#otmaa marriages

[romanovsonelastdance]

Article about OTMA from The Sketch, 14 Jan 1903, and a postcard with the same image.

[n-rnova]

Alexei the only heir of Imperial Russia had many prospects despite being young but considering his diseases it is sure that he will marry young

List of Prospects

1.Princess Ileana of Romania (1909) Later Archduchess of Austria, Princess Tuscany

2. Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark (1904) later Countess Toerring-Jettenbach

3.Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (1903) later princess of yugoslavia

4.Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (the future duchess of kent) (1906)

5.Princess Xenia Georgievna of Russia (1903)

6.Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (1904)

7.Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905)

8.Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (1913)

9.Princess Ingrid of Sweden (1910)

10.Princess Anna of Saxony (1903)

[loiladadiani]

The first Nicholas and Alexandra and the three graces

Before Nicky and Alix and OTMAA, there was Nicholas I (who was said to be not only the Iron Tsar but also the best-looking man in Europe) and his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (Princess Charlotte of Prussia or "Muffy" as he called her.)

The couple had seven children, four sons and three daughters. Their sons (Tsar Alexander II and Grand Dukes Konstantin Nicholaevich, Nicholas Nicholaevich, and Mikhail Nicholaevich) are better known than their daughters, even though they were said to be not only beautiful but exceptional in intelligence and education.

Nicholas and Alexandra's eldest daughter was Grand Duchess Maria Nicholaevna, who would become the Duchess of Leuchtenberg through marriage. I have read that Maria's face resembled her father's and that she would dare argue with him, and when she did, their countenances would terrify those around them. She is described as energetic and willful. She was an art connoisseur and collector.

The second daughter was Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaevna, who became the Queen Consort of Wurttemberg. She was elegant, stately, kind, intelligent, and educated. She did many good works in her adopted land and was beloved by her people.

The third daughter was Alexandra, better known as Adidini. While the two older daughters resemble their father, Adini is said to have resembled her mother. She was interested in nature and music, in particular singing. Her story is very sad. She died young and, in doing so, broke her father's heart.

These women deserve more than three lines...so you will be hearing more about them. As far as I know, there is no picture of Adini, so I have included a painted portrait instead.

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

First of all, I wanted to thank you for the interesting posts and photos you publish💋❤

My question is, did tsar Nicholas II ever meet his nephew George, son of grand duke Michael ?

or did OTMA ever meet their cousin?

Hello anon! Thank you for the compliments! I’m so glad you enjoy my blog! So for a brief rundown of who this George person is, he was OTMAA’s uncle (and Nicky’s brother) Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich’s son from his morganatic marriage to Countess Natalia Sergeyevna Brasova. Mikhail and Natalia cherished their young son and Mikhail and Georgy met several times before Misha was executed in 1918.

Georgy was born on July 24th 1910 when Olga was 14, Tatiana was 13, Maria was 11, Anastasia was 9, and Alexei was 5. Because Georgy was the product of a morganatic marriage, a marriage not getting approval from the monarch, and going against the laws of the Russian Orthodox Church, Nicholas most likely would not have allowed his children to meet their cousin.

Nicholas was a VERY faithful man and took morganatic marriages VERY seriously. He was very close to Misha and felt probably very betrayed by his actions. Because of this, Nicky would’ve not wanted to meet Georgy and would’ve kept his children away from him. I’m not 100% sure if they did happen to meet in the 7 years before they were killed. There is a chance though!

I think that @otmaaromanovas could go digging a lot more into if they ever possibly had met because she is a queen when it comes to letters and diaries!

Thank you for asking and sorry this took a long time to answer!

[annalaurendet70]

Astrid,Queen of the Belgians was the maternal first cousin,once removed of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

Born Princess Astrid Sofia Lovisa Thyra of Sweden on 17 November 1905 to Prince Carl of Sweden,Duke of Västergötland and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark.Astrid became the Duchess of Brabant after her marriage to Leopold in November 1926. She became queen of the Belgians on 17 February 1934 until her death on 29 August 1935.

