Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig & Grand Duchess Victoria Melita

[Svetabel]

i've read somewhere[maybe in the Pakula book ,not sure though] that Ducky used to throw "things" at Ernst head  

Yes, it came from Pakula's book. Probably it's true- she was paasionate, she did not love her husband, she loved another man, she hated all that Darmstadt..well, I think it was enough for throwing things at Ernst's head.

[VN]

How could somebody not like Darmstadt???



Greetings from Darmstadt
VN



PS: which book of Hannah Pakula are you referring to. The  only one  I know of is the one about Vicky (Kaiserin Friedrich).

[Laura_]

How could somebody not like Darmstadt???

.

How could Maria Alexandrovna(the mother of Ducky) not like England?? paradoxes!!!!!

[Laura_]

PS: which book of Hannah Pakula are you referring to. The  only one  I know of is the one about Vicky (Kaiserin Friedrich).

The Last Romantic - A Biography of Queen Marie of Roumania  by Hannah Pakula

this is the great book we were referring to

[Eric_Lowe]

Ducky was in actual truth "The Fighting Grand Duchess" !  

[Laura_]

Ducky was in actual truth "The Fighting Grand Duchess" !  

yeah i agree with this sintagm and i pretty like it

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes...She had plenty to fight for...

[Laura_]

yeah that's what she did all her life  :-/ fighting and fighting...

[Eric_Lowe]

Poor Ducky !  

[Laura_]

Poor Ducky !  

that's exactly why i don't like people "disconsidering" her so much i mean she had many faults,she made many mistakes etc-- but she fought bravely against a "hostile environment",she had a strong  personality and courage after all:) she's not my fave but i can't help feeling sorry for her

[Eric_Lowe]

Ducky had a tough lot, but she was a fighter and did not gave up. Also she was loyal to her family and Kyrill, but mostly to herself (one of the things was that she decided to end her first marriage and not to do a sham one with Ernie). That was one of the reasons why Kyrill's affair affected her so much...

[Romanov_fan]

Ducky and Ernest were brave to consider divorce in that era, when even royal ladies who did this could suffer from the resulting scandal. Ducky was true to herself, and did what she thought best regardless of the mores of society or her royal world, but she was so young when pressured to marry Ernest. He didn't know what he wanted, neither did she, but both no doubt wanted to please their grandmother. They weren't forced to marry, as sometimes royalty actually was, but they had pressure. It was pressure they probably coudn't resist as they were so young, but in every sense this was a doomed marriage, even in the beautiful daughter that was the result of it.

[Romanov_fan]

If this child had lived, history might have been different, certainly. Would this child have kept them together longer, or not? I believe most likely not, their marriage was already falling apart, and they defintely had differences that were pretty serious. They most likely had other children that might have suffered the same fate, but there doesn't seem to be any record of it.

[grandduchessella]

I don't think the child would've saved the marriage. The pregnancy was seemingly a last-ditch attempt to make it work anyway. I think that once Ducky found true love with Kyril, it was just a matter of time before she left the marriage. Perhaps if she hadn't met him and she and Ernie could've settled into some kind of arrangement (a really big 'if' considering their temperaments) the marriage might've tottered along but I don't think that any other children could've saved it. Still, it would've been nice had this child survivied considering how the Hesse line (through Ernie) has been completely decimated.  

[Romanov_fan]

That is true, the Hesse didn't survive because of that plane crash, and then little Johanna's death, and the heir and his wife didn't have children to suceed to Hesse. If this child had lived, perhaps the succesion would have survived. Also, he might have been good for his sister Elizabeth, although she died tragically young. She was an only child, a rarity among royalty of that time. I agree, the child would most likely not have saved the marriage, although had she not met Kyril, perhaps she would have met somebody else. Ducky was never one to stay in a marriage she defined as a sham, while Ernest woudn't have cared as much.