Olga's official suitors, marriage prospects, and proposals

[blessOTMA]

again, their youth, and world events were against them ... sadly there was no time for them

[Eric_Lowe]

I think Marie would have said yes, but she was not given the option or the opportunity to court her. I think Olga or Tatianacould have married had the parents wished it, but they do not. Marie Coburg once said that daughters should be married young before they have ideas of their own. Her own daughters married young or around OT's age. I do blame Nicholas II & Alexandra for having them too sheltered.

[Ally Kumari]

I think Marie would have said yes, but she was not given the option or the opportunity to court her.

Somehow I don´t understand on what you actually base this oppinion. She did not care for him in the least. And she was, in her mind, stil a child.

[Eric_Lowe]

Carol was a very charming man. From what I hear of Marie's nature, she wasn't a child...She was the only one to fall for a guard during their captivity and risked her family's displeasure. Such a personality is quite outstanding in her need for affection.

[Ally Kumari]

Maria according to what I have read "turned into a woman" during the revolution 1917, when she was the her sole mother´s support. Being in need of affection during boring, long days in captivity is somehow different then accepting a marriage proposal from a stranger.

[blessOTMA]

Indeed Ally, what Maria did during that time was amazing. Though it is fanciful, one can just see her going down the line of the soldiers with her mother....a young Queenly person emerging from her cocoon. If it had just been Alix that night , I wonder if the men would have stayed...even as long as they did. The pressures of captivity upon OTMAA  is an interesting topic....Marie  endured much  more of the House of Special Purpose than the others  and by  the time of this incident she could have felt they would never be free. Really the psychology  of their royal lives and their lives as prisoners is quite different as they were, having lived though all that. Their actions taken before the war may tell one something about thier actions in later times ....but it's not in the least a simple translation.

[Eric_Lowe]

That proves that Marie is much hotter in need of male effection than the others. While Tatiana & Olga were cold to Carol, Marie was not. It was because of that he proposed to marry this very beautiful and charming girl. His own mother was married at 16 I think, so had their family had not been so pocessive. The marriage might take place.

[Ally Kumari]

Marie was not cold to Carol? Source? First time I hear about it.

[Eric_Lowe]

Definitely not...Who heard of Marie cold to anybody ? Dickie Mountbatten lost his heart to his cousin since he was a boy. She was always the nice one (while Anastasia was the tickster, Olga the thinker and Tatiana the leader). In photos she was always smiling or playing with young kids. Most of the elders (including their tutors) believe she was made for motherhood. The fact that Carol would ask for Marie suggested that she was nicer to him than her elder sisters (especially she was not technically in the running).

[Ally Kumari]

Oh Eric..... It´s not that like Olga and Tatiana were giving him distand and cold looks wihout smiling at least once.... He asked for Marie, because she seemed the prettiest to him or maybe  most pleasant. You are mentioning her desire to motherhood. What in the world that has to do with her "wanting" to agree to Carol´s proposal? You are jumping to conclusions with only very little information and, forgive me, your last two or three posts remid me in their complete fairy-tale naivity more of the young teen girls coming to the forum then a senior member like you. There is Maria´s diary from 1916. I have ot read it, but I don´t think you would find anything about the matter there. Her "liking" for Carol exists in your theory only. In 1916 Maria was still a child in her mind, many people mentioned that. Plus if I should go only by what she was said to want (like you), she wanted to marry a simple soldier.

[blessOTMA]

The fact that Carol would ask for Marie suggested that she was nicer to him than her elder sisters ......

To me,  Carol's  asking for Marie suggests  the Romanian royal house still wanted a Russian Grand Duchess for Carol to marry ...which one they acquired was not important. Just my opinion

Was the time of Carol's asking for Marie around the same time Romania entered the war? If so, it would seem connected to me....
marriage as a way to cement an alliance.

I just remembered sometime from  the 1914 visit...didn't OTMA sunburn their faces before hand to appear less attractive ?  lol! Pretty funny

[Olga Maria]

Yes, really dearie Annie, that was funny! I think they did it because they didn’t want Carol or his family to think they were attractive and perfect to be Carol’s wife. I think TMA also had Olga’s detest of seeing Carol in that visit.

^{Quote from Ally: Being in need of affection during boring, long days in captivity is somehow different then accepting a marriage proposal from a stranger.}
True, Ally.
There are many kinds of affection and one among those is “affection from/for friends”. “Affection from/for friends” is greatly different from “affection from/for a true love”. I believe the affection that Marie needed from or had for the guards in their captivity was “affection from/for friends” …
But is it okay to talk about Marie here? Discussions about her should be in her thread, I think so.

Back to Olga’s …
I believe Anna Vyrubova’s Later Memoirs mention much more about the Carol-Olga marriage proposal. Does someone here have that book?

[Eric_Lowe]

I think Pierre Gaillard's memoirs pretty much put a lid on the subject of Olga willing to marry or not to Carol. She made it clear that she do not want to and her parents will not force her to do it (marry Carol) even before she even laid eyes on him. If she did not want to marry him of course she would not encourage him in any way (guess Tatiana too). With Marie it may be different. She thought she was not in the running to marry him and therefore could be nicer and more encouraging him thatshe would suppose. That was the reason I guess Carol selected Marie & not Tatiana as an after thought. It may be premature to say she liked him, but also could be said that she did not dislike him (as Olga seemed to indicate). So I think there might be a chance (remember a chance only) that she could have been married. However both Nicholas II & Alexandra thought their daughter too young to marry (He told Carol to come back in a few years...which is not exactly a no).

[Olga Maria]

So I think there might be a chance (remember a chance only) that she could have been married. However both Nicholas II & Alexandra thought their daughter too young to marry (He told Carol to come back in a few years...which is not exactly a no).

You've got a point, btw. I thank God fate (although it was a sad fate) intervened that's why nothing ever happened of Carol's proposal to Marie! It would not be easy or wonderful for Marie to have him as husband.

[Ally Kumari]

So I think there might be a chance (remember a chance only) that she could have been married. However both Nicholas II & Alexandra thought their daughter too young to marry (He told Carol to come back in a few years...which is not exactly a no).

You've got a point, btw. I thank God fate (although it was a sad fate) intervened that's why nothing ever happened of Carol's proposal to Marie! It would not be easy or wonderful for Marie to have him as husband.

Yes!!! Poor Marie...

Eric - when you put it like this, you can of course be right. But the way you expressed yourself before was simply not right.... I hope that now I expressed myself in an understandable way.