GDss Marie and Louis "Dickie" Mountbatten

[Angie_H]

Louis was in love with Marie and kept a picture of her by his bed til he died. If the Revolution had not happened they wouldn't have been able to marry anyway right? They were first cousins and if Nicholas wouldn't let Michael marry Baby Bee I don't see him letting Marie marry Louis

[Lanie]

I think he just had  a boyish crush on her--not in love with her.  I do remember reading him saying he was "crackers for Marie [sic]" and something about how she was so beautiful or something.

[Jane]

I agree with Lanie.  Undoubtedly, as a child, Lord Mountbatten harbored a crush on his cousin.  I'm guessing the manner of her death caused sorrow for him, and he always kept a portrait of her.  However, I am unaware of any serious thoughts either family had of the two marrying as adults.

Lord Mountbatten had a very long and happy marriage; Edwina Ashley was the love of his life, not Marie.  Louis and Edwina really were ideally suited for each other.  

[Martyn]

Erm, it may well be that Dickie and Edwina's marriage was a little more complex than 'long and happy' depending on what you read and to whom you listen....
Marie and Dickie could have married - if she had changed her religion...........

[PrinceEddy1864]

There is "THINGYIE" again.

Apparently Louis was attracted to Mashka's beauty and found her charming as a child. As there was only a one year age difference and they were first cousins there was an understandable attachment. As a child he apparently vowed that when they grew up he would marry her. And yes he did keep a photograph of her in his bedroom all the way up until his death. How sweet. I believe that this was just a crush though. Certainly Maria's death must have been hard to cope with and he probably aleays felt a special love for her, but Edwina was his one true love.

[PrinceEddy1864]

I just posted two photos of Louis with his Russian cousins on the "Pictures of the Battenbergs" thread if anyone is interested. I thought they would more appropriate there as neither are solely of Maria and Louis.

[Jane]

Martyn, I'm sure you did not intend the "Erm..." at the start of your post to come across as sarcasm, although I must confess to me it did sound that way; in the interest of happy discourse, allow me to expand my post a bit.

I'm sure that Louis and Edwina's marriage was complex--most marriages are, especially one that is long in duration, and with the added layer of historical events and personages that played so significantly in their marriage.  And in any marriage, there are often disagreements, there may be infidelities by one or both partners (and there may very well have been from time to time in the Mountbatten marriage, by both of them), and things may not always be rosy.

But the Mountbattens had a strong and committed partnership.  Mountbatten himself has described Edwina as his true love, in words to that effect.  They relied on each other, they respected each other, and if doing that for thirty or forty years, or however long it was they were married before she died, doesn't constitute a long and happy marriage, then God help the state of matrimony.

[Angie_H]

I just posted two photos of Louis with his Russian cousins on the "Pictures of the Battenbergs" thread if anyone is interested. I thought they would more appropriate there as neither are solely of Maria and Louis.

Thanks Eddy!

[BobAtchison]

Nicholas was closer to George V than to any other monarch and this relationship deepened in the first two years of WWI.  It's obvious both families held open the possibility of a Romanov Princess as a bride for David.  Had the Russian throne survived and Russia stayed in the war such an alliance would have made a lot of sense and would have been more acceptable to Brituish public opinion.

The war made it impossible to put the families together so it was impossible to see how either Olga or Tatiana might have responded to David as they grew up.  That would have had to wait until after the end of the war.

[Luke]

Except Louis Mountbatten was definitely not ebenburtig, although one can argue that as the 20th century progressed, the "even born" requirement necessarily weakened.

[Mandie, the Gothic Empress]

I found this picture of Louis and his two nieces Princesses Maragirta and Theodora of Greece in a toy car named " Marie"   does that ring a bell. that Louis really liked his cousin Marie Nikolaiovna.

[LisaDavidson]

While technically Louis Mountbatten was not "equal", I don't think that would have precluded a marriage to Marie. What would have been a factor for Nicholas is his being her first cousin. However, had the dynasty not fallen and the two wished to marry, I am hopeful that they could have overcome his objections and Nicholas could have declared him Equal. This is exactly what Nicholas I did when his Maria Nicholievna wished to marry Eugene de Beauharnais.

[Georgiy]

But she couldn't have married him anyway as they were first cousins, and in the Orthodox Church you can't marry a first cousin.

[LisaDavidson]

Actually, if you had read my post, you would have discovered they could. The Orthodox prohibition against cousin marriages did not apply specifically to first cousin marriages - it applied against all of them. And, if you go back far enough, we are all cousins.

Be that as it may, I believe Nicholas II would have permitted this particular marriage had he believed it to be in MN's best interests. As Tsar and head of the church, it was within his power to do so,

[Martyn]

Jane, my apologies.  I missed your reply to my earlier post.  Must have been busy elsewhere, pouring cold water on other people's ideals.  Nevertheless, many thanks for the clarification of your point, most enlightening.....