Olga's official suitors, marriage prospects, and proposals

[Eric_Lowe]

I think Alexandra had purposely kept her daughters isolated from society because she did not like Russian High Society (which the girls could have married into). The antics of Yussopov & Dimitri were not the kind she wanted in her son-in-laws. Missy's autobio indicated that the girls were nice but very childish and naive, the reason being kept by their parents in a bubble-an unreal world. It would perhaps serve them better had they been exposed to the not so savory side of life. That eventually led to a rude awakening when the girls met the guards who readily show it to them. According to her standards, Alicky would (like Queen Alexandra) only accept a cousin for them to marry.

[blessOTMA]

Remember this page of Chebotareva's diary: one day of January 1917, Olga Nicholaevna was especially sad and Valentina Ivanovna asked her why and is her mood related to the visit of Carol of Romania. Olga answered: "O no; there is no danger at war time".

Interesting Olga  said "no danger" there and not something like " no chance". One wonders if in 1914 Olga said she didn't want to leave Russia  as a way to refuse Carol! without insulting  Romania! lol!

 Certainly Alix didn't like the children mixing in Russian high society...but I would say they  got their rude awakening in the wards of the hospital well before meeting red guards. Alix certainly didn't spare them there...a whole new, and undreamed of  social world opened up to them as well in those halls . But  no amount of meeting others before hand could  have prepared them for the treatment they received from their jailers....or made it easier. imo

[Eric_Lowe]

I most certainly agree with you that Alicky keep their children in isolation with a purpose of keeping them pure from the Russian High Society headed by Miechen & Ducky. Her acessment of Boris's proposal of Olga left no question of how she felt about the morals in "those" circles. Yet had Olga & Tatiana been out more often, the possiblity of them marrying Aristocratic Russian Princely families like Yussopov or Oblensky would become larger. Both Irina & Tatiana Constantinova end up in that direction.

[blessOTMA]

I think even  if the Big Pair had mixed with  Aristocratic Russian  families, imo they would not have married before 1914  and during WW 1 , as Olga said, " there was no danger during war time". imo one cannot compare  Irina's  position with that of OTMA's...of course a royal marriage would have been at least attempted with the Tsar's daughters and such things take time. Irina did not have that expectation and could marry when and who she liked among the Aristocratic Russian  families.  I don't think one had to dislike Aristocratic Russian  families to find  Boris's " proposal"  distasteful....I always found that event odd. It  makes no sense to me. What was  Miechen doing ? What did that side of the family  hope to gain?  It's a mystery. 

[Eric_Lowe]

Miechen hope to bind her children closer to the main line. With Olga being the wife of Boris, it would strengthen the claims of her family to the imperial throne. However Boris was too old for Olga, he is of the same generation as Alicky & Missy...

[violetta]

This is a quotation from Grand princess Shandrose:
I think Alexandra didn’t ever agree (or reluctantly agreed if she agreed) of the Carol-Olga match. The first time I read these words she said to Sazonov, the Russian foreign minister (sadly, Sazonov didn’t mention when the conversation took place), I concluded she is opposed to any loveless marriage:
“You know how difficult marriages are in reigning families. I know it by experience, although I was never in the position my daughters occupy, being the daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse and running little risk of being obliged to make a political match. Still, I was once threatened with the danger of marrying without love or even affection and I vividly remember the torments when…[Max of Baden] arrived at Darmstadt and I was informed that he intended to marry me. I did not know him at all and I shall never forget what I suffered when I met him for the first time.”


And I`d like to add that in the same conversation with Sazonov the Empress also said that in case of her daughters the parents` role had do be limited to the approval of their daughters` choice.

But I guess she meant that a prospective bridegroom had to come from appropriate background i.e. one of the ruling or reigning families. Alexandra was not a supporter of morganatic marriages for love. 

[Kalafrana]

Poor Max of Baden! He seems to have been a perfectly pleasant fellow.

I agree with Violetta. Tatiana Konstantinovna and Irina Alexandrovna were minor members of the dynasty. The marriage of the Tsar's eldest daughter was in quite a different category. In August 1914 efforts to find her a suitable bridegroom had barely begun. Had the war not intervened, they would have continued, and presumably succeeded within 2-3 years.