She met her first cousins "OTMAA" twice removed on their visit to Sweden on 20-21 June 1909.

[romanovsonelastdance]

Also a Russian article about Alexander and Olga Nikolaevna: (so that it would not be difficult for you, translation)

Speaking about the loves of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, it is impossible to ignore this one. Probably, it was a very short infatuation – maybe just a WILLINGNESS to fall in love – but it was this feeling that had every chance of getting continued. After all, Olga finally liked an equal in position: the prince of a foreign power.

In December 1913, Olga realized that her "sun" was Pavel Voronov (more?) he does not reciprocate her, and made several emotional entries about him in his diary, using a secret cipher. His behavior confuses and worries her, feelings are looking for a way out... on December 21, the denouement follows: "I found out that my S. is marrying Olga Kleinmichel. God send him happiness, my beloved S. It's hard. Sadly. He would be pleased." Olga also encrypted this entry. It would seem that the time has come to immerse yourself in experiences for a long time, but after a few weeks the mysterious cipher appears in the diary again. And if earlier he hid only declarations of love for Voronov, now Olga writes about something else (further encrypted fragments are italicized): "January 12. Alexander Serbian arrived (In Russian uniform. Wow, what eyes). January 15th. At 9:00, my Dad and Aunt and I went to St. Petersburg for the consecration of the new church of the Fedorovskaya Mother of God in honor of the 300th anniversary. It lasted from 10 to 1 ¼. Metropolitan, etc. A bright, large, good church. I was standing next to Alexander the Serbian, he was a little further away. Wow, wow what. January 17th. We had breakfast with Dad, Aunt, Kostya and Alexander. I sat with him. Cute, embarrassing and beautiful horror. Wow wow what. January 19th. Mom I don't know how. I fell asleep after 3 hours at night.  God save her and everyone , and Alexander S. January 23. After in the Winter Courtyard. a big breakfast. Then we talked. I've been with Alexander for quite a long time. God save him. The 25th of January. We had breakfast with Papa, T. Olga, gr. Fredericks and Alexander S. He came to say goodbye. He's leaving in 2-3 days, it's a pity, dear."

Alexander Karageorgievich was 7 years older than Olga. He had a lot to do with Russia: he had Russian tutors, was the godson of Alexander III and the named son of Nicholas II; studied at the School of Jurisprudence and in the Page Corps in St. Petersburg.  He became heir to the throne in 1909, after his elder brother George was forced to give up his rights to the throne under the pressure of a scandal. In the same year, Alexander almost asked for the hand of Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna. The Serbian minister and even the father-king personally made a cautious reconnaissance on this matter. But to the Konstantinovichs, the position of the Karageorgievich dynasty on the throne seemed too shaky. K.R., Tatiana's father, wrote in his diary: "I told her in detail about the claims of the Serbian court and about the reasons prompting us to advise her to refuse this offer. Although she rather likes Sandro Serbian, she did not hesitate to give him up." However, a year later the families still became related: Alexander's sister Elena married Grand Duke John Konstantinovich. For the Karageorgievichs, this was a great success, because they took the throne only in 1903 by a coup. In Europe, they were not really recognized, and not all Romanovs were disposed to them. In 1912-13, Alexander managed to show valor in the Balkan wars. And then he thought about getting married again, but now he was interested in the daughter of the tsar himself. ONLY WHICH ONE?

