#grand duchess marie alexandrovna

[thepaleys]

I grieved for my father and frequently spoke to my uncle about him. He gave me patient but unsympathetic answers, speaking of my father without open criticism, but in a manner half jealous, half condescending, that hurt me deeply. It had been a year since the day father had been banished. His marriage had not been recognized. His wife had neither name nor title. One day, however, towards the end of summer, after what parleys I am not aware of, Uncle Serge told us that we could go to see him. The interview was to take place in Bavaria, in the villa of my aunt Marie, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg. (...)

My father, as was previously understood, kept the rendezvous alone. He talked a great deal and treated me almost as a confidential equal, but his distrait, preoccupied air went to my heart. I had determined to ask him news of his wife, but a kind of inexplicable timidity held me back. Finally, one day, I screwed up my courage and, with eyes lowered, uttered in a small trembling voice a sentence which I had prepared in advance. Father, who had not until then pronounced his wife’s name in my presence, was surprised and visibly touched. He rose, came over to me, and took me in his arms. This little scene bound us together forever. From that moment, in spite of my age, we became allies, almost accomplices, and my uncle’s efforts to attach me to him, to separate me in spirit as well as in fact from my own father, could not but fail.

The two brothers had some words on this subject during our stay—words which ended when my uncle shrugged his shoulders and announced that he considered himself as possessing all the rights which my father had given up. This was no idle boast; he did have the full rights of guardian over us and exercised these rights without consulting my father’s wishes on any point, and father, though he suffered a great deal from this state of things, was utterly powerless to act or protest.

"Education of a Princess" - Marie Pavlovna Jr.

[loiladadiani]

Grand Duchesses at the Coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna

Nicholas II and his consort Empress Alexandra, were crowned on Tuesday, 14 May (O.S., 26 May N.S.) 1896, in Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. The magnificence of the occasion was never again seen in Russia. The Grand Duchesses were in full regalia. Here are two great photographs of them.

Above:

Sitting: Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna (who had been present at the coronation of Alexander III); sitting on the floor at her knees is Princess Olga of Wurttenberg; sitting next to Alexandra Iosifovna is Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught

Back Row Standing from Let to Right: Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the elder), Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna, and Princess Elena of Saxe-Altenburg

Above:

In the center of this group, is Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, (daughter of Tzar Alexander II, wife of Queen Victoria's second son Alfred, Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, who is standing behind her.)

On the right side of Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, is her daughter Victoria Melita, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Sitting to the left of her mother is the Crowned Princess of Romania, Marie (same name as her mother; known by the family as Missy). Her husband the Crowned Prince of Romania, Ferdinand, is standing slightly to the side, behind Missy.

Next to Ferdinand of Romania is Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and By Rhine, husband of Victoria Melita at the time and brother of the Empress being crowned, Alexandra Feodorovna. To the right of Victoria Melita is her brother, Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who died at age twenty-four.

[epoque-victorienne]

[queenalexandraofdenmark]

Happy Father's Day!!! 💙

Christian & Alexandra, Albert & Elizabeth, George & Mary, Sasha & Olga, Nicholas & Tatiana, Philip & Charles, Ernest Louis & Elisabeth, and Edward & Louise.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

BORN ON THIS DAY:

Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (17 October [O.S. 5 October] 1853 – 24 October 1920) was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.

She was Duchess of Edinburgh and later Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the wife of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

She was the younger sister of Alexander III of Russia and the paternal aunt of Russia's last emperor, Nicholas II.

[lavenderrosiefan]

Xenia: When will Ted himself…finally show up to the talk?

Alexandra: The final boss.

Alice: You guys know TEDtalks stands for technology, entertainment, and design talks, right?

Xenia: I will not let Ted hide behind these lies any longer!

[loiladadiani]

Beautiful Marie (Missy) of Romania was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England and of Tsar Alexander II. Her mother was the only surviving daughter of Alexander II, Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, and her father was Queen Victoria's fourth child and second son, Alfred (Affie) Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

When she started getting close to marriageable age, just about every Prince wanted her...her father's dream was that she should marry the future George V (and Georgie was willing), but her mother did not want her to marry in England. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich also tried to "apply" for the position and was sent packing. Marie eventually married Crowned Prince Ferdinand of Romania. She was very popular in her adopted country when she was Crowned Princess and during her reign.

Queen Marie of Romania

[teatimeatwinterpalace]

Afternoon Tea in the Garden of Clarence House, 1897. (x) Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince George, Duke of York later King George V, Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Princess Victoria Melita, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Princess Mary, Duchess of York later Queen Mary, Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine.

[romanovsonelastdance]

Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna with her daughters Marie, Victoria Melita & Alexandra.

