Young Alix - Before her Marriage

[Helen]

Thanks for the information, Helen!  Something else I'm wondering about is this sentence from The Last Empress: "Her diary contains no hint of the blossoming romance, although she filled its pages with girlish drawings of herself as a bride." That means that the author was able to access her diary from 1884. Where is that now, and are passages from it or pictures of the drawings available?

GrandDuchessAndrea, do you mean The Last Empress by Greg King? I didn't see Alexandra's diaries mentioned in the list of sources in my copy. Perhaps they were mentioned and I just overlooked it, or the author may have based his statement on another published source. 

The State Archive of the Russian Federation in Moscow seems to have some of the Empress' diaries, but I'm not sure that they have her 1884 diary. Elisabeth Heresch included some quotes from Princess Alix's 1894 diary in her biography of the Empress. She also included one of Alix's drawings of herself lying on a sofa, but not one of  herself as a bride. The latter ones have been included in other books, but I cannot find them right now.

If Alix's diary contained no hint of a blossoming romance, she did hint at her romantic feelings for Nicholas in her letters to her friend Toni Becker in 1889.

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

Yes, I do mean the book by Greg King. The reference to the drawings etc. is on page 30, but her diaries are not listed as a reference, you are right.

[Alixz]

I just removed a couple of "quotes" of photos.  Please don't "quote" photos.  It takes up band width and also makes the threads load much slower for those who only have dial up.

If you wish to comment on a photo, please use the reference "reply" number shown on the upper left of the original posting.

[Helen]

Yes, I do mean the book by Greg King. The reference to the drawings etc. is on page 30, but her diaries are not listed as a reference, you are right.

Thank you, GrandDuchessAndrea! I found the quote and see that Greg King referred to an article by Vladimir Oustimenko publishhed in "Royalty Monthly" in that specific paragraph. Vladimir Oustimenko co-authored "The Romanovs - Love, Power and Tragedy", published by Leppi Publications. And in this book you can find some drawings from Alix's notebooks. One of the pictures on page 63 shows a short poem on a left page and a drawing of a young girl in a wedding dress on the opposite right page. The poem reads:  "There is one, and he is a love, and so are you , you little dove. 1885." 

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

Funny poem! Doesn't really make any sense, though.  Do you know if she wrote it, and could someone post a scan of that page, with the drawing and poem? I don't have access to that book, and it is dreadfully expensive to purchase...

[Helen]

True, it's just a simple verse. I have no idea whether she thought it up herself, but the handwriting is hers.

The book is copyrighted, so we shouldn't post scans of its pages on this forum, but have you ever checked out Abebooks? Abebooks offers several used copies of "The Romanovs - Love, Power and Tragedy"; they're not cheap, but some of them are very reasonably priced.

[Alixz]

Here is  a timeline that occurred to me to make as I was rereading Greg King's book.    The Last Empress

I know that the Hessian Grand Ducal family were not rich, but I have wondered why Queen Victoria took up a snit against her daughter Princess Alice when Alice wanted to visit the queen in 1876.  From Greg's book:

In 1876, Alice asked her mother if she could stay at Buckingham Palace for two nights on her way to Balmoral, the queen's castle in Scotland.  She traveled with only two people, a colonel and his wife, who lived in Darmstadt.  But Queen Victoria said no, it would be too much trouble.  Alice was forced to say that she had no other choice - she could not afford to pay for hotels.  A courtier suggested that the queen could pay the bill for the hotel, to which Victoria replied that she would have to know how may nights were in question.  Alice cabled back two or three, the queen said she would have to think the situation over.  In the end, Alice tired of begging.  She traveled alone, unattended and staying in cheap hotles.

This happened when Alix was four.

