Two Questions

[Romanov_Fan19]

I  Have  2 questions

1. Who  were  the bestmen  and groomsman  at Nicholas IIs Wedding

2.  Who  were  Nicholas  and  Alexandras Godparents

[Georgiy]

I am not sure if he would have had a 'best man' as such. In an Orthodox wedding, we have two Witnesses. One of the things they do is hold the crowns over our heads during the crowning. (In our case, the Priest actually placed them on our heads). There's probably not much for a 'best man' to do. The Priest has the rings on a tray from the start as the rings are put on right at the beginning during the Betrothal Service. First the Bride's ring is put on the Grooms ring finger on his right hand. The Groom's ring is put on the Bride's right ring finger, and then they are swapped thrice. The witnesses are able to do this exchanging. In our case the Priest did it. (Our witnesses had very little to do!)

As for his Godparents, I have no idea.

[Forum Admin]

You can read the official program/sequence of events of their wedding here, on main AP website.
http://www.alexanderpalace.org/wedding/

[sailor_of_standart]

Apparently the Godparents are Alix's parents and vice-versa.

[Margarita Markovna]

Wait do you mean Nicky's parents were Alix's godparents? And vice versa meaning Alix's parents were Nicky's? Wouldn't Nick have had godparents since birth?

[Georgiy]

Was Tsar Alexander III still alive when Alix became Orthodox? Otherwise, he (at least) couldn't have been her Godfather.

[Sarushka]

I believe Alexander III had died before Alix's conversion. I'm paraphrasing from the narration of Last of the Czars, but there's an entry in Nicky's diary that goes something like: "In the midst of great sorrow, the Lord gives us quiet, luminous joy. At 10:00, my Alix was consecrated."

[lovy]

This is what Nicholas wrote in his diary for his wedding:

"14 November - St Petersburg

The day of my wedding! Everyone had coffee together, and then went off to dress: I put on the Hussar uniform and at 11.30 drove with Misha [brother] to the Winter Palace. The whole Nevsky was lined with troops waiting for Mama to drive past with Alix. While she was being dressed in the Malachite hall, we all waited in the Arabian room. At ten to one the procession set off for the big church, from where I returned a married man! My best men were: Misha, Georgie, Kyril and Sergei. In the Malachite hall, we were presented with a huge silver swan from the family. After changing, Alix sat with me in a carriage harnessed in the Russian manner with a postilion, and we rode to the Kazan cathedral. There was so many people on the streets, it was almost impossible to pass!
    On our arrival at the Anichkov we were met by a guard of honour. Mama was waiting for us in our rooms with the bread and salt. We sat the whole evening answering telegrams. We dined at 8 o'clock and went to bed early as she had a bad headache!"

So therefore Nicholas's best men were Grand Duke Mikhail (his brother); George, Prince of Greece; Kyril, Grand Duke Vladimir's son; Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich (Grand Duchess Xenia's brother-in-law).
    Sorry I can't answer the second question. But I think Tsar Alexander III was Alexandra's god-father.

[julia.montague]

I always thought Alexander III was Alix's godfather from her protestant christening

[lovy]

He was.

[Caleb]

I  think that Alix was baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church the day after Alexander III died, or sometime around then. I think that King Christian IX & Queen Louise were among his godparents, also I wouldn't be surprised if (the future) King Edward VII & Queen Alexandra of England, King George I & Queen Olga of Greece & (the future) King Fredrick VII & his wife were also God parent's (oh yes, I'm forgetting Alexander II & Marie Alexandrovna) Was Queen Victoria a godparent of Nicholas II? I wonder, partially because she was Marie Feodorovna's sister's (Alexandra) mother-in-law, but then I know that Alexander III didn't think too highly of Queen Victoria. Wasn't Queen Louise of Denmark at the wedding of Nicholas & Alexandra?

[Georgiy]

I guess all those foreign 'Godparents' were more like honorary Godparents as technically one's sponsors (that is Godparents) can only be of the Orthodox Faith and have a Spiritual responsibility for the Godchild.

[Romanov_Fan19]

thank you

[edubs31]

lol, sorry but I can't resist chiming in...a nice little thank you 8 1/2 years later Romanov_Fan? That's quite the timetable you're on!

As a gag my friend Kevin sometimes randomly responds (again) to ancient emails people like his friends and I sent him long ago. We're confused at first and then realize what he's up to. This makes me think of that :-)

[Romanov_Fan19]

lost my password    so   HI     HERE I AM   AGAIN