[adini-nikolaevna]

"The great day came. It was April 16, the eve of Sasha's twenty-third birthday. In the morning there was mass, at one o'clock in the afternoon the official ceremony of dressing the bride in the presence of the whole family, newly appointed court ladies and three ladies-in-waiting. Marie was coiffed so that two long curls fell on either side of her face, a small diadem of diamonds and pearl pendants was placed on her head - under it was attached a veil of lace, which hung below the shoulders. Each of us sisters gave her a pin to attach it, and then a purple ermine-trimmed robe, so heavy that five chamberlains had to hold it, was placed over her and fastened at the shoulder with a gold pin. At the end, Mama also attached a small bouquet of myrtle and orange blossom under the veil. Marie looked grand and majestic in her outfit, and the expression of solemn seriousness on her childish face was in perfect harmony with the beauty of her figure. At three o'clock there was a solemn banquet, approximately four hundred people were seated in the Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace at three huge tables. In the middle are the Royal Family and the clergy, who opened the banquet with prayer and blessing. At the table, ladies sat on the right hand, gentlemen on the left. They drank the health of the young couple, Their Majesties, the Tsarevna's Parents, as well as all loyal subjects, and each toast was accompanied by cannon salvoes. The highest ranks of the Court brought champagne to Their Majesties; we, the other members of the Royal Family, were served by our chamberlains. A military band played, and the best singers of the Opera sang so that the walls shook. At eight there was a polonaise in the St. George's Hall: Papa danced in front of everyone with Marie; at ten o'clock we returned to our chambers, here only the family dined with the newlyweds. Adini and I did not take part in this, but had dinner with our teachers in my rooms and looked out at the Neva, at the illuminated embankment, ships decorated with flags, a festive crowd, and behind it the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress, rising to the sky, still gilded by the setting sun… this day ended with such a wonderful note.”

- Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, Queen of Wurttemberg, on the nuptials of her elder brother, the future Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Empress Maria Alexandrovna (nee Princess Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt.)

[inky-duchess]

Feed the ask box, "I love asks about tiaras" edition 👑:

Which are your top ten favorites? Are there any that've been out of the public eye for some time that you hope are still in one piece? Obviously this can go for any other form of jewelry, too.

One I hope hasn't been broken down is the Boucheron Great Wave.

Oh, my top ten would have to be:

1. Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik

2. The Baden Fringe Tiara

3. Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna's Rock Crystal Tiara

4. The Greville Emerald Tiara

5. Empress Alexandra Pearl drop tiara

6. The Lusitania Tiara

7. The Spanish Fleur de Lys

8. Countess of Roseberry's Tiara

9. Essex Tiara

10. Russian Matrimonial Tiara

I would really like to see more of Queen Mary's collection in England because it's literally just sitting in a vault somewhere. We saw her diamond bandeau on Meghan Markle but there are at least five other tiaras we haven't seen in decades. I would really like to see the Russian Imperial collection but most of it has been broken up and destroyed so I doubt we will ever see the full collection.

[thepaleys]

Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna on meeting the Hohenfelsens

(safe to say she was not impressed 🤣)

Paris, 16 June 1908

The young Swedish couple" has arrived in our hotel. Little Marie is a very sedate and calm little person, but she poured her heart out to Baby: she feels it terribly meeting here her step-mother and suffers greatly under it. As to poor little Dmitry, he is in perfect despair. He hates the whole thing and loathed the idea of seeing his new Geschwister [siblings]. He comes to me to talk about it.

Of course Uncle Paul and wife manquent de tact [are tactless] in every way: for instance, last Tuesday he arranged a big luncheon with quantities of his French acquaintances and asked us too. It was the first time poor Dmitry went to his house here and Uncle Paul presented him to all the guests as "mon fils aine" [my eldest son]. The boy simply se tordait de désespoir [curled up in despair], we observed it all and in the middle of this unknown company appeared these second children and all the affected French people went into loud ectasies about them [at this time, Vladimir was 11, Irina 4 and Natalie 2], whilst poor Dmitry was pale with concentrated rage and moral suffering.

Marie told Baby that she never would have come here, had she known, how it would be. And people are wonderfully taktlos. They all praise her to the skies when they talk to me, cette charmante Comtesse Hohenfelsen, "elle est adorable, cette femme". Vous trouvez [that charming Countess Hohenfelsen. She's adorable, don't you think?]. I answer, oh! Bien pour moi, c'est très pénible [for me it's all very painful] and I tell them a few truths. Then they at once turn the conversation, as French people hate when they are found at fault et ne désirent pas du tout en savoir d'avantage. [and don't want to be wrong in any way].

As to Uncle Paul, I cannot support at all him here; his whole attitude and tone I find detestable, I don't show it, à quoi bon and I am simply polite with his wife, like with any lady in society I don't care for. I simply writhe when I see in his house portraits of my mother, what a desecration! And he pointed them out to me! I thought one moment I would like to insult him before all his idiotic French guests.

"Dear Mama" - Diana Mandache

This is what I love about digging into original sources. When we read Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna's memoires, the idea we get is that she always had a pleasent relationship with her stepmother, but here (at least according to Maria Alexandrovna, who clearly still held a deep resentment towards her brother and his second wife) it seems things were not so smooth.

It's also interesting (and sad) to notice how she doesn't really consider Grand Duke Paul's children from his second marriage worthy of any note and is even annoyed that the French fawn over them and that Grand Duke Paul introduces Dmitri as his "eldest son", which seems to imply she doesn't consider Vladimir to be his son at all.

