before, but there had been many difficulties in the way, one of which was Alix's objection to changing her religion [from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy]. These scruples William successfully overcame in a long conversation with her. He was so keenly in favour of the marriage ... — he proved to Alix that it was her bounden duty, for the sake of the peace of Europe, to sacrifice her scruples and marry the heir to the Russian throne. Furthermore, he maintained that the difference between the two confessions were only superficial. Poor Alix, who had felt very lonely after Papa's death and who now would no longer be so needed by Ernie, was as happy as Nicky when their engagement became a fact.

Alix returned to England with us and went to stop with Grandmama at Windsor. ...

Alix had been suffering for some time from attacks of sciatica and took a cure at Harrogate against it. I spent a couple of days with her there; we had great fun going about in tricycle bath chairs, worked by a man sitting behind us. We used to urge them to race each other. When her Harrogate cure had ended, Alix came back to us at Walton and there Nicky joined us for the 20th to the 23rd of June. He came quite alone with his old valet and he and Alix were free to spend as much time as they liked together. Then this private intermezzo came to an end and we four were fetched by a Royal carriage with an outrider to go to Windsor, much to the surprise of the Waltonians, who never realized who the important people stopping with us had been.

We left Elmgrove for good on the last day of July and, picking up Alix at Osborne, crossed to Flushing on board the V & A. ...

... In October ... the news of Sasha's (Emperor Alexander III) health was so disquieting that it was considered advisable for Alix to go to Livadia, as she had not seen him since her Russian visit with my father.

I accompanied her as far as Warsaw, leaving her on October 19th, from where Ella took her on. ... On our 1st November, Ella's birthday, Sasha died from kidney disease, and immediately after the funeral at Petersburg, Alix and Nicky were married (November 26th), the deep court mourning having been suspended on that day. ...

... Leaving the children at Heiligenberg, we left with Ernie and Ducky for Moscow on May 16th [1896] to attend the coronation. ...

The Coronation itself I need not describe beyond saying it was a very magnificent sight. Alix looked beautiful in her Coronation Robes, Crown, and the obligatory side-curls. ...

... By the 7th of June when the festivities were over and we moved to Illinskoje, trees and flowers were in full bloom and the weather was quite warm. Our party there besides our hosts and us, not counting the necessary suites, consisted of Nicky and Alix with their baby, Olga, Aunt Marie and Bee, Ernie and Ducky with baby Elisabeth and Paul, who was quartered at Oussove. It was lovely being in the country after the strenuous days we had just gone through. By July the 4th all the guests had departed. Louis had already to leave on the 15th of June and Alix and Nicky left on July 3rd.

In October Nicky and Alix paid their first visit to Wolfsgarten as a married couple, bringing baby Olga with them. They had been visiting Grandmama at Balmoral and afterwards had paid an official accession visit to Paris from where they came to Ernie. ...

... That autumn [1897] Nicky and Alix again came to Darmstadt with little Olga and the new baby, Tatiana my godchild, and I moved into the Altes Palace. Many relations came to visit them and the foundation stone of the Russian Chapel at the Mathildenhöhe was laid in Nicky's and Alix's presence. ...

... On the 9th [August 1901] we left for Peterhof on a visit to Alix and Nicky. ... On the 18th of August ... went with Nicky and Alix to see the Manoevres at Narva, living in the Imperial train with them for several days. ...

... On the 24th [September 1903] I moved with Nona and the children to the Altes Palais to prepare for Alice's wedding.

There was a very large gathering for it. Ernie put up the whole Greek family at the Schloss, as well as Vera of Würtenberg, Aunt Olga's sister. Ella and Serge with Marie and Dimitry, Nicky, Alix and the children, Aunt Alix and Toria all lived with him at the New Palace. ...

... Nona was left at the Alte Palais to look after Sonia Orbeliani, Alix's lady-in-waiting. She was a charming, intelligent and merry girl, most loyal and honest, whom we were all very fond of. For a couple of years she had showed symptoms of spinal trouble, and on arrival at Darmstadt she suddenly almost lost the use of her legs. It was out of the question she should go to Wolfsgarten, so Alix took her in an ambulance to the Alte Palais, which was now empty and quiet. ...