In this newspaper for November 1913, it was suggested that Olga would become the wife of Alexander of Serbia, and Tatiana – Karol of Romania. On the other hand, the English Wikipedia, with reference to Serbian archives, assures that Prime Minister Nikola Pasic wrote to Nicholas II in January 1914 about Alexander's intention to marry one of the Grand duchesses. Nikolai did not object and even noticed the interest that his daughter showed in the prince – but it was allegedly not Olga, but Tatiana. (And Russian Wikipedia generally assures: "Tatiana and Alexander wrote letters to each other until their death. When Alexander found out about Tatiana's murder, he was confused and almost committed suicide").Alexander's sister Elena, in her memoirs, which I have not yet been able to find, seemed to say that she noticed some "chemistry" between Alexander and Olga. Well, Olga's diary allows us to conclude that Alexander was not indifferent to her, and I think the Serbian heir himself paid attention to her.  You can only guess what prevented you from taking the next step.In the spring, Olga is fond of Molokhovets, then the war begins, but all this does not prevent her from remembering Alexander on various occasions:"February 24.At 12 o'clock my mother received the Bavarian, Belgian, Danish and Serbian envoys (Nalajovic. So reminds Alexander C).February 25.(in small print: I haven't seen Alexander for a month since)March 25.I haven't seen Alexandra for 2 months. <...>(added, apparently, later) I haven 't seen Alexander S. for 2 months .September 4.The Pope gave Alexander of Serbia the St. George Cross 4 art . I am very happy. God help me.October 6.John, Gabriel and Kostya and Elena had lunch. They told me a lot of interesting things. She's a piece of Alexander, and I love her.October 16.At 7 o'clock we went to the infirmary with Mom, we went to everyone, and talked to K. and I. in the corridor. Everyone knows Alexander by his body."

Alexander was a thin brunette with a mustache and large facial features (and with "WOW" eyes) – this is exactly the type of appearance that has always attracted Olga. Besides, apparently, he was a really nice person. "The prince turned out to have a kind and friendly character," writes the grandson of his tutor, the famous priest Gleb Kaleda. "To please his tutor, the prince wrote to him in Russian, asking for forgiveness in advance for possible mistakes, although there were none." He was remembered as a tactful person, sometimes shy and prone to melancholy, a lover of reading – there is some similarity with Olga's character.Olga did not see Alexander again, but a year later she noted in her diary the anniversary of his arrival:"January 12, 1915.The year that I saw Alexander at Vsevolod's christening.January 15th.The year is consecrated. churches. Alexander.January 17th.Mordvinov and Count Fredericks were having breakfast. And a year ago Alexander. God bless him."It seems that even in the spring of 1916, Pasic expressed the hope that Olga would become the Serbian queen. But in January of this year, the date of the meeting with Alexander was not noted in the diary. At this time, Olga hardly thought about anyone other than Dmitry Shah-Bagov. (By the way, here her fate again intersects with the fate of Tatiana Konstantinovna, who was very friendly with the elder daughters of Nicholas II. Instead of the Serbian prince, she married a simple Caucasian officer for love, and he even served in the Erivan regiment – like Olga's lover. Because She even knew Shah Bagov and calls him a "cute, cute boy" in a letter. Surely Olga was thinking about what could repeat her path).But in 1917 Olga remembers again:"January 17th. Exactly 3 years ago today Alexander Serbsky had breakfast with us." Here the name is also written in cipher, and this is the last encrypted entry in the diary.

Olga Nikolaevna's biographers like to repeat that she wanted to stay in Russia, so she did not marry the Romanian heir Karol. The interest in Alexander the Serbian shows that, most likely, it was not in the country: it was just Karol who was unsympathetic to Olga. I think she understood that sooner or later she would have to leave her homeland. It is unlikely that the rumors had passed her by, she knew who her husbands were supposed to be, and she did not mind falling in love with a cute Orthodox prince. Maybe by the beginning of 17, she returned to thinking about him because someone had dispelled her hopes for a happy morganatic marriage? Although what could be a wedding when the revolution is already at the threshold. What kind of fate would await her in a small semi-literate kingdom, forever torn apart from the outside and from the inside?Alexander married in 1922 the sister of the same Karol (there is a version that he dragged on for so long, because until then he did not believe in the death of Olga).  It seems that he became a good family man, ruled his country for more than 10 difficult years. Yugoslavia in the 20s became a fragment of the Russian Atlantis, the center of white emigration. Sometimes there is an opinion that Alexander was so supportive of Russian refugees in memory of his first love – "Olga/Tatiana." But I think Russia meant a lot to him anyway. Alexander was killed in 1934 by a terrorist, his family fled the Nazis during the war and never returned to their homeland. Well, instead of Maria, Olga could become a Romanian widow and exile… No matter how her fate turned out, it would not be easy. The time of the Slavic monarchs has passed.