It kind of shows what the rest of the family thought about Grand Duke Paul's second family: so irrelevant that it was as if they didn't exist.

[loiladadiani]

Romanov extended family group, 1896

Standing at the back from left to right: Ferdinand, Crowned Prince of Romania, Nicholas II, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Princess Victoria Melita (standing very far from her husband, Ersnt Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and By Rhine.)

Sitting in the middle row from left to right: The little boy still in skirts holding hands with the lady next to him, Marie, Crowned Princess of Romania, is Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich. Next to Marie is Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, holding her daughter Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna; next to her is Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna (I am using her original Russian title, she was also Duchess of Edinburg and eventually Grand Duchess of Saxe-Coburg Gotha.) I do not recognize the baby she is holding. Last, sitting in front of Ernie, is Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

On the floor, sitting by Marie and holding a little girl's hand, is one of Marie's younger sisters. The little girl whose hand she is holding is Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, the younger. Her father, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, is sitting next to her. Lastly, I am very tempted to say that the woman sitting to the right of Pavel is the elder Hessian sister, Victoria, although I am not 100% sure!

[loiladadiani]

George V and Marie of Romania

This is a great picture of the future King George V and the future Queen Marie of Romania and her siblings. "Missy," as Marie was known, is wearing the blue skirt. She was very pretty and had a number of suitors from a very young age. Her mother, the formidable Grand Duchess Maria (daughter of Alexander II and wife of Queen Victoria's second son Alfred) would not have "Missy" marry a Russian and would not have her marry an Englishman either (Grand Duchess Maria's own marriage to Queen Victoria's son was unhappy and she always had issues with precedence in the English court). So beautiful Missy ended up marrying the future Ferdinand I of Romania (who was in love with another woman.) Missy was beautiful, intelligent, compassionate, and creative (perhaps a little histrionic) but in my opinion, George did much, much better marrying Mary of Teck. After Missy refused George, they remained friendly (they had been friends since childhood.)

[blueplumbbob]

The Royal Jewels of Iverny (part 1)

Queen Catherine's Emerald Diadem

Out of any tiara in the Ivernian royal collection, none are more closely associated with one specific member of the royal family than the emerald and diamond kokoshnik often worn by Princess Claudia, Princess Royal. While it is lovingly called "Princess Claudia's Tiara" by both the public and the royal family, the tiara is formally known as Queen Catherine's Emerald Diadem.

In 1891, Grand Duchess Yekaterina Alexandrovna of Russia, a great-granddaughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia, was betrothed to the third son of King Philip III of Iverny and Queen Mary Josephine, Prince Richard, the future Duke of Ettinger. As a wedding gift, the bride's parents commissioned a kokoshnik tiara set with emeralds from the collections of the bride's grandmothers, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna and Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna. The young Yekaterina was delighted, and the tiara became a beloved reminder of home as she entered in to a new chapter of life in Iverny as Duchess of Ettinger.

After the tragic and sudden death of her niece Queen Jane II in the fall of 1918, Catherine stepped into her new role as consort alongside her husband, the newly crowned King Richard V. Her emerald kokoshnik tiara was worn for countless state dinners, galas, balls, and portraits throughout her eight-year tenure as queen, and into the 1930s and 1940s in her role as Queen Mother.

In 1949, on the occasion of her granddaughter's 15th birthday, Queen Catherine gifted the tiara to King Arthur V's only daughter, Princess Catherine. The young Princess Royal was said to be "positively elated" by the gift from her namesake. The Princess Royal wore the tiara regularly up until the early 1970s, when she gifted it to her niece, Princess Claudia. Reportedly, the note given to Princess Claudia alongside the tiara read "from one Princess Royal to Another, from your dear Aunt Cathy."

Princess Claudia first debuted Queen Catherine's Emerald Diadem in 1972. Over the past fifty years, the Princess Royal has worn the tiara almost exclusively, from her brother's coronation in 1976 to her own wedding in 1988 to nearly every state dinner. It is unknown if the Princess Royal will continue to wear the tiara into her old age, or if she will pass it on to her own niece, the junior Princess Royal, Princess Caroline, Countess Hatheway, as many anticipate.

HRH Catherine, Duchess of Ettinger, wears the yet-unnamed tiara in a portrait photograph, 1893.

HM Queen Catherine's first official painted portrait in her role as Queen consort, 1921.

HRH Princess Catherine, Princess Royal, wears her grandmother's Emerald Diadem at the French State Dinner, 1957.

HRH Princess Claudia, Princess Royal, shakes hands with guests at His Majesty's Charity Benefit Gala in Gaucelin, 1980.

post inspired by @warwickroyals 💙

[lavenderrosiefan]

More royal historical figures that will debut in Season 3

Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg (formerly Princess Charlotte of Luxembourg)

Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (formerly Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott)

Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway (formerly Desiree Clary)

Like the royals who debuted in Season 2, their reason for appearing will remain to be seen...