Later in the month [August 1904] Louis was sent to Peterhof to represent Uncle Bertie at the christening of Nicky and Alix's son and heir, Alexei. ...

... In the summer [1910] we all went at first to the Heiligenberg, ... and then moved on to Friedberg, where there was a large family gathering, as Nicky and Alix and all their children lived there with Ernie, during a cure that Alix took at Nauheim. Alix was not able to do much and spent the afternoon sitting quietly in the grounds, where I generally kept her company. ...

In 1913 the tricentenary of the reign of the Romanoff dynasty had been celebrated in Russia, and Nicky and Alix visited the home towns of the family, Jaroslaw and Kostroma on the Volga. ...

... We reached St Petersburg on the evening of August 4th [1914], just on the day that England had also declared war. Sir George Buchanan and Isa Buxhoeveden, one of Alix's ladies-in-waiting received us at the station and the latter took us to the Winter Palace where she had rooms hurriedly prepared for us, as the Palace was in disuse in the summer. We felt we could not put up at Peterhof as Alix had intended, the patients having to be kept in bed and there was a risk of spreading the infection. Alix, with the two eldest girls, came to see Ella and me on the following forenoon, and I spent the next day with her and her family at Peterhof. ... Valentin Schmidt, as a German subject, we left behind very ill in bed still and Alix managed to send him back to Germany later. She came again to St. Petersburg to see us before we left and, with loving forethought, equipped us with thick coats and other serviceable clothing for the sea journey, we only having the lightest of summer clothing with us, also giving us smaller and lighter travelling trunks.

Above: Alexandra.

Above: Victoria.

San Fransisco newspaper article on Nicholas and Alexandra's wedding, year 1894

Source:

The Morning Call, published in San Fransisco on Tuesday morning, November 27, 1894

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn94052989/1894-11-27/ed-1/seq-1/

The article:

NICOLAS AND ALIX.

—

Joined at Last in Holy Matrimony.

—

AS CZAR AND CZARINA.

—

The Proudest Sovereigns of the World.

—

WILL RULE IN WHITE RUSSIA.

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While Millions Kneel Before Them and Prisoners Are Set Free in Their Honor.

—

ST. PETERSBURG, NOV. 26. — Before 7 o'clock this morning large crowds were assembled in Newsky Prospect to secure places along the route of the royal wedding procession. From Anitchkoff Palace to the Winter Palace the avenue was lined with troops. There was not an inch of space to spare along the Grand Morskaika Prospect and on the square in front of the Winter Palace.

At 11:15, at a distance, were heard strains of the national anthem, and the multitudes uncovered in anticipation of the approach of the bridal party. Soon after there appeared the open state carriage, drawn by four white horses. In this vehicle were the Czar and his brother, Grand Duke Michael. They both wore uniforms of Hussars of the Guard, and were greeted with a vociferous burst of cheering, which was renewed again and again.

The Czar's equipage was preceded and followed by detachments of chevaliers and guards and hussars and lancers of the Guard, all in brilliant gala uniform. Then came a superb landau, also drawn by four white horses, in which were the Princess Alix and the Czarina. They received, if possible, even a more hearty greeting than the Czar himself. Handkerchiefs and hats were waved in the air and the most intense enthusiasm prevailed. After the carriage of the Princess and Czarina followed a long train of carriages with the royal guests, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Princess Irene of Prussia, Grand Duchess Sergius and other prominent members of the imperial family, as well as all the wedding guests.

Military bands were stationed at various points along the route and each struck up the national hymn as the cortege appeared. The national hymn was sounded in the ears of the imperial party along the entire route. The wedding procession entered the Winter Palace at 1:15 P.M., where, as soon as possible afterward, were assembled all those invited to the wedding.

Reaching the Winter Palace the royal party entered the Malachite Hall, where the bridal procession was formed. At its head were the court functionaries and then came the Czarina, escorted by the King of Denmark, her father; the Czar and Princess Alix came next, followed by the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the imperial and royal families and a batch of court officials bringing up the rear. The procession first slowly traversed the Concert Hall, the panels on the walls being the silver plates upon which the Russian people presented to the late Czar bread and salt during his journey through the empire and on the occasion of his coronation. A large crystal candelabra was suspended from the ceiling.

