There is also the whole array of what, in English, are called 'cousins-german,' from the French 'germain,' NOTHING to do with Germany, whatsoever!! This line of nomenclature sometimes has the younger members of a family considered as 'nieces' and 'nephews,' the elder ones 'aunts' and 'uncles,' although the relationships may actually be quite other than those presupposed by the names. Catherine the Great was quite aware of this custom and refers to it as 'de Bretagne' in her memoirs. It does not happen in Scottish families, in which, say, aunt and niece may be coaevals, and if raised together, one might suppose they would call one another 'sisters' - but they do not!
Since MF and AA were indeed Alix's godparents, there is every reason to suppose that the 'Aunty' style arose from that relationship.
Perhaps also in MF's objections to AF as a 'stiff Englishwoman,' we forget the former's affections and loyalities to Russia ... which had not yet recovered from its humiliations at English hands during the Crimean War. MF could not have helped being affected by this fact, but I do think it was Alix' often misunderstood reserve, shyness, and awkwardness with which MF became so exasperated.
Jon C ... I remember you from other strands. I am sorry to say that, in all my many decades of research among those who figure so prominently in the Almanach de Gotha, I have not once found so much as a scintilla of evidence to support the idea that Alix von Hesse und bei Rhin was the daughter of Alexandra, Princess of Wales ... or indeed of anyone other than Alice and Ludwig, or Louis, of Hesse. What would Tum-Tum have thought had Alexandra served his gander some good goose sauce??
