Emperor Alexander and Princess Ekaterina Dolgoroukaya

Wow! she looks so different. (and dark, since mostly of the pictures i ve seen of her she looks blonde with light colored eyes...)

Does anybody know something about her feelings after Alexanders dead, leaving Russia and alone in Nice? Are there any sources, letters, diaries?

Does anybody know something about her feelings after Alexanders dead, leaving Russia and alone in Nice? Are there any sources, letters, diaries?

She was absolutely ruined after Alexander's death, the life stopped for her in March 1881. She left Russia and lived for her children, treasuring the memory of Alexander. Ekaterina collected many things of the Emperor (including his childhood memorabilia - letters,diaries,schoolbooks, uniforms as well as his singlet which was on him when he was dying) and preserved them as relics. Every year in March 1 she  ordered a year-mind for Alexander at a local Orthodox Cathedral (which had been built by the way on the place of the destroyed villa where Tsarevitch Nicholas, eldest son of Alexander II, had died in 1865) and those year-minds gathered all Orthodox people in Nizza where Ekaterina was very well-khown and respected.

After her death most of her "Alexander" collection scattered around the world (especially correspondence) but some relics were and are being preserved at the same Orthodox cathedral.

Reminds me of a fotograf of her mother...same expression. Thanks for this pic!

Is there any known correspondance from any of Alexander II's children reguarding their father's relationship with Catherine??

I seem to remember reading somewhere GD Serge tried to keep the affair a secret from his younger brother Paul, but I can't recall the source. 

Is there any known correspondance from any of Alexander II's children reguarding their father's relationship with Catherine??

I seem to remember reading somewhere GD Serge tried to keep the affair a secret from his younger brother Paul, but I can't recall the source. 

Yes, Sergei tried to keep Pavel away from any rumours about Alexander II and Ekaterina, this he mentions in his correspondence to a tutor I think.

I think the children from Alexander II's first marriage never mentioned in their correspondence their father's adultery with Dolgoroukaya while Alexander II was alive. After his death they began to mention the Princess, but now I can't remember who and what exactly - more likely Alexander III and Sergei.
They even didn't speak to each other about his father adultery while he was alive, so they knew everything and saw everything but kept silence. GD Sergei in his early diary only once let himself an emotion because of the Princess who dared to congratulate him with his birthday. He was furious.

I quoted in an earlier post, that in 1881, Dagmar wrote to her mother that her sister-in-law Marie "in my opinion...can no longer visit us here [because of Alexander's remarriage]; I consider it an impossibility, and she herself says so; how disconsolate she thus must be!"  Whether they exchanged this view via correspondence, or whether Dagmar had seen Marie outside Russia, I don't know, but clearly the two of them must have discussed the situation in some form.  It must have been very difficult for Alexander's children to maintain silence in such a situation, so fraught with potential disloyalty either to their sovereign or to their mother.

Alexej was the only child of Alexander II who could handle with the relationship and with the princess.

Alexej was the only child of Alexander II who could handle with the relationship and with the princess.

That is interesting GD Valeria - I assume you mean he showed he approved in some way? 

Thanks Svetabel. I wish I could read GD Sergei's diaries, they seem to contain interesting pieces of information.

GD Alexei did correspond with Catherine. I remember reading a letter he wrote to her reguarding her son's poor performance in the Navy.

Yes, he respected the new love of his father in comparison the his siblings who got all excited over the relationship. I don't know if he was just more mature or had a closer relationship to his father than to his mother (in comparison to Alexander III)..
What did Maria Alexandrovna think about the Ekaterina?

If I remember correctly, Maria Alexandrovna was so upset by her father's marriage she refused to speak to him. Of course I doubt she would have been happy with the situation before the marriage, seeing how close she was to both her mother and father.

If I remember correctly, Maria Alexandrovna was so upset by her father's marriage she refused to speak to him. Of course I doubt she would have been happy with the situation before the marriage, seeing how close she was to both her mother and father.

Yes, she refused to speak to father after an awful home scandal with him.

From what I have read the Empress continued to love her husband and after Katya and her children moved into the Winter Palace had the children brought to her so she could meet them. AII remained attentive to his wife throughout--and no doubt they continued to care for each other but she was quite ill and travelled with her two younger sons for her health--so unable to fulfill her role as a wife and Empress she was accepting of her husband's situation and happiness. A very generous-spirited woman.

From what I have read the Empress continued to love her husband and after Katya and her children moved into the Winter Palace had the children brought to her so she could meet them. AII remained attentive to his wife throughout--and no doubt they continued to care for each other but she was quite ill and travelled with her two younger sons for her health--so unable to fulfill her role as a wife and Empress she was accepting of her husband's situation and happiness. A very generous-spirited woman.

Their marriage had slowly broken down over time. The death knell was the death of their son, Nixa. Yes, the Empress was all you say, but she still died alone - so that generousity was likely not returned.