Olga's official suitors, marriage prospects, and proposals

[Vanya Ivanova]

Nicholas dismissed that offer out of hand saying Marie was only a school girl which she was. The thing that has always interested me about that is that Carol wasn't interested in Tatiana, a proposal to whom becuase of her  age would have been considered more seriously. Tatiana is often regarded as the most beautiful of the sisters, but evidently Carol didn't think so or maybe he was intimidated by her? either way its interesting why he would bypass Tatiana and make a slightly desperate attempt for Marie. I think all told had things been different Marie would most likely have been the first to marry and leave home.

[Eric_Lowe]

I think the two older girls made a pact not to go for Carol. Both Olga & Tatiana appeared a bit sun-burnt which did not display their best features. Marie on the other hand was the most beautiful of the 4 girls (Tatiana was the most elegant, but too serious & cold). She was friendly and flirtatious at the same time (once stolen the heart of her cousin Dickie Mountbatten)  and appeared to be more natural than her more tense sisters since she wasn't in the running. Had she been consulted, she could have said yes as she was "the most likely to marry and make a good wife". Olga was more of an intellectual and suffered for it.

[blessOTMA]

I ran into this  recently ...so there  was some speculation about Tatiana and Carol in the French press
...but it certainly could have ben spun from thin air

[Eric_Lowe]

Certainly is. Just like the press later did with Prince Charles & Princess Caroline of Monaco.

[Gabriella]

I think the two older girls made a pact not to go for Carol. Both Olga & Tatiana appeared a bit sun-burnt which did not display their best features. Marie on the other hand was the most beautiful of the 4 girls (Tatiana was the most elegant, but too serious & cold). She was friendly and flirtatious at the same time (once stolen the heart of her cousin Dickie Mountbatten)  and appeared to be more natural than her more tense sisters since she wasn't in the running. Had she been consulted, she could have said yes as she was "the most likely to marry and make a good wife". Olga was more of an intellectual and suffered for it.

Is there any proof that Carol felt fpr Maria ? Or is this another WHAT IF?

[Eric_Lowe]

The proof is Carol formally asked for Marie's hand in marriage after the meeting. Nicholas laughed it off and told him to come back in a few years time.

[blessOTMA]

It seems to me Carol and Romania wanted a Russian Grand Duchess...whoever would agree, would do. However if Marie had married Carol, I believe it would have been one of those cases where the foreign bride was more popular than the native royal! lol For who could resist Marie?
She would have mothered whatever  nation she found herself in...home, or else where.... imo
 

[Eric_Lowe]

I think all agreed that Marie would have made a good mother & wife. She was pretty and flirtatious and should have married early. Marie's last flirtation with a guard which earned the family 's disapproval proved this.

[Vanya Ivanova]

I have my doubts about Maria's flirtation with a guard in the Ipatiev House, when you look into that in any detail its not much more than chinese whispers as there's not one 1st hand witness to that story only 2nd, 3rd and sometimes 4th hand.

Also it was at a time when the Ural Bolsheviks were trying to discredit the family/exaggerate the difficulties of keeping them held prisoner (the officer letters). As we still don't definitively know who actually made the final decision to kill all of them, servants included, the Ural Soviet or Moscow. However, Maria was known for having 'an eye for the men' and took people as she found them, so you never know but I think her open friendly nature was misconstrued or even deliberately twisted to be used against the family in that instance.

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes. I agree that Marie did have "an eye for men" much more than her more serious and strait-laced sisters. Had Marie been the eldest, she would have been married about the same time as her cousin Irina Alexandrovna.

[Hector]

That picture of Crown Prince Georg must have been taken during WW1, as he is in field grey and wearing the Iron Cross.

You are correct. The painting was done in 1916 by Dresden-born painter Robert Sterl.

[Eric_Lowe]

I don't think Olga would change her religion to marry though.

[Gabriella]

The proof is Carol formally asked for Marie's hand in marriage after the meeting. Nicholas laughed it off and told him to come back in a few years time.

Where is the proof?  Which book or biography says that Carol asked for Maria's hand in marriage?

[Eric_Lowe]

Many books covered this already including the well documented "Nicholas & Alexandra" by Massie.

[Labuanbajo]

Maurice Paleologue wrote on February 12, 2017 (NS):

"I am told that during his visit to Petrograd, Bratiano has sounded the Emperor as to his ultimate consent to the marriage of the Grand Duchess Olga to Prince Carol, the presumptive heir. The idea of this union has been mooted several times before. The Emperor's answer was quite encouraging: "I shall have no objection to the marriage if my daughter and Prince Carol find they suit each other."

Ion I. C. Brătianu was the Romanian Prime Minister

see:https://project1917.com for a time line of comments in 1917 by observers of that turbulent year.