Thank you for sharing!!

[romanovsonelastdance]

who do you think olga and anastasia would've married if they had the chance to? tatiana would've married alexander of yugoslavia, since they were madly in love and maria would've married louis.

Olga wanted to 'remain Russian' so she didn't have a ton of options, but one of the Konstantinovichi boys would work. Prince Konstantin apparently asked to marry her at one point, so he might be the option with the most basis in history. Otherwise Prince Roman Petrovich or maaaaaybe Vladimir Paley if his parents' morganatic marriage wasn't held against him. I suppose if he was 'Romanov enough' to be killed in the revolution he might be 'Romanov enough' to marry a Grand Duchess.

I could see Anastasia never marrying, honestly. She might like being the quirky, independent aunt and not tied down to any husband or throne. But there was a rumor that Queen Alexandrine of Denmark (daughter of Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna), hoped that her son Frederick would marry one of the younger grand duchesses. She might be thrilled to have a daughter-in-law who had the same name as her mother, and Maria Feodorovna would love to see a granddaughter on the throne of Denmark. Frederick was very tall though so Anastasia might hate that, haha. And the rumor could be totally made up, it's from a very gossipy source.

There's some evidence that Alexander wanted to marry Tatiana, but is there anything to suggest she wanted to marry him? I've never seen anything from her end that the feelings were mutual. Rather she had her 'crushes' like Dmitri Malama and Vladimir Kiknadze. That doesn't mean she wouldn't have married Alexander--she was the most duty-conscious of the sisters and would make an excellent queen. I just don't think we can say she was in love with him.

Unpopular opinion but I don't think Maria actually would have married Louis Mountbatten. Sure, HE said he was 'determined to marry her,' but they were first cousins and first cousin marriages are not allowed in the Russian Orthodox Church, and Nicholas II didn't approve them. Nicholas' brother Misha wanted to marry their cousin Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh/Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Nicholas refused to allow it. He was furious when Kirill married Ducky, a first cousin and divorcee. I just don't see Nicholas allowing them to marry; it was a religious thing, not just his personal opinion, and that's harder to overcome. I honestly think he'd be more likely to allow her to marry a noble or officer than a first cousin, as he DID allow that for Tatiana Konstantinovna, Irina Alexandrovna, and Olga Alexandrovna. And like with Tatiana and Alexander, I've never seen anything about Maria's feelings for Dickie. I have a hard time seeing her wanting to leave Russia--like Olga, she made it clear her dream was to marry a Russian.

[romanovsonelastdance]

From the New York Times, July 1921

Alexander did not, in fact, marry Princess Sophie but DID marry the other rumored candidate mentioned here, Princess Maria 'Mignon' of Romania. But the paragraph about his alleged desire to marry Tatiana is interesting. Although it calls her the eldest daughter, which of course she was not.

[romanovsonelastdance]

Who do you think would have had the highest chance of suitor for OTMAA? (Pre-revolution and war) as well as (after revo if they survived).

Olga nikolaevna= Princes Vladimir Paley or Grand duke dmitri pavlovich romanov (there are some who thinks paley might have been).

Tatiana Nikolaevna= Prince Alexander of Yugoslvia or Prince Roman petrovich(idk about roman petrovich but from what I read he was mostly mentioned)

Maria= Prince Carol of Romania or Prince Louis Mountbatten( carol said he liked her at some point)

Anastasia= Princes Frederick of Denmark or Prince Paul of Greece and Denmark(Tbh, I feel like she would chose herself heheh)

Alexei= Princess Ileana of Romania or Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark.

Olga - I think Dmitri would have been 10000% off the table after the Rasputin murder, so between the two of them Vladimir Paley might be the more likely. He's two years younger than her and from a morganatic marriage, but Dmitri being involved with Rasputin's murder means it's just not going to happen. Pre or post revolution wouldn't matter much. Pre-Rasputin's murder though, Dmitri probably had higher chances.

