December 6, 1820: Birth of Alexandrine of Baden, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Part I

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Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Alexandrine of Baden, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, Grand Duke Leopold of Baden, Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden, Marie of Hesse and By Rhine, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Alexandrine of Baden (Alexandrine Luise Amalie Friederike Elisabeth Sophie; December 6, 1820 – December 20, 1904) was the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the wife of Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was the eldest child of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden, and his wife Princess Sophie of Sweden, daughter of King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden and his wife, Frederica of Baden.

In 1838–39, the young bachelor, Tsarevich Alexander of Russia, future Emperor Alexander II is, made the Grand Tour of Europe which was standard for young men of his class at that time. One of the purposes of the tour was to select a suitable bride for himself. His father Emperor Nicholas I of Russia suggested Princess Alexandrine of Baden as a suitable choice, but he was prepared to allow Alexander to choose his own bride, as long as she was not Roman Catholic or a commoner.

Alexandrine of Baden

Alexandrine already regarded herself as his betrothed, as all the preliminary negotiations had taken place.

In Germany, Alexander made an unplanned stop in Darmstadt. He was reluctant to spend “a possibly dull evening” with their host Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, but he agreed to do so because Vasily Zhukovsky insisted that his entourage was exhausted and needed a rest.

During dinner, he met and was charmed by Princess Marie, the 14-year-old daughter of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse. He was so smitten that he declared that he would rather abandon the succession than not marry her. He wrote to his father: “I liked her terribly at first sight. If you permit it, dear father, I will come back to Darmstadt after England.” When he left Darmstadt, she gave him a locket that contained a piece of her hair.

Alexander and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine were married April 28, 1841 in the Cathedral Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, on the eve of Alexander’s twenty-third birthday. Marie was 17.

At the urging of his brother Prince Albertof Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Hereditary Prince Ernst of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 1818) began to search for a suitable bride. Albert believed that a wife would be good for his brother: “Chains you will have to bear in any case, and it will certainly be good for you… The heavier and tighter they are, the better for you. A married couple must be chained to one another, be inseparable, and they must live only for one another.” With this advice in mind (although Albert was reprimanded for presuming to counsel his elders), Ernest began searching.

Around this time, Ernst was suffering from a venereal disease brought on by his many affairs; Albert consequently counseled him against marrying until he was fully recovered. He also warned that continued promiscuity could leave Ernst unable to father children. Ernst waited a few years before marrying as a result.

Ernst of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Various candidates were put forward as a possible wife for Ernest. His father wanted him to look to a woman of high rank, such as a Russian grand duchess, for a wife. One possibility was Princess Clémentine of Orléans, a daughter of Louis Philippe I, whom he met while visiting the court at the Tuileries. However, such a marriage would have required his conversion from Lutheranism to Roman Catholicism, and consequently nothing came of it. She later married his cousin Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Ernest was also considered by Dowager Queen Maria Christina as a possible husband for her young daughter Isabella II of Spain, and by Queen Victoria for her cousin Princess Augusta of Cambridge.

On 13 May 1842, in Karlsruhe, Ernest married Princess Alexandrine. To the consternation of his brother and sister-in-law Queen Victoria, the marriage failed to “settle down” Ernest. Alexandrine accepted all his faults cheerfully enough, however, and began a fierce devotion to Ernest that became increasingly baffling to the outside world.

Though he gave his consent, Ernst’s father, Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was disappointed that his first son did not do more to advance the concerns of Coburg. The marriage did not produce any issue, though Ernest apparently fathered at least three illegitimate children in later years.

November 25, 1876: Birth of HRH Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess of Russia.

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Alfred of Edinburgh, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duchess of Russia, Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duke Kirill Alexandrovich of Russia Russian Orthodox Christianity, King Edward VII of United Kingdom, Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria Melita of Edinburgh

Today, November 25th, is the 145th anniversary of the birth of HRH Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess of Russia. (November 25, 1876 – March 2, 1936) Victoria Melita was the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and also of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

Born a British princess, Victoria spent her early life in England and lived for three years in Malta, where her father served in the Royal Navy. In 1889 the family moved to Coburg, where Victoria’s father became the reigning duke in 1893.

In her teens Victoria fell in love with her first cousin Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (the son of her mother’s brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia) but his faith, Rusian Orthodox Christianity, discouraged marriage between first cousins. Bowing to family pressure, Victoria married her paternal first cousin, Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine in 1894, following the wishes of their grandmother, Queen Victoria.

