Ella's Relationship with other Romanov family members

Close but not too close. Alicky was very controlling in her daughter's lives. Ella had a closer relationship with her nieces Alice (mother of Prince Philip) and Louise than her Russian ones.

That is too bad.  I wonder why she let Olga Alexandrovna spend so much time with the kids and not her own sister?  I know Alix and Ella were close---I guess their relationship began to deteriorate after Sergei was murdered.  Olga Nikolaevna was 9 years old at that time---shame she did not have a strong relationship with Auntie Ella.

I don't think Ella had the same void in her life Olga Alexandrovna had. No, she was never able to have children, but she found solace after her widowhood in religion. That was how she coped. It could be that she never expressed a desire for that kind of close relationship with her sister's children. Olga Alexandrovna, on the other hand, basically had nothing else, she was also much closer in age to the girls, and she wanted to be with the family.

Also Olga was less religious and political than Ella, it was on these two subjects the sisters clashed. Eventually it broke over one person : Rasputin.

There is little evidence that the Grand Duchess Ella sought close relationships with Marie, Dmitri, or Alexandra's children during her husband's lifetime. After Serge's assassination she was pre-occupied with her religious order.

I think Ella & Dimitry got along fine, and she did reach out to Marie (even in her memoirs she said that, even though she doubt Ella was sincere though).