Tatiana - probably Alexander of Serbia/Yugoslavia, but I think it comes down to if Tatiana thinks her duty is to Russia (in which case a marriage to a King is a way to solidify an alliance), or to her mother (in which case she might rather marry Roman, stay in Russia, and remain a confidante and helper to Alix). I do think she's the most suited to be a queen consort of the four. Post-revolution Roman's chances might be better, but if Alexander was in love with her than her not technically being a 'grand duchess' anymore probably wouldn't matter to him.

Maria - Pre revolution, probably Carol as much as it pains me to say. He's awful, but she was young and naive (like Sitta was) and if he turned on the charm and swept her off her feet she might fall for it at first. Plus, as I've said before, Dickie as a first cousin is a big no-no for Nicholas II/the Church, plus he's 'just' a Prince of Battenberg/Lord Mountbatten, technically it's an unequal marriage (like Olga and Prince Paley would technically be). Post-revolution I think Dickie stands a better chance because equal marriages are less important. First cousin thing is still a problem, though.

Anastasia - assuming she doesn't have any strong romantic feelings for either, Paul might be the more likely because he's at least Orthodox. I don't know that the Danes would make her change her religion, but it would still be lonely being a different religion than her husband and kids. With Paul they'd all be Orthodox. And I know Olga and Sitta at least exchanged letters, so Anastasia might know these cousins at least a little bit better than Frederik? I don't think the revolution would be much of a factor, although it might make her a less attractive option to Frederik.

Alexei - I'm Team Elizabeth (or really Team Any of Elena Vladimirovna's Daughters) all the way. She's closer in age to him, has stronger Russian connections than Ileana, was friendly with him and his sisters in his childhood, met him more than once, spent time in Russia with her relatives . . . it just makes so much sense in my head. Greece had the same revolution problems as Russia so it wouldn't matter here.

[romanovsonelastdance]

Hi! Do you mind if I informed you about the so-called "engagement and sympathy" of Tatiana Nikolaevna and King Alexander of Yugoslavia. This information came across to me in Russian sources and interested me very much.

I translated it into English so that it was immediately clear :)

"Konstantin K. on January 17th [1914]. Friday. There were lessons in the morning. We had breakfast 4 with Dad, T. Ella, Alexander P. brother of Elena (Ioannchik's wife) Serbian and Kostya"So Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna writes about meeting with the "groom" and "great love" - the heir to the throne Alexander. A huge number of articles have been written about the relationship between the Prince and the Grand Duchess, compiled as if under a carbon copy - an engagement postponed due to the war, correspondence until his death, Alexander's unwillingness to marry until clear evidence of Tatiana's death appears, and even, allegedly, his suicide attempt due to the loss of his beloved. All the articles are of the same type, and all without a single proof and excerpts from a more or less authoritative source.Meanwhile, it will not work to write off the silence of Tatiana Nikolaevna, who was considered the most restrained and majestic of the tsar's daughters, for modesty: she did not hide her feelings (when there were any) - sympathy for officers Vladimir Kiknadze and Dmitry Malama splashed out on the pages of her diary. Tatiana did not ignore her interest in Alexander's close relative, Prince Peter of Montenegro. "So you really, really liked Peter of Montenegro and you are not averse to becoming the aunt of John and Elena! Um, um... I don't know if I like it - while you have a lot of time ahead to change your mind about everything for a long time and a lot," writes Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna to her fourteen-year-old niece in her letter in August 1911, a year later, in September 1912, at the height of the Balkan War, she also makes fun of Tatiana - "of course, you think a lot about Montenegro at the moment. They fight famously...". Twenty-three-year-old Peter fought in the ranks of the Montenegrin army in the Ottoman Empire at that time - Prince Alexander, whom Tatiana was supposed to see at the same time, at the wedding of Princess Elena and Prince John Konstantinovich, also at the front, but his future "bride" does not bother. Peter comes to Russia again in July 1914 - and is interested in Tatiana again. "We went to a big lunch for Kazan residents and Akhtyrites. There were only aunts from Aunt Stan, Vera and Elena. Peter too. I talked to him after lunch, he's so cute," she writes in her diary on July 12: the prince has been following the princesses for several days, visiting the palace, going to regimental maneuvers, going to the theater with them. On July 13, Peter is leaving - Tatiana also mentions this in her notes.

