Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, Duchess of Edinburgh and Coburg

[Romanov_fan]

If her sister had lived, she would not have been as important. That leaves me wondering if she would have has as good an opinion of herself as otherwise, had her sister lived. She passed on the self importance to her children, although I would not describe any of her daughters as being insecure. On another note, in one photo in Camera and the Tsars, has anyone noticed the resemblance her young son Alfred bore to the Vladimirvitchi, his cousins? It just astounded me, it's that photo where her children are so young.

[Ena]

It's hard to say what impact her older sister would have been had she lived.  I say this because since Alexandra was 7 years older, it might have had little difference.  If Alexandra had lived and married at say 18, Marie would still have been the little girl at home. 

[Romanov_fan]

Well, perhaps not in a practical way, it would not have made much difference. But it seems to me it would have had more impact on how MA thought of herself, and her percieved importance in the family, and that could have had repercussions that extended to her marriage and later life. But, perhaps it was just her personality to be this way anyway. Was Alexandra beloved because she was the only daughter at the time, or was she more of a favourite child in general?

[ilyala]

well fathers tend to love their daughters very much. in this case, considerring the succession to the throne was definitely assured (plenty of sons!) there was no need to pressure for sons and alexander could just focus on how much he prefers daughters personally. men want boys because boys assure the passing forward of the name. but generally speaking fathers prefer daughters (there are exceptions, obviously).

[Romanov_fan]

So, perhaps both Alexandra and her sister woukd have been treated the same even if Alexandra had lived? In her lifetime, Alexandra was defintely an unsually beloved child. MA was beloved in an deep way as well, to her father, and I am sure mother. If they had two girls, though maybe they each would not have meant as much, but who knows? There were still plenty of boys to outweigh things. I conclude, therefore, that MA never grew up in her lost sister's shadow. What other reasons why might MA have been insecure, besides those already stated ( which are good points).

[Marie Valerie]

her mother had tried to fix her up with ludwig 2nd (!!!!!) of bavaria,
but apparently the bloke was more interested in the mother than the daughter (imagine the match!!!  )

Ludwig II. called Maria Alexandrovna in his letter "My Empress", it seems really he had a little crush on her...

[TampaBay]

I think Marie Alexandrovna wa completely mis-understood.  I do not think her marriage in its early years was a bad as it is made out to be.Marie was highly intelligent and well educated.  Many of her close friends were commoners from the aristocracy of England such as Jenny Churchill.  She did not consider women inferior to men.   Like Cookie and Wallis she ruled her homes and palaces.  She was a very hands on mother.  Her nieces and nephews adroed her.  Nothing fazed or shocked her.

She was simply a women 30 years ahead of her time.  She would have made a great tsar!!!

TampaBay

[Romanov_fan]

Well, she was all that. She did have a deeply practical nature, on the evidence. I am not sure about how intellectual or interested in politics she was. If anything, I am sure she had conventional Romanov views, which would not have fit well in England. She believed in autocracy and such. It was simply the wrong country for her to marry into, although Alfie was perhaps not the wrong person to marry.

[grandduchessella]

She seems to have been rather intellectual--at least she was certainly intelligent and well-read. She was also very cultured and there are numerous mentions in the Court Circular of her attending various plays and the opera when she was in England. This is part of what bound her to another 'outcast' in the family, Prince Leopold. Her son-in-law, Alfonso, and her daughter, Beatrice, were of a similar bent--perhaps because Beatrice spent so much time at home, not marrying until her 20s.

[Romanov_fan]

I think she was that. She passed on her intelligence to her daughters, although they defintely had more looks and personality than she did. She seemed dull on the surface, but perhaps she wasn't as dull beneath the surface. She was someone who may have had more abilities than she was ever given credit for, unlike her daughters who were given credit for their abilities.That might have been because Missy was more flexible than her mother, and less the type to think highly of herself. Thus she fit better in a different country, although arguably, Romania WAS the right country for her. Ducky, like her mother was inflexible, but she had more of a personality seemingly, and a dark beauty, and then there is her life story. About her two younger daughters I know less, although Sandra was seen as dull, and most likely wasn't so dull, and that's a bit like her mother perhaps.

[grandduchessella]

There are threads on both Alexandra (Sandra) and Beatrice (Baby Bee) if you'd like to read more about the sisters. I think there are actually 2 on Beatrice--one deals with Beatrice and her cousin Victoria Eugenie, two British princesses in the Spanish royal family.

[Romanov_fan]

I know a bit about Sandra, but I'm not sure if I have ever read that thread. She seems the dullest of the sisters, but who knows how true that is? The youngest one is one I don't know much about. I think of the daughters of MA, it is the two eldest that stand out, if only because they became more famous than the rest. There is not as much info readily at your fingure tips with the other two. I think it might be because they made less prominent marriages? MA was certainly a good if domineering mother at times.

[Laura_]

you can find a thread on  Princess Alexandra of Hohenlohe-Langenburg "Sandra" on the  The Hohenzollern boards , second page 

[Eddie_uk]

Am bumping this thread up. What happened to the posts regarding that awful fake brooch?

[grandduchessella]

I removed the original post (my own) and the follow-up since it was determined the brooch didn't belong to Marie Alexandrovna. I didn't see any point in having it around since it turned out not to have anything of historical relevance.