why not marrying a russian?

[Clemence]

do you know if there was ever a thought of Nicholas marry a russian? I never understood why his parents seemed determined to choose him a bride from abroad?

[Sarushka]

How many Russian brides of eligible rank were not only available, but also not too closely related to Nicholas in the first place?

[violetta]

First of all, the heir to the throne was supposed to marry a princess of the equal rank i.e. of the royal blood and coming from one of the ruling houses.  No Russian lady would correspond to these requirements. Even if a girl had come from the most prominenet and wealthy aristocratic famil her rank would have been lower. She was only one of the nobility. when i think aout a possible Russian bride the only Russian girl would have been one of the Oldenburg or Leuchtenburg princesses as they were dscendants of the representatives of the 2 two ruling houses. But I`m not sure that at the beginning of the 1890-s there were any eligible princesses in the Oldenburg or Leuchtenburg families. In fact, GD Olga Alexandrovna did marry Pyotr Oldenburgskiy.

[Clemence]

so there was never a possibility for a future zar to marry a russian? It seems so strange, when in the british royals it's the opposite ...

[nena]

Simply because he fell in love with Princess Alix of Hesse.  ;-)

[Forum Admin]

There were NO Russian young women of equal Noble rank to Nicholas Alexanrovich, other than his immediate cousins.  The rules were quite strict about the Emperor's wife being of equal birth.

From the "Statesman's Handbook" 1896, printed by the Russian Imperial court:

Thus the principal condition of belonging to the Imperial House is lawful marriage. In order to be lawful these marriages require the observance of certain special conditions, different from those set down for ordinary subjects. Namely it is indispensable, firstly, to have the sanction of the reigning Emperor; secondly, that the persons about to be married should be equally high born and thirdly, a person of the male sex, with the possible right of succeeding to the throne may marry a person of another faith, only on condition that she embrace the orthodox faith.

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

All your answers have been very interesting, specially the last one. But, how did Nicholas or better to say
why did Nicholas choosed Alix? There were other Princesses in Europe that would be an excellent option for
Nicholas to become his wife and the next Tsarina of Russia, well, to choose other person without blood diseases
or better prepared to be an Empress. Advanced thank you for your answer :-)

[violetta]

nikolay` s parents wanted him to marry Helene d`Orleans due to the fact that Russia and France established a military union that eventually led to the establishment of the Antanta. Marriage between the representatives of the 2 countries would have made the ond betwen the 2 countries stronger. but neither nikolaty nor his prospective bride felt like entering this union.nikolay was in love with alix, and Helene d`Orleans was catholic and didn`t want to change her faith. as far as I remember, wilhem II wanted his " cousin Nicky" tp marry his sister.but neither nikolay nor his family were willing to make this Prussian princess a member of the Romanov family

[*Tina*]

But, how did Nicholas or better to say why did Nicholas choosed Alix?

Probably because he was in love with her...

[violetta]

he was definitely in love with alix but there weren`t many eligible brides at that time.in fact, i hve n impression that AIII and MF didn`t bother to find a more suitable bride for their son. MF disliked Alix, her husbnd wasn`t fond of her,either. MF considered her to be unsuitable to carry out her duties as an Empress. so why the Imperial couple didn`t try to find a more suitable person than Alix of Hesse? Why were they so irresponsibl when the future of the Empire was at stake?

[Romanov_fan]

I think their main candidate for marriage was Helene of Orleans. I think they did try to push that. I am sure they wanted Nicholas to be happy with regards to a marriage partner given that their own marriage was a happy one although arranged  at first.

[Ally Kumari]

so why the Imperial couple didn`t try to find a more suitable person than Alix of Hesse? Why were they so irresponsibl when the future of the Empire was at stake?

They did. But Nicholas decided to wait uintil they change their oppinion. He wanted to ask for Alix long before 1894. Whne his father didn´t allow this, Nicholas obeyed him, but the pig-headed sort he was, refused to marry anybody else.

As has been mentioned his parents would love him to marry Helen d´orleans, but also sugessted Margaret of Prussia. When her name was mentioned, Nicholas resolutely refused saying he would rather become a monk than to marry her.

[Grandduchess Valeria]

Ok, not in first grade, as it was not allowed by the orthodox church, but theoretically he could married a cousin from the romanov site, couldn't he? (I remember there was none of his age at that time) But they would have been of equal rank.
 

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

Nicholas must loved Alix very much, she wasn't the ideal person to become the next Empress of
Russia, the other Princess that you mentioned would be a better option for Nicholas, perhaps the
religion would be a problem if she didn't want to became orthodox. But one thing, perhaps if he would
married with Helene he wouldn't be happy, but in that time the majority of the kings or emperors
just got married for make political alliences.

[Grandduchess Valeria]

If the lot or god or whatever decided in an other way...maybe there had been an empress elena of russia and no OTMAA :-)