Александр, впрочем, тоже получает свою долю внимания, но уже от другой великой княгини. Имя князя цветет на страницах дневника Ольги Николаевны - и ярко "цветет". "Приехал Александр Сербский (В русской форме. Ух, какие глаза)", "Я стоял рядом с Александром Сербским, он был чуть дальше. Ух, ух какой", "Мы завтракали с Папой, Тетей, Костей и Александром Я сидел с ним. Милый, смущающий и красивый ужастик. Вау-вау какой». О князе Ольга вздыхает в своих дневниковых записях за 1913 год, в 1914-м она считает месяцы со дня разлуки и признается, что рада видеть княжну Елену Петровну («она — частичка Александра, и я люблю ее»).

A couple of Alexander and Olga Nikolaevna???

Interesting! Loved the letter from Olga A to Tatiana, she always has such a fun, teasing, light-hearted style. The plot thickens!

[romanovsonelastdance]

What are the rumors that Anastasia was supposed to be the Queen of Greece?

I don't think there is anything concrete here. She was still very young when the revolution happened, and all her elder sisters were unmarried, so I don't think her marriage was seriously considered yet.

My guess is this comes from there being lots of Greek-Romanov weddings (Olga Konstantinovna and King George I; Princess Alexandra and Pavel Alexandrovich; Princess Maria and Georgiy Mikhailovich; Prince Nicholas and Elena Vladimirovna) and there being a prince, Paul, who was just Anastasia's age (born 1901). Paul was actually the third son, and when he was born no one imagined he'd ever be king, but the second son died young of an infected monkey bite (no, really!) and the eldest never had any children, so it eventually fell to Paul.

So, if Anastasia had married him, she could have been Queen of Greece.

[romanovsonelastdance]

I always notice you like answering possible marriages for OTMA+A. May I ask which one of them is your favorite and highly possible theory that might have happen if there were no revolution.

I think Alexei and one of Elena Vladimirovna's daughters just makes SO much sense. He knew them better than he knew Ileana; they were close in age; they spent enough time in Russia that they'd be more comfortable there than most foreign princesses. And the Russian people would probably like it, too, because of all the Russian connections. The Tsesarevna being the daughter of a Grand Duchess herself instantly makes her seem more 'Russian' and less foreign, and even as a Greek, she is already Orthodox and they'd like that, too. I don't really care which one, but if I have to pick Elizabeth is probably my first choice because of that cute story when they were toddlers about Alexei trying to tell her that he loved her; then Olga, because he was more friendly with the two older girls; and Marina as third choice.

Second is Maria marrying someone "unimportant" in Russia. Either a minor relative like one of the Konstantinovichi princes or Roman Petrovich, or--perhaps more romantically--a noble or officer from one of the socially elite Petersburg regiments. As I said before, there's a world of difference between someone with a background similar to OA's husband Kulikovsky (who was an officer from a fashionable regiment and from a well off if not technically titled family with two estates) and like, some random soldier or baker or doctor. There are levels of 'commoner' is what I'm saying and I think, given how Nicholas allowed OA and Kulikovsky, Irina and Felix, Tatiana Konstantinovna and her Georgian prince, etc, it's not out of the realm of possibility he would have bent the rules a little for at least one of OTMA, too, and I think M is the most likely. She's the most down to earth and humble, and as one of the younger daughters, I think there would be less pressure on her, especially if Olga and or Tatiana made 'good' matches. But if Nicholas doesn't bend, then Roman Petrovich or one of the Konstantinovich boys. I just have a hard time seeing Maria making some grand match with a foreign prince. She wants her Russian soldier--whether he's a minor prince, noble, or officer.