The Nicholas Hall was next entered by the wedding party. It was decorated with white and gold and adorned by richly embellished panels, the work of famous artist. In the center of the hall was a striking portrait of Nicholas I. The bridal procession then traversed the Enore Hall, splendidly decorated in empire style, the Field Marshals' Salon, where a variety of large war paintings adorned the walls, and then passed through the famous Petroffsky Hall, in which stands the throne of Peter the Great, and which is graced with ancient furniture of oxidized silver. From this magnificent apartment the wedding procession slowly passed through the hall of the Court of Arms, named after the enormous allegorical figures of Russians, which stand about the walls, holding in their hands the escutcheons of all the governments of the empire.

The bridal procession then found itself in the Pikotnay room, which adjoins the church. In this room remained the majority of the officials and the members of the lesser nobility, only the imperial family and their social guests and the indispensable functionaries passing into the small chapel, which is most gorgeous, glittering with gold and stucco work. On the right hand of the chapel, in glass cases, were the sacred relics brought to Russia by the Knights of Malta, including the hand of St. John the Baptist, the Martyr Saint Irene and the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary. These are ornamented with enormous sapphires in the form of bears.

The costumes in the chapel were dazzling. Most of the ladies wore the Russian costumes, very low before and behind and with arms bare almost to the shoulders. The bride's dress was white, richly embroidered with gold, and on her head was the usual kokoshnik belonging to the costume, ornamented with diamonds. The bride's mantle was of purple velvet lined with ermine.

The head dresses of the old court ladies were of ancient gold brocade, adorned with sapphires, emeralds and rubies.

The bride's train was borne by five officials, two walking on either side, while the Grand Chamberlain held the hem. The Czar wore the uniform of the famous Red Hussars of the Guard with a dolman suspended from the right shoulder.

The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha wore Russian uniforms, while the Duke of York wore a naval uniform. All the royal princes wore the cordon of the order of St. Andrew.

In the center of the chapel of the Winter Palace stood a holy table, on which had been placed the gospel and a cross. Between the table and altar were multi-branched candelabra with lighted tapers. Behind the table facing the altar stood the Preto-presbytery Yanischeffe, attired in gorgeous vestments of cloth of gold. Close behind the bridal pair the imperial and royal spectators formed a semi-circle. The ceremony was concluded a few minutes before two o'clock. The Czar and his bride then approached the Dowager Czarina to greet and thank her. She embraced her son and his wife, after which they were embraced and kissed by the King of Denmark and other relatives. Everybody was much moved and the bride was in tears. The Czar was very pale and was visibly affected.

When all the wedding guests were assembled the marriage ceremony was carried out according to the rites of the Greek church. The wedding procession was re-formed and the guests re-entered their carriages. The Dowager Czarina was the first to arrive back at the Winter Palace. The Czar with the Czarina returned to the Anitchkoff Palace in the same landau amid the unbounded enthusiasm of the immense crowds gathered to greet them. The Czar graciously saluted the crowds on either side of the route, and the Czarina bowed, too, repeatedly. On reaching the Cathedral of Kazan, which is a most imposing edifice, half surrounded by a colonnade recalling St. Peter's at Rome, there was a remarkable spectacle. There was literally a sea of heads extending up the Newsky Prospect, and the multitudes were so densely packed that the troops had great difficulty in preserving a passage for the wedding march. The bells in all the churches were merrily pealing the wedding chimes, and above all could be heard the distant booming of cannon from the fortresses and other places. The crowds had waited for hours with considerable patience, which was converted into enthusiastic cheering as the first detachment of cavalry escorting the Dowager Czarina dashed by and announced the return of the imperial party. The Dowager Czarina pushed on ahead to the Anitchkoff Palace in order to be the first to greet the newly married couple on their arrival there.