Ann

[Katya90]

Olga had lots of cousins, but how many of them would have been realistic potential husbands?

I was just thinking, had anyone ever considered the future British kings Edward VIII or George VI for Olga? They were her second cousins, and born in 1894 and 1895, so there wouldn't have been any issues with age. Did Olga meet them when the Imperial Family visited England in 1907? I know Olga wanted to remain Russian, so she probably would have said no, but was it ever thought of?

[Kalafrana]

There are suggestions further up this thread that Edward VIII was mooted as a possibility, but he and Olga barely knew one another, having only met during the 1909 visit (and perhaps when Nicholas, Alexandra and the infant Olga went to Balmoral in 1896).

In any case, there was an age issue, since Edward was only 20 (just) in August 1914 (born June 1994), so by the standards of the time too young for marriage (for a man). The youngest bridegrooms I know of in that period were Alfonso XIII of Spain and Charles Edward of Coburg, who were both aged 21 and, as posthumous sons, had a peculiar need to produce heirs quickly. There was still more of an age issue with George VI, who was still only 18 in August 1914 (born 14 December 1895). Five years later, say, there would have been no age issue with the two princes, but Olga would be close to being on the shelf.

Carol of Rumania was 21 in 1914, but still rather young for marriage.

Ann

[Katya90]

Hmm, I didn't realize that there was such a difference in when men were expected to marry versus women. Interesting.

[Kalafrana]

I've a post about marriageable age for men further up this thread, and it would seem that the proper age by 1900 was 25-30, with 26 as 'the perfect age'. The two 1913 bridegrooms were Ernst August of Cumberland, who was 26, and Arthur of Connaught, who was 30. Typically, the bridegroom was between 4 and 8 years older than the bride - Victoria Louise was 21 and Princess Arthur 22.

Age-wise, Alexander of Serbia, born 1888, was the best of Olga's potential suitors. Olga also knew him and seems to have liked him.

Ann

[voyageroffreedom]

I always thought that Olga and Vladimir Paley would make a wonderful couple. Though he was younger than Olga (not huge age gap though, if I’m not wrong he was born the same year as Tatiana) but the fact they both have so much in common mean that there is possibility that they will get along so well. But I don’t think Nicholas and Alexandra will approve on their marriage as Vladimir was the result of morganatic marriage (he was born before his parents’ marriage, and Nicholas later opposed against the marriage of Vladimir’s parents). Also, if the two met and fell in love, he was too young like Kalafrana mentioned in the above posts the proper age for marriage for men at that time was 25-30.

Alexander of Serbia was good match for Olga age wise and personality wise, and it seems he had a crush on her. Alexander was more suitable then the Windsor’s, Edward VIII was a womanizer and bon vivant (Olga preferred the serious type of men) and as for George VI I honestly can’t picture him with any woman other than his wife Elizabeth, she was just the right choice for him.

[bestfriendsgirl]

I've always wondered why the Constantinovichi weren't considered more openly, not only for Olga but for TMA. They were royal and from a branch of the family with whom N and A were on relatively good terms. There could have been some good matches there. Prince Vladimir Paley, too, would have been good husband material, even if he was a little younger than Olga - more so then Dmitri Pavlovich, even if Dmitri was royal. But I don't blame Alix for rejecting Boris Vladimirovich out of hand - Ewwwwww!   

[Hector]

'Nicholas would never have considered placing his eldest daughter in a position where she was likely to fall for a Catholic - and a mere Royal Highness - unless she were allowed to retain her own faith.'

Maybe this was why the King of Saxony came on his 1914 visit without his sons!

Ann

Was just reading about how there were rumours at the Imperial Court when the King of Saxony came that his intention was Olga's hand in marriage to the Crown Prince of Saxony, but even the author dismisses it as coming from the uninformed.

[Eric_Lowe]

Well...Both Missy & Sandra were married around 16. So Olga & Tatiana were ripe for marriage. However Tsar Nicholas & Alicky were in no hurry to marry off his girls.