Alix's Engagement and Wedding
Joanna:
Many thanks grandduchessella and DOMOVOII !!!
There are some photographs of Alexandra on the balcony at Peterhof in her "morning jackets" what we call today robes. I had always assumed that what was under and sort of peeking out from her sitting positions was her nightgown. And her hair is unbound. Also there is one photo of her sitting in the chair in the Mauve Room where her hair is loosely tied and she wears a robe.
Joanna
jfkhaos:
In response to DOMOVOII's question about Alexandra wearing mourning colors, I have my own theory on this which may or may not be logical.
Since Alexandra was surrounded by death from an early age and had such a vast family where death was a common occurrence, and also because she was partially raised by Queen Victoria, she may have just adapted her taste to these colors so that she would not have to chnage her wardrobe so much...it may be far fetched but it's possible!
Janet_W.:
Although mauve can be a very cheerful color. And, looking at the recreations of Alix's boudoir--and even the black and white photos--I think most of us will agree that it had, overall, a very light-hearted look to it.
I remember reading a novel, some years ago, featuring a protagonist who knew Stolypin's family, and that she heard a number of people gossiping about the "infamous" mauve boudoir being so dank and depressing. But as several of Alix's friends have pointed out, it actually had the attitude of a very comfortable and pleasant place to be.
I'm sure Alix had a wonderful sense of color and used it accordingly, both in her dress and her surroundings. Plus mauve is the type of color that can be, according to its intensity and amount of red or blue, very "all-purpose" . . . and certainly a favorite of late Victorian/early Edwardian times, much as peach was a favorite a few years ago, and earth tones/Middle Eastern color schemes now dominate in many home furnishing stores.
;)
DOMOVOII:
What I suppose I am trying to get at is, would AF have been seen as tempting fate by adopting the rituals of mourning. I refer to the supposed quote of Pss Marie-Louise, who warned Alix,with regard her melancholy, saying that "One day the good Lord will give you something to worry about!".
Did other people share this view?
Janet_W.:
As we know, Alix was inclined to be serious and introspective. And certainly she couldn't be blamed for being a bit melancholy now and then since she had lost her mother and younger sister when a small child. Her grandmother, Queen Victoria, is almost synonymous with "mourning worship," and so I think Alix's sensitive nature was a natural for this sort of thing and therefore she greatly appealed to the Queen.
Marie-Louise prefaced her comment by saying that her remark was frank in the way that cousins often talk amongst themselves, and I am inclinded to think that many others in the family likewise regarded Alix as something of a bluestocking and perhaps a bit too obsessive about some matters. Yet we know she could also be great fun and enjoyed her friendships . . . this is the duality of personality!
As for attitudes outside the family, I've read that the people of Darmstadt didn't particularly like Alix; perhaps she was a victim of what today we would call "bad press"? If anyone can provide any insight on this, that would be great.
Her Aunt Vicky seems to have had some reservations about Alix, but Aunt Vicky was a very opinionated person.
In retrospect Marie-Louise's comment has a double-edge, since her own marriage was a sham and dissolved after her husband was discovered in a "compromising position" with another man; Marie-Louise, in fact, seems to have been in the dark about much of this. She never remarried, never had children, and although Marie-Louise did live out her years in comfort and in the "bosom" of her English relatives, hers was still a solitary life. Alix, on the other hand, married the love of her life and became the mother of five beautiful children. So despite all of Alix's ill-fortune, I believe Marie-Louise lived out her own particular tragedy . . . safe and sterile. And many of Queen Victoria's other grandchildren also lived out lives of tragedy . . . it's just that Alix's life stands out because of the political turmoil in Russia, because hers was a love story rather than an arranged marriage, because her children were particularly attractive, because her son--Russia's hope--was a hemophiliac, and because the story had such a tragic and brutal end. In retrospect, cousins such as Marie of Romania could look back and point to all sorts of harbingers of ill luck . . . but what happened to Marie and Romania was hardly a picnic, either.
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