When the second cavalry escort trotted up followed in an open carriage by the Czar and the Czarina there was an unexampled scene of enthusiasm. The imperial carriage stopped before the Cathedral of Kazan in order to allow the newly married pair to invoke the blessing of the Almighty. The Czar and Czarina were received on the porch by the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and the high clergy bearing the cross and holy water. A Te Deum was celebrated inside the cathedral, the Metropolitan proper praying the Almighty to bless the Czar and Czarina and to guide them in their paths of duty.

When the Czar reappeared on the cathedral steps after the religious ceremonies within, and kissed the miraculous image of Our Lady of Kazan, the enthusiasm of the people was beyond all description. The brilliancy of the spectacle at this moment was enhanced by a sudden burst of sunshine from the clouds which had hitherto darkened the city. The appearance of the golden rays was regarded as a good augury by the immense crowds present, who cheered themselves hoarse as the Czar and Czarina re-entered their carriage and returned to the Anitchkoff Palace.

When the newly wedded pair arrived at the Anitchkoff Palace they were received and welcomed by the Dowager Czarina, who had preceded them for this purpose. Later the Czar and Czarina, accompanied by Grand Duchess Olga, youngest sister of the Czar, appeared at the window of the palace overlooking the Newsky Prospect. Here they stood for fifteen minutes, bowing repeatedly in response to the acclamations of the multitude gathered outside the palace. Grand Duchess Olga, with girlish enthusiasm, repeatedly kissed her hand to the crowd. The Czarina leaned on the arm of her husband and smiled radiantly on the throng. There were several similar demonstrations during the next hour.

The Czar's manifesto mentioned in the dispatches last night was issued to-night. His Majesty in honor of his marriage remits various debts to the crown, including the repayment of the grants made to the peasants on account of famines. He also wholly remits arrears of taxes and fines and mitigates or shortens sentences of imprisonment, police supervision and deportation at hard labor. The prosecution for treason of offenders who have remained undiscovered for fifteen years will be abandoned. The indulgences to present prisoners will be decided upon after a report has been submitted to the Czar by the Minister of the Interior. Amnesty is granted to the participants in the Polish rebellion of 1863, and they will be permitted to reside anywhere in Russia. Their civil rights, but not their property, will be restored to them.

In honor of the Czar's wedding 40,000 poor people of this city will dine to-day at the expense of the Czar. All the schools have been closed for three days to give the children a holiday and enable them to celebrate the marriage.

The ordinary theaters to-day received permission to recommence their performances.

According to current reports the Czar has caused consternation among the officers of his household by leaving the palace unattended and walking through the streets in a military mantle, arm in arm with the first officer who recognized him. On Saturday the Czar went for a walk with Princess Alix, entered a glovestore and made several purchases. On leaving he was recognized by the people and loudly cheered.

His Majesty has also received the Ministers very graciously. When M. de Giers, Minister of Foreign Affairs, tendered his resignation, he said he hoped they would work together for a long time yet. To this De Giers replied: "But, Your Majesty, look at my feet. They cannot carry me." Whereupon the Czar replied: "I do not want your feet. I only want your head."

San Fransisco newspaper article about Alix, year 1894

Source:

Trousseau of an Empress, published in The San Fransisco Call, Tuesday morning on November 27, 1894

http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php?topic=87.5;wap2

The article:

TROUSSEAU OF AN EMPRESS
Some of the Pretty Things Provided for Alix.

Princess Alix Victoria Helena Louise Beatrice of Hesse, Czarina of Russia, is the youngest living child of the late Grand Duke Louis of Hesse and is sister to the present Grand Duke. Her mother was the Princess Alix, second daughter of Queen Victoria, and she is, therefore, a grandchild of the Queen of England. Her three older sisters, the Princesses Victoria, Elizabeth and Irene, are married to Prince Louise of Battenberg, the Grand Duke Sergius of Russia and Prince Henry of Prussia, respectively. It will be seen that the Hesse family is closely linked with the Russian imperial house, for the late Czar's mother was Princess Marie of Hesse, while her nephew and his son have both sought their brides in the same quarter.