One of the older two marrying David (Edward VIII) would be super interesting because it would have changed the trajectory of the British royal family. There's some speculation that Edward VIII couldn't have children, so Elizabeth II might have eventually ended up on the throne anyway, but there'd be no abdication crisis (presumably) so she wouldn't have taken the throne until after her uncle died rather than after her father. She'd also have a Russian aunt as a pretty big influence in her life. And if David DID have children with one of the Big Pair, then she would have just stayed Princess Elizabeth of York. . . but I don't know that any of that is super likely. Good for a historical fiction, but I'm skeptical it would have actually happened in real life.

[romanovsonelastdance]

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.

Born in 1900, Henry was the third son and fourth child of King George V and Queen Mary. He attended Eton where he befriended fellow OTMAA contemporary, Leopold (III) of Belgium. While his elder brother Edward (David) was usually the one linked to OTMA in royal marriage gossip, a few articles went so far as to point out that there were sons enough for all of OTMA and they were all close in age, so there could be more than one British-Russian alliance. Henry himself was between Maria and Anastasia in age.

[loiladadiani]

Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse (1868 - 1937) and his children

Ernst Ludwig was the son of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and By Rhine, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. His four sisters were Victoria (mother to Alice Mountbatten and, therefore, grandmother of Prince Phillip,) Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, a martyr of the Russian Revolution and a saint, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, and Princess Irene (she was known as Princess Heinrich because she married Prince Heinrich, the brother of the Keiser.)

He suffered many painful losses throughout his life, including that of his beloved firstborn, daughter Elizabeth, whom he fathered with Victoria Melita, Princess of Edinburgh. The beautiful girl died two years after the couple divorced. Subsequently, he entered a second marriage with Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (the family called her Onor.) He had two sons with Onor, George Donatus (George Donatus married a sister of Prince Phillip) and Louis.

Ernst Ludwig adored children all his life and was always ready to romp with his own, his sisters' children (OTMAA), and later with his grandchildren. He never got over the death of his beautiful little daughter.

Here are several pictures of him with his boys and an unidentified little girl and a picture of the Duke with his beloved daughter.

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

Who do you think would have had the highest chance of suitor for OTMAA? (Pre-revolution and war) as well as (after revo if they survived).

Olga nikolaevna= Princes Vladimir Paley or Grand duke dmitri pavlovich romanov (there are some who thinks paley might have been).

Tatiana Nikolaevna= Prince Alexander of Yugoslvia or Prince Roman petrovich(idk about roman petrovich but from what I read he was mostly mentioned)

Maria= Prince Carol of Romania or Prince Louis Mountbatten( carol said he liked her at some point)

Anastasia= Princes Frederick of Denmark or Prince Paul of Greece and Denmark(Tbh, I feel like she would chose herself heheh)

Alexei= Princess Ileana of Romania or Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark.

Hi!!! This is a very interesting question and I’m so excited to answer!

Olga: Dmitri Pavlovich. I think Dmitri because there was lots of rumors that they were going to get married (they were all false) and they spent a lot of time together. They also were in a very good place to get married if that’s what they chose. Dmitri was single and living a stylish lifestyle and Olga was single and eligible to get married. I think that these two were certainly an option before 1916. Dmitri helped kill Rasputin and Alexandra despised Felix and Dmitri because of that and I think wouldn’t let Dmitri marry Olga. Vladimir Paley to me would’ve been a better option because he wasn’t known and had no bad strings attached to him. Olga also said that she wanted to “remain a Russian” so I think she would’ve been happy with him. But he was a child of a morganatic marriage (his father married without the Tsar’s permission) and I don’t think Nicholas would allow that marriage to happen. So I think because of those reasons Dmitri would’ve been the first and more eligible choice but after 1916 I think Vladimir would’ve been a better option even if Olga survived the revolution (her family wasn’t the imperial family anymore so I think it would’ve been ok).

Tatiana: Alexander of Yugoslavia. I think him because I have never heard of Roman Petrovich as an option for her marriage. Tatiana also never stated that she wanted to be Russian so she definitely was considered a lot to be a future queen. Also Tatiana was nicknamed “the governess” by her family and some of her major traits were being organized and super kind and those are good traits for a queen.