6 June 1872 - Birth of Victoria Alix Helene Louise Beatrice. (some say it should be Alix Victoria Helene Louise Beatrice, by FA says that the names should be in this order)

May 1873 - Death of Frittie

1877 - Ludwig becomes Grand Duke of Hesse und von Rhine

1878 - traveling with parents and siblings across Europe to visit relatives

8 September 1878 - paddle steamer Princess Alice sank while cruising the Thames with 600 lives lost (Princess Alice is upset)

5 November 1878 - Victoria of Hesse comes down with diphtheria

16 November 1878 - May of Hesse dies

13 December 1878 - Princess Alice dies of diphtheria

April 1880 - Queen Victoria visits Darmstadt and is happy to see that Princess Alice's room has been kept as it was

spring 1884 - Victoria of Hesse marries Louis of Battenberg and Grand Duke Ludwig marries and then has to annul his marriage to Madame de Kolomine

June 1884 - Alix boards a train for Russia to witness the wedding of Ella to Serge

1885 - Alix acts as bridesmaid to Princess Beatrice at her wedding to Prince Henry of Battenberg

1887 - Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria - Alix attends

1888 -  Irene of Hesse marries Prince Heinrich of Prussia (son of Vicky and Fritz)

1888 - death of Emperor Frederich Wilhelm III of Prussia and ascension of Kaiser Wilhelm II

1888 - Gretchen von Fabrice becomes Alix's Lady in Waiting.

1888 - Alix is confirmed into the Lutheran Church

1889 - Alix now 17 visits Ella and Serge in St. Petersburg and spends time with Tsarevich Nicholas.

1889  - Prince Eddy proposes to Alix - she refuses him (Alix was summoned to Balmoral where the proposal took place)

1890 - Alix travels to Malta with her father.

1890 - Alix goes to Russia to Ilinskoe to visit Ella and Serge

1891 - Max of Baden proposes - Alix turns him down

13 March 1892 - Grand Duke Ludwig dies - Ernst becomes Grand Duke of Hesse

1892 - Alix stays with Queen Victoria after her father's death and goes on public appearances with the queen

1892 - Ella converts to Orthodoxy

6 July 1893 - George of Wales marries May of Tek - Tsarevich Nicholas is at the wedding, Alix stays in Darmstadt (she is going through her time of thinking that changing her religion is out of the question)

1983 - Fall - Alix writes to Nicholas and says that any union is "unthinkable" because it meant changing her religion.

1893 - Alix travels to Italy with Queen Victoria

1894 - Tsar Alexander III falls ill

 April 1894 - Wedding of Victoria Melita and Grand Duke Ernst of Hesse

[Alixz]

As to the naming of the Landlady's twins in 1894 Nicholas and "Alexandra"  that quote is from Baroness Buxhoeveden and since Alix was still Alix of Hesse and not yet Alexandra Feodorovna - I wonder if the Baroness was incorrect in her memory (since she wasn't there) and the twin girl was named just "Alix" not Alexandra.

Also, Alix herself was leaning toward Ekaterina not Alexandra as her Orthodox name. 

[Kalafrana]

Alixz

Many thanks for your timeline.

It's often said that Alexandra spent a lot of time with Queen Victoria after her mother's death. But can you ascertain from The Last Empress how much time she actually spent with her. The only extended period you mention is in 1892.

Regards

Ann

[Alixz]

It would seem that Alix popped in and out of England at the whim of the queen.  The extended period was after the death in 1892 of Ludwig.  Alix had a hard time coming to terms with her father's death.

There may have been other extended periods, but with all of the travel she did with her family it doesn't seem that they were as long as the one in 1892.

I find it odd (since I see Alix as hard and unbending) to read the queen's letters about her being "good, kind and dear".  The queen does mention though, that Alix had a strong will.

The other thing that I found more clear is Alix's problem with religion.  It seems that she spent a long time "on her knees" searching for answers before she was confirmed.

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

Just a little correction to your typos, Alixz!  It was 1892 that Ludwig died, not 1882. Great timeline, thank you for posting it! It will be very helpful...

[Alixz]

All corrected - thanks.

Just another thought.  Gretchen in German is "little Margaret"  I have read Gretchen von Fabrice called Margarete von Fabrice.

[Helen]

Yep, her name was Margarethe, or 'Gretchen' informally.

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

I'm wondering at what event during the wedding of Ella and Sergei did Alix and Nicholas, (and the rest of their families,) get intoduced. Also, is a general itinerary of the trip known?

she did hint at her romantic feelings for Nicholas in her letters to her friend Toni Becker in 1889.

Are these letters avaliable online?

[Eddie_uk]

I would be rather wary of The Last Empress as it does include errors. I have read plenty of other occasions where Queen Victoria was very generous towards Alice.