One of the most imposing and important items in the marriage basket of Alix of Hesse is the numerous and varied styles of the specially made stockings prepared for her Royal Highness by a Nottingham manufacturer. The Princess has evidently a neat taste in all things pertaining to her footgear, and many of the designs chosen are her own original efforts. Her royal grandmamma gave the young Empress most of her lingerie, which is, therefore, nearly all of English manufacture.

There are many pairs of very fine silken hose in pale pink, pale blue, a silvery tone of gray and most delicate French gray and green to be worn with evening dresses. These are all embroidered in fine little raised sprays, with pale colorings in silk, either contrasting in hue or admirably harmonizing with the stockings themselves. For ordinary day wear there are liberal numbers of black spun silk, thick and durable, and having a very pretty light open-work design up the center of the foot. Many are of fine black silk, for indoor wear with smart afternoon dresses, and they are embroidered in a small Paislay design, and some in wild flower sprays, called respectively "chintz" and "Dolly Varden." It is interesting to know that these are all of English make and that the embroidery has been wrought by the nimble fingers of Nottingham cottagers. There are some pairs of a design in broken lines of bright color crossing a black ground, such as red and bronze lines on a similar somber background. These are decidedly original and most becoming to a pretty foot. Many pairs in silver gray have lines and dots through them of paler gray, looking by contrast almost white. Others are black, embroidered in pale color, such as clover, periwinkle, anthurium and gloxinia, all designed to match dresses with which they will eventually be worn.

Of all, the very prettiest are of black silk, the foot in stripes of exquisitely fine real black lace work, with narrow stripes of the silk between, and the lace delicately caught up over the silk with the effect of a fine embroidery. In the same style are some having the lace work less fine and yet nigh cobweb-like in texture, with a slightly raised silk embroidery over where the lacework unites with the stockings. The Royal Stuarttarian also figures among the trousseau stockings, for the Queen gives to all members of her family on their marriage at least one dress in velvet of this design. There are also ribbed open-work black and white stockings in a woven tiny meshed stripe called Grecian, though made in Nottingham, that are very fascinating. Each pair has the cipher "A," surmounted by a princess' crown, embroidered in red as marking. There is also a quantity of Nottingham silk and woolen underwear of a light, warm, durable and exquisitely soft kind, marked again with the princess' cipher and crown.

It is interesting to know that the Czarina has many gloves in glace kid, with plane stitching matching the kid, and that her favorite colors are yellow, grays and tans. For indoor wear are a goodly selection of suede gloves, in lovely light tint, prettily and aptly called champagne shades, as well as many white, gray, fawn and tan colorings. There are some pairs of English buckskin gloves made in England, and beautifully soft, pliable and durable, as well as some antelope skin, which are specially suitable for riding and driving. Then there are gloves of English make from Russian leather, the skins having been prepared in the Crimea. Veils are also a small but varied portion of the outfit, and some of these have been specially made to fit the hats and bonnets to be worn by the Princess. These are in black, white and gray, and have the mesh very finely oven and the spots small, sometimes single. A new veil, made in Nottingham, is also included, and looks like point d'Alencon bordering and springs, applied on a fine Brussels net ground, in an ivory-white coloring, very becoming to the complexion.

Among other pretty items provided for this fortunate young Princess are little dainty twilled morning jackets, having finely tucked Vandyke collars, trimmed with lace, and some having pointed sailor collars, with lace insertion. These are in very pale colors. Some silk and satin broche blouses are also very charming, trimmed in various pretty ways with velvet or lace. One, having black Spanish lace over the yoke and on the sleeves to the elbow, is particularly good style, as is a tea-gown in twilled silk, with insertion and trimming of ecru lace. The colors are chiefly those which the Princess likes best – soft pinks and delicate grays.

The gowns provided for the royal trousseau were most of them made in Paris or in St. Petersburg. It is one of the ancient traditions of Russia that a bride, being brought from a foreign land to wed a son of the imperial house, shall be stripped at the frontier of all her alien outfit and dressed forthwith in Russian garments from head to heel. This "law" is not carried out in its entirety nowadays, but a goodly portion of the bride’s trousseau must of necessity be of Slavonic origin.

Above: Alix.