Maria: Carol of Romania. As much as I hate to say this I really think that a marriage with Carol was the option that was most likely to happen. I ship Mashka with Dickie (Louis Mountbatten) and Carol is mean and gross and Mashka deserves Dickie but that was probably never likely to happen. In Russia there was a rule that if you were a royal, you can’t marry your first cousins (I said “was” because I don’t know what the rules are today), and Tsar Nicholas II went by that rule. Louis and Maria were first cousins through their mothers (Princesses Victoria and Alix of Hesse before marriage) so because Nicholas stuck to this rule and Maria was his own daughter, I don’t think that she would be allowed to marry him. And Carol did prefer Maria over her older more eligible sister Olga. He even asked Nicholas if he could marry her! Nicky said no (because she was too young) but I think that if Maria were to wait a few more years then they would be able to get married.

Anastasia: Prince Fredrick of Denmark. I think Fredrick because i have heard rumors of them being together. They are very close in age and have sort of a similar personality! Even though Paul is closer in age with Anastasia, when Anastasia was closest to her prime marital age, Greece was going through lots of political and monarchal problems. Even though Nicky is very close with his Greek relatives I don’t think he would send one of his daughters to a country that is going through a revolution (A was with her family during the Russian revolution and I’m kinda ignoring it in this case). Also Anastasia would really fit in with the Danish Royal Family. She has lots of relatives their and they are honestly a hilarious royal family. And when Anastasia was little, her and her family made visits to Denmark and I think that they would welcome her into their family with open arms.

Alexei: Princess Elisabeth of Greece and Denmark. I would choose Elisabeth because her and Alexei are much closer in age than him and Ileana. Alexei was 5 years older than Ileana but him and Elisabeth were only a few months apart. Also as @romanovsonelastdance said, Elisabeth’s mother Elena Vladimirovna was very ambitious in marrying off her daughters into very prominent families (meaning she would kind of ignore the whole hemophilia business).

sorry this took so long to get out!! Thank you for asking me this!!!

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

What is a Romanov Legend that scares you the most? What is a Romanov theory that you wished ended up real? What possible Romanov(OTMAA)marriage are you more likely to see a possibility to happen if they survived? Who is your favorite Grand Duchess besides OTMA?😊😊

Ok ok ok these are some amazing questions so give me a sec to answer them lol!

What is a Romanov legend that scares you the most.

So idk what the term legend really means when it comes to the Romanov family, but i have a superstition or a bad omen that i think is quite sad and it doesn’t really scare me but i think that it counts as a legend and that it deserves to be mentioned.

In the Romanov Family, the name Alexandra is considered a bad omen and some people might say that the names is cursed and whoever bears it will have a terrible fate. This name is considered bad luck because a lot of people in the romanov family had this name and died terribly. I will list them all!

Alexandra Pavlovna (died in childbirth at age 17) Alexandra Nikolaevna (died in childbirth at age 19) Alexandra Alexandrovna (died at age 6 of infant meningitis) Alexandra Georgievna (died in childbirth at age 21) Alexandra Feodorovna (was executed at the age of 48)

I don’t know why this name was supposedly “cursed” and why the bearers of this name kept dying tragically but i do know that it is very sad.

2. What is a Romanov theory that you wished ended up real

i don’t really know what this question means but i will try my best to answer!

I think a theory that we all wished was true is that there was a survivor of the Romanov family’s execution. I know that there was A LOT of controversy back then on if there was a survivor or not and that if Anna Anderson was the real Anastasia but sadly all of these rumors were false. DNA testing of 1991 and 2007 proves that there were no survivors of the execution and that the imposters that came forward were really imposters.

3. What possible Romanov (OTMAA) marriage are you more likely to see a possibility to happen if they survived

I have a few posts about this where i go into detail about this and i don’t want to write too much in this one question so i will put the links here and here!

4. Who is your favorite Grand Duchess besides OTMA

OTMA are definitely my favorite Grand duchesses but I definitely have a few more!

Grand duchess Olga Konstantinovna

2. Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna

3. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna

This question was SO FUN TO ANSWER!!! Thank you for asking!!!