Alexei's wife?

[Halinka]

I wouldn't have been surprised to see Alexei married at 15 or 16 to a girl of 16 to 18.  It was not at all unusual for royalty to marry that young. 

It may have been common in previous centuries for royal males to marry very young, but surely things had changed in that regard by the beginning of the 20th. century? While royal females remained fairly young at time of marriage, males tended to have reached the so-called "age of majority" before they married, thus my impression is that while still young by the standards of today, Alexei would definitely have been over 18 and probably over 20 before any marriage took place. If memory serves me correctly, King George V was 28 years old at the time of his marriage in 1893, Kaiser Wilhelm II was 22 years old when he married for the first time in 1881, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria was 23 years old at the time of his ill-fated marriage to the admittedly 16 year old Princess Stephanie of Belgium, while Kaiser Karl of Austria was 24 years old at the time of his marriage to Kaiserin Zita in 1911, thus I don't think that Nicholas and Alix were an exception to the rule or have I missed something?

I would agree with you Greenowl- I can't think of any princes even in the 19th century who would have married that young, and certainly not in the twentieth century.  I think even when girls married at 16 or so (and it did occasionally happen, although it wasn't especially common) it was often commented on that they were very young. (I think when Stephanie married Rudolf Queen Victoria commented that she was too young in a letter to Vicky).  Olga of Greece is another who married vary young.   But most royal girls married in their late teens or early twenties.  Of QV's daughters, Vicky was 17- but the others were all at least 19.  Her daughters-in law were all at least 18.

That said, I'm sure someone who knows more than I do will come up with a few examples of princes who married at 15 or 16 after 1800 or so, but it would still have been extremely rare.

I agree, they also needed a outcoming out party for society. Which was put to halt from WW1 it would been very hard to find a suitor during that time frame even if they wanted one.

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

I know that the poor Alexei died very young but, do you know if he had a platonic love or
crush? Perhaps the last years of his life

[Sarushka]

Not to my knowledge.

[LisaDavidson]

I know that the poor Alexei died very young but, do you know if he had a platonic love or
crush? Perhaps the last years of his life

Pre-adolescent boys tend to be interested in sports or hobbies. Born in 1904, Alexei would have had little contact with girls outside his family prior to the Revolution. After, he was under arrest, so no contact with any girls other than his sisters and those who served the family. So, no crushes, no imagined loves.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

I agree totally with you, Lisa.  It is always wryly humorous to read such speculative questions from a certain coterie who seemingly (consciously or otherwise) would potentially project their modern-day fantasies on such tragic, other-era figures.  It is of the stuff on which fiction thrives.  IMO, for his brief life, the Heir was (and remained) an unexceptional CHILD, born into exceptional circumstances, burdened by an exceptional illness that (in his instance) would have assuredly killed him probably no later than his mid-twenties.  AP

[Romanov_fan]

I agree that Alexei obviously wasn't interested in girls in his lifetime. But he might have lived as long as 30 as Prince Leopold did, or as long as his cousin Waldemar, Irene of Prussia's son who lived to be 56. He may also have had children, like Leopold. Certainly he would have married. Alexei had he not died at age 14 from murder could have lived to age 56, for all we know. He wasn't doomed. As for speculation in history, as one quote goes "When the past dies there is mourning, but when the future dies, our imaginations are compelled to carry it on." It's natural to wonder who Alexei may have married had he lived.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Thank you "imperial angel" for your nice response and point of view.  Of course, it is correctly "loaded" with qualifiers: " might, may have, would have, for all we know, " etc. , which is your prerogative.  It is interesting to read back through this entire thread.  (At the risk of getting off topic, re: Leopold and Waldemar: They are always brought up, but, of course, are considered the EXCEPTIONS.  And the Emperor based his (probably illegal) removal of the Heir fron succession to the Throne, based in part on a conversation with a court-consulted physician relative to the Heir's life expectancy.)  I do like your quote, though, especially the interesting part about "our imaginations are COMPELLED (emphasis mine) to carry it (the future) on."  I counter with another quote:  "It is all right to build castles in the air, as long as you don't live in them!"   With best regards,  AP.

