Elizabeth (daughter of Ernie)

[Marlene]

If I remember correctly, in finishing The Mountbattens by Richard Hough, it indicated that Johanna and Elisabeth were both buried in the Rosenhohe.  Is this correct, and if so, are they any pcitures of the children's graves?  Thanks!

I am sure there are photos - as the graves are easily accessible.  I took photos when I visited Darmstadt in 1984.

[Jim1026]

At this site under Germany then Darmstadt you will find
pictures of the graves of the Hesse family at Rosenhohe.

www.royaltyguide.nl  

[grandduchessella]

At this site under Germany then Darmstadt you will find
pictures of the graves of the Hesse family at Rosenhohe.

www.royaltyguide.nl  
 

OMG it WAS your site after all. I am so embarrassed.    I could've sworn it was a different one--though I go to yours often and think its great.

[TampaBay]

I believe Ernie really loved Ducky.

It wasn't the way Ducky wanted to be loved or the marriage she wanted but I believed Ernie really loved her.

Queen Marie of Roumanisa(Ducky's Sister) never had a bad work to say about Ernie in all that I have read and researched.

TampaBay

[bluetoria]

I believe Ernie really loved Ducky.

It wasn't the way Ducky wanted to be loved or the marriage she wanted but I believed Ernie really loved her.

Queen Marie of Roumanisa(Ducky's Sister) never had a bad work to say about Ernie in all that I have read and researched.

TampaBay

I'm not so sure he did; at least not as a husband loves a wife. As a cousin & friend perhaps - since they shared the same sense of humour, love of art & enjoyment of parties etc. But he was virtually forced into the marriage by QV's unrelenting pressure & he kept putting it off & putting it off....
It seems right the Missy wouldn't have a bad word for him, as he comes over as a very sensitive & caring man; his view of the outbreak of WWI was also very perceptive.
I'm glad that he and Onor were happy together.

[jfkhaos]

I have to agree with bluetoria.  I think the reason Ernie loved Ducky was because marriage represented the norm for someone in his position, and it also provide a welcome camoflauge to his real inclinations.  Ernie wasn't too sure abt the marriage to begin with as he had to be directed to make the proposal as Marie of Coburg was under the impression that he didn't want to anymore.  They may have had fun in the beginning, and possibly shared many common interests, but their relationship turned to one of frustration, and perhaps, even bitterness on Ducky's part.  If Missy never had a bad word for him, that is typical of her character, and remember, even though a great majority of the younger members of the family believed it was best for them to divorce and move on, Alexandra was completely opposed to it and blamed Ducky for everything, instead of giving her brother some of the credit where credit is due.

[trentk80]

Does anyone know what was Marie, Duchess of Edinburgh's reaction to her little granddaughter's death?

[Alicky1872]

Oh that's horrible. Surely she wouldn't have been that cold. Give the woman some credit. Ducky was staying with her mother Marie, in Coburg, when the first telegram came, announcing Elizabeth's illness. Each successive telegram was worse, until the final one announced the little girl's death. Ducky, who had been getting ready to travel to Poland, cancelled her journey. I have a feeling that no matter how cold Marie appeared to other people, she would have been a support to Ducky at this awful time. What normal mother wouldn't have been?

[pinklady]

Well, presumably she said: Thank God! One nasty relation less in the familytree...

Presumably she would have meant Ernie, wouldnt she?? That he was no longer on the family tree as little Elisabeth had died.
That is horrible if she did say that about the death of a child, especially one's own grandchild.
It would mean she was a narrow, spiteful woman if that was what she said.

[bluetoria]

Well, presumably she said: Thank God! One nasty relation less in the familytree...

Oh no, Thomas!! There is nothing to suggest she would say or even think such a thing!

[bluetoria]

Sorry for the misunderstanding, Thomas...I wondered if that was what you meant. It's rather like reporters asking bereaved people, "How do you feel?" How are they supposed to answer?

But I think trentk was asking rather for any specific details - letters etc.  

[grandduchessella]

I imagine she was sympathetic to be sure but also rather stoic about it. In her memoirs, Missy relates she only ever saw her mother break down once (during young Alfred's funeral, presumably due to heavy guilt at having sent him off) and was stoic when hearing of the horrific death of her father Alexander II. It was teh same regarding the death/funeral of her brother Serge (she was one of the few Romanovs or family in general who traveled to the city for the funeral--she wasn't worried apparently). Also during Ena's wedding (with the attempted assassination) she was rather blase, saying (to the shock of GV) that in Russia they were so used to that sort of thing. I think it took a lot to really shake her into a visible emotional state regardless of her personal feelings.

[ilyala]

I imagine she was sympathetic to be sure but also rather stoic about it. In her memoirs, Missy relates she only ever saw her mother break down once (during young Alfred's funeral, presumably due to heavy guilt at having sent him off) and was stoic when hearing of the horrific death of her father Alexander II. It was teh same regarding the death/funeral of her brother Serge (she was one of the few Romanovs or family in general who traveled to the city for the funeral--she wasn't worried apparently). Also during Ena's wedding (with the attempted assassination) she was rather blase, saying (to the shock of GV) that in Russia they were so used to that sort of thing. I think it took a lot to really shake her into a visible emotional state regardless of her personal feelings.

she was quite an original

[rvinson]

Ha! And she (Marie) hated England! It's a wonder Alfred married her, but perhaps he only did so out of duty. Didn't he vow to have nothing more to do with her after his son's death? He didn't have long not to have any more to do with her anyway. England was about the best place for a royal to be. Maybe she realized that at the end, though she didn't die there. Unfortunately for her, she lived to see the fall of her country, and more deaths of her kin, not to mention great loss of much of her personal wealth.  

[trentk80]

I am sorry for the misunderstanding.
Well, I just wanted to express my astonishment about the question, how the Duchess might have reacted when being informed about her own grandchild's death, with some cutting irony.
Sorry for confusing you!
In Germany one says: strange questions demand strange answers.  

Well, of course the Duchess must have felt very bad. That's not what I asked. I was asking about something more specific, i.e. quotes by her or members or her family.