Marie Feodorovna, Alexander III and Nicholas (Nixa)

[violetta]

From Alexander´s diary I trust.... before the engagement.

Я чувствую, что могу и даже очень полюбить милую Минни, тем более что она так нам дорога. Даст Бог, чтобы все устроилось, как я желаю. Решительно не знаю, что скажет на все это милая Минни; я не знаю её чувства ко мне, и это меня очень мучает. Я уверен, что мы можем быть так счастливы вместе. Я усердно молюсь Богу, чтобы Он благословил меня и устроил мое счастье.

My very rough translation (my Russian is VERY poor):
I feel, that I can fall in love  with darling Minnie very deeply, especially as she is so dear to us. God will give, so that everything would be arranged, as I desire. I do not decisively know what darling Minnie will say to this,  I do not know her feelings for me, and this torments me greatly. I believe, that we can be so happy together. I zealously pray for God to bless me and arranged my happiness.

Yes, it was before their engagement, or, to be precise, before Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich propose to princess Dagmar. When he came to DEnmark he knew that he would propos and he wanted to, and everuybody knew. But days went on , and he was postponing his proposal because he was not sure about her feelings

[violetta]

From Alexander´s diary I trust.... before the engagement.

Я чувствую, что могу и даже очень полюбить милую Минни, тем более что она так нам дорога. Даст Бог, чтобы все устроилось, как я желаю. Решительно не знаю, что скажет на все это милая Минни; я не знаю её чувства ко мне, и это меня очень мучает. Я уверен, что мы можем быть так счастливы вместе. Я усердно молюсь Богу, чтобы Он благословил меня и устроил мое счастье.

My very rough translation (my Russian is VERY poor):
I feel, that I can fall in love  with darling Minnie very deeply, especially as she is so dear to us. God will give, so that everything would be arranged, as I desire. I do not decisively know what darling Minnie will say to this,  I do not know her feelings for me, and this torments me greatly. I believe, that we can be so happy together. I zealously pray for God to bless me and arranged my happiness.

Yes, it was before their engagement, or, to be precise, before Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich propose to princess Dagmar. When he came to DEnmark he knew that he would propos and he wanted to, and everuybody knew. But days went on , and he was postponing his proposal because he was not sure about her feelings

Yes, it was before their engagement, or, to be precise, before Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich propose to princess Dagmar. When he came to DEnmark he knew that he would propos and he wanted to, and everuybody knew. But days went on , and he was postponing his proposal because he was not sure about her feelings

[violetta]

Some Maria Feodorovna`s contmporaries said that she was inhereted like a crown and tht it was a totally arranged marriage and that Alexander was forced into it and Dagmar wanted to become tsarina. of course, marriages at european courts were govrnd by thir rules, and heirs to the thrones did not have much freedom BUT

in case of MF and A3 we can talk about real feelings.

after Nixa`s death Alexander 2 wanted Dagmar to be his daughte -in-law that meant that she would have to maary his second son. she, however, did not rush and was very considerate in her letter to Alexander 2  " I`m so pleased to hea that you wanted me to remain at your side. What can I say? My loss is so recent that I`m afraid of showing mu lack of loyalty to Him. Also, I `d like to hear this from Sasha :does he really want to be with me because never ever would I like to be the reason for his unhappiness. His misery wouldn`t make me happy, either" Dear Papa, I do hope you understand what I mean. But this is how I look at this situation and it`s my duty to tell you this honestly".

it follows that she was very considerate towards alexander, and she was loyal to the memory of her late fiance.



I think she DID fall in love with alexander later. in his diary,after the engagement, she left the following poem

THE FLOWERS SILENTLY WHISPER
ABOUT THE MAIN THING IN MY LIFE-
I HAVE IN MY HEART
THE JOY AND PAIN OF LOVE.


she was not as ambitious as to rush into marriage with the rich heir to the russian throne...   

[Eric_Lowe]

There was a story that Nixa on his death bed put Dagmar's hand into his brother Sasha's and initially asking him to take care of his fiance. It was later that they fell in love.

[RealAnastasia]

Yes. I think you can find it in "Nicholas and Alexandra", by Robert K. Massie. I think you may also read about it in "The Last Empress", by Greg King, but I don't remember very well the fact.

RealAnastasia.