[Romanov_fan]

I was rereading this thread and it's interesting, I agree. I was reading again the suggestion that Alexei may have wed one of the daughters of Elena of Greece ( originally Elena of Russia, Miechen's daughter), like Elizabeth of Greece. That would have been interesting as it would have combined Miechen's line with the main Imperial Russian line. How well did he know Elizabeth of Greece and her sisters exactly?

[aleksandr pavlovich]

In response to your question, I would kindly defer to someone who has greater knowledge of the Greecian intra/inter-family relationships than I.  With best wishes,  AP.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

10-12-09:  While this may be slightly off-topic, in the early hours of this morning, I found a somewhat just-posted article re the Heir, his family and his family's descent of hemophilia. The article is to be found on "The Glittering Royal Events Board," topic title: "Tsarvitech (sp) Alexis of Russia and Hemophilia," posted by "Dawn." (Click on the link she provides to read the article.) New tests on the remains allege to show that a different type of Hemophilia (Hemophilia "B") emerges as the culprit.  The article specifies which members of the immediate family's bones show the afflicition as carriers and recipient.  I have only read the article once, thus will re-read it more closely when I have time.    AP

[Anastasia Spalko]

Um, a pre-adolecent boy not even having a mild crush?  I find that hard to believe, as I am myself a pre-teen and I have about ten boys who have a crush on me.  Maybe it was because he didn't really see too many girls besides his sisters.  I'm not saying anything else that I am thinking.

[Sarushka]

Maybe it was because he didn't really see too many girls besides his sisters.

Exactly. Aside from his sisters and female cousins, Aleksei just didn't have much opportunity to be around girls and young women.

[Student of History]

Some ppl here think Sofka Dolgoruki. Here's the thread: Sofka Dolgoruki

Sofia

I can't understand on any level why it would be Sofka Dolgoruki--what would be advantageous from their marriage? And how could a tsarevitch marry anyone lower than a princess? Frankly, I think she was only trying to draw attention to herself by making such a claim. The idea that the discussion of their marriage would have even been approached at that time is also  suspicious--Alexei was 14 and Sofka 11 at the time of the Revolution--far too young in my opinion for the discussion of marriage. Both had quite a few years before that would have been a worthy conversation. Putting aside Sofka, I firmly believe that Alexei's marriage would have been politically, materially or economically beneficial and undoubtedly to another royal. I assume that it would be one of his numerous cousins, thereby strengthening ties between royal families, but I've always considered Princess Ileana of Romania in particular a contender--they were only a few years apart after all. I also happen to like her quite a bit so I may just be exercising favortism.  

I am having difficulty getting access to this thread (it says that it no longer exists)...am I doing something wrong? Would appreciate some guidance please

[Grand Duchess Jennifer]

No one (to my knowledge) can use that link. It's from the old forum, and this is the new forum. The threads from the old forum were moved here, and by searching Sofka Dolgoruki, I found a thread on her. Click here.

[Kalafrana]

Going back to what Greenowl had to say about age of marriage for royal men, I think it unlikely that Alexei would have married under 20. I would not claim my list to be complete, but I think that by the early 20th century the 'typical' marrying age for princes was 25-30 (for example, George V was 28, his brother Eddy due to marry at 28, Nicholas II 26, Henry of Prussia 26, Ernst Ludwig of Hesse 26, Arthur of Connaught (snr) 29, Arthur of Connaught (jnr) 30). Some did marry at 22-23, but  two youngest bridegrooms I've found on a fairly quick scrutiny were Alfonso XIII of Spain, who was two weeks past his twentieth birthday, and Charles Edward of Coburg, who was 21. Both of them had particular need to produce heirs, especially Alfonso, who had been born posthumously, had neither brothers nor paternal uncles and ruled a country where female succession had not been fully accepted.

On that basis, Alexei might have married at 20-21, but finding a suitable bride would have been difficult. Was it recognised at the time that any daughter of a haemophiliac is inevitably a carrier? Quite apart from the obvious risk that the bride of the Tsarevich might well have found herself the youthful widow of the Tsarevich before very long (I have visions of Alexei sharing his Spanish cousins' love of fast cars!) Given the war, it would have been politically impossible, I think, for him to have married a German princess, and there was also the possibility that female-line descendants of Queen Victoria would have been haemophilia carriers. Then if you have a very young Tsarevich in search of a bride, the age range of suitable girls was going to be narrower then usual.