Grand Duchess and other possible suitors - what if..

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes she could have been more practical...However I think she would have been more kind to Vicky. 

[Romanov_fan]

Yes, she would have been much kinder to her. At that point, what Vicky badly needed was kindness. The Prussian court was such a difficult one, it seemed to just ruin personalities. But then again, perhaps they were ruined already.

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes... Had Ella and Irene both marry the Prussian Princes. I think the English influrence would have been much stronger. Perhaps even Moretta may have beern allowed to marry Sandro with Ella's help. 

[Romanov_fan]

Perhaps. Ella had a way of being able to make things happen that were difficult to happen otherwise by her understanding and relation to people. The Prussian court wanted no English influence, though. Even with Ella and Irene, that would never have been enough. The Prussian court was simply too hard to fix that way.

[Ilana]

Vicky was one of the Aunts that helped raise the Darmstadt children after the death of Alice.  I think there's no doubt Ella would have been kinder to Vicky. 

Possibly without the Serge tragedy and the conversion, she might not have explored her spiritual side, however, Ella expressed a wish early on that she wanted to become a nun.

[Romanov_fan]

Yes, I think that spiritual side of her, that understanding was always there. It just took the right circumstances and events to bring it out.. She can be seen as more frivolous when she was younger, interested in clothes, balls and parties. But it was always there, even then, and who's to say that it would not have come out anyway? Ella was too much spritiual, understanding, thoughtful to be fond of trivial things for long, no matter what. But her suffering only enhanced her.

[Eric_Lowe]

Ella had a deep spiritual side that helped her ease into Orthodoxy. 

[Romanov_fan]

She did. Many German princesses who married into the Russian Imperial Family didn't have that. They either never converted or they did eventually, but never embraced it as much as Ella did. It came naturally to her, even though in her youth she might have gone different directions with her life.

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes...Although like Alicky, people like Dagmar thought she went over the top with the nun thing...

[Romanov_fan]

They did.. but it wasn't what people thought that counted. It was the reasons why she did it, all noble reasons, I might add.

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes...Had Ella had children it would be different, but Serge's death actually freed her into going full speed into Orthodoxy.

[Romanov_fan]

It did. Before, as the wife a grand duke, she could not just become a nun. After, she had more options. Had she had children,that might not have happened, as she would have had to be there for her children. As it turned out, she found her true self after her husband's death.

[Eric_Lowe]

I guess Ella was way ahead in that spitually...His death escarlate her decision into being a nun. 

[Romanov_fan]

It did, and she found through that what she might otherwise not have got a chance to do. Sometimes the good comes out of bad, I guess.

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes...Her road to sainthood. I wonder what did Willy said, when he heard about Ella's death.