No doubt it wasn't the sole factor, but didn't the experiences of Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna have an influence on how negatively her niece, Queen Victoria, would regard the Romanov dynasty and its Russian Empire?
It didn't seem to be a problem initially - she got on well with her contemporaries, e.g. the sons of Nicholas I when she met them as a young woman, and her aunt's Russian experience was not referred to in connection with them at all. It was later, when her children and grandchildren were grown and the Romanovs were marital prospects, that her views became much more negative. She thought the Russians had messed her around over Alfred's marriage - on again, off again - and later, that they demanded too much of her court in accomodating the wife of a younger son. The marriages of her two Hessian grandaughters made her 'frantic' - to quote her own words - as she was extremely possessive and thought her wishes weren't being sufficiently consulted, the Grand Dukes would take them too far away, the Romanov court had a clear history of being insufficiently respectful to her wishes and so on. It seemed her own experiences were the basis of her negative views, rather than those of her aunt pre-disposing her to such attitudes.
Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna's elder sister Antoinette was married to Empress Maria Feodorovna's younger brother, Alexander of Württemberg, and he was commander of the Russian calvary. Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna's youngest brother, Leopold, owed a lot to his Russian connection since after the French occupied Coburg, he went to Russia to get a commission in the Russian Army. His fame through the battles he fought as well his good looks earned him praise through the courts of Europe including Napoleon Bonaparte. This lead to him getting the attention of Princess Charlotte, heir of the Prince Regent, who he eventually married and started the House of Saxe-Coburg on its way to ruling many of the thrones of Europe.
So guess it's important to remember that Queen Victoria's other aunt, Princess Antoinette, was very happy in Russia. Actually Princess Antoinette's daughter later became Prince Albert's stepmother when she married her uncle. Prince Albert's father had eariler tried to marry a Russian Grand Duchess but his womanizing reputation prevented and he married Prince Albert's mother, the 16-year-old Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
Back to Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna. Here is what her brother, Belgian King Leopold I, wrote about her in
his memoirs:
"In 1795, the Empress Catharine of Russia, being very anxious to conclude a match for the Grand Duke Constantine, her grandson, applied to M. de Budberg, a distinguished minister and general. She received, through his intervention, a visit from the eldest three princesses of Saxe-Coburg, all three possessing unquestionable beauty. The Grand Duke conceived an affection for Juliana, the youngest of the three; she was very pretty, but still a mere child, being only fifteen. Had the choice of Constantine fallen on Antonietta, she have filled admirably the position of Grand Duchess...
The empress-mother, in her preference for her two younger sons (the Grand Dukes Nicholas and Michael), did not desire the establishments of the two elder to be on a happy footing. Constantine himself was terribly cantankerous, and to crown the misfortune, the Grand Duke Alexander and his wife were Juliana's great friends, and supported her in her petty domestic differences. Had it not been for the empress-mother's shocking hypocrisy, things might have gone on well. The Grand Duke admired his wife very much, and she, with a lovable husband, would have been an excellent wife. She found herself miserable, and ended by leaving Russia in 1802."In 1814, Leopold, then still an unmarried Prince of Saxe-Coburg, went with Grand Duke Constantine, who desired a reconciliation, to Elfenaau, near Berne, the place of residence of the Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna. The overtures ended up being fruitless.
Pictures
Leopold I, King of the Belgians
Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Her husband Alexander of Württemberg
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Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born Princess Marie of Württemberg)
Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg)