The marriage failed – Victoria Melita scandalized the royal families of Europe when she divorced her husband in 1901. The couple’s only child, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, who they nicknamed Ella, died of typhoid fever in 1903 at the age of 8.

In 1905, Victoria married Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia. They wed without the formal approval of Britain’s King Edward VII (as the Royal Marriages Act 1772 would have required), and in defiance of Russia’s Emperor Nicholas II. In retaliation, the Emperor stripped Kirill of his offices and honours, also initially banishing the couple from Russia.

They had two daughters and settled in Paris before being allowed to visit Russia in 1909. In 1910 they moved to Russia, where Nicholas recognized Victoria Melita as Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna. After the fall of the Russian monarchy in 1917 they escaped to Finland (then still part of the Russian Republic) where she gave birth to her only son, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia in August 1917.

In exile they lived for some years among her relatives in Germany, and from the late 1920s on an estate they bought in Saint-Briac in Brittany. In 1926 Kirill proclaimed himself Russian Emperor in Exile, and Victoria supported her husband’s claims. Victoria died after suffering a stroke while visiting her daughter Maria in Amorbach (Lower Franconia).

HIH Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia

She is the grandmother of Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, claimant to the Russian Throne, and the great-grandmother of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, claimant to the German Imperial Throne.

HI & RH Prince Georg Friedrich, The Prince of Prussia

Olga Constantinovna of Russia, Queen of the Hellenes. Part II

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Demotic Greek, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Evangelika Controversy, King George I of the Hellenes, Koine Greek, Olga Constantinovna of Russia, Queen of the Hellenes

The Emperor Alexander II told Olga “to love her new country twice more than her own”, but she was ill-prepared for her new life. Aware of her youth, she chose to retain the services of her governess to continue her education. On arrival at Piraeus, Olga wore blue and white, the national colors of Greece, to the delight of the crowd.

On the way to the capital, popular unrest was such that Olga, who was not accustomed to such demonstrations, was close to tears. Unable to speak Greek, and with little time for rest, she attended official functions over several days. Overwhelmed, Olga was found sobbing under a staircase cuddling her teddy bear a few days after her arrival in the kingdom while she was expected for a formal event. In less than a year, she learnt Greek and English. On the advice of her mother, she took an interest in the archeology and history of Greece to gain public support.

Private life

Throughout their marriage, George I and Olga were a close-knit couple, and contrary to the prevailing custom spent much time with their children, who grew up in a warm family atmosphere. With age, however, George I argued with his sons and Olga lamented the quarrels that divided the family periodically. In private, Olga and George I conversed in German because it was the only language they both spoke at the time of their marriage. With their offspring, they spoke mainly English, although the children were required to speak Greek among themselves, and Prince Andrew refused to speak anything but Greek to his parents.

The life of the royal family was relatively quiet and withdrawn. The Athenian court was not as brilliant and sumptuous as that of Saint Petersburg, and days in the Greek capital were sometimes monotonous for members of the royal family. In spring and winter, they divided time between the Royal Palace in Athens and Tatoi Palace at the foot of Mount Parnitha. Summers were spent on vacation at Aix-les-Bains in France, visiting relatives in the Russian capital or at Fredensborg and Bernstorff in Denmark, and relaxing at Mon Repos, Corfu.

Olga remained nostalgic for Russia. Her room was filled with icons from her homeland and, in the palace chapel, she sang Slavic hymns with her children. She often visited Russian ships that were docked at Piraeus and invited the Russian sailors to the royal palace. She was the only woman in history to bear the title of Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy, an honor given to her on marriage. She was honored in the Greek navy by having a ship named after her.

Social work

Olga was genuinely popular and was extensively involved in charity work. On arrival in Athens, her immediate patronages included the Amalieion orphanage founded by the previous queen consort Amalia of Oldenburg, and the Arsakeion school for girls located on University Boulevard. With her personal support and the support of wealthy donors, she built asylums for the terminally ill and for the elderly disabled, and a sanatorium for patients with consumption. She founded a society to help the poor, a kindergarten for the children of the poor, and a soup kitchen in Piraeus that doubled as a cooking school for poor girls that was later expanded into a weaving school for girls and elderly women in financial difficulty.

She was patron of two military hospitals and endowed the Evangelismos (Annunciation) Hospital, Greece’s largest, in downtown Athens. She built the Russian Hospital in Piraeus in memory of her daughter, Alexandra, who died in Moscow in 1891. Although aimed primarily at Russian sailors, the hospital was open to all seamen visiting Greece, with consultation fees set at the low rate of thirty lepta and medicines being free.

Olga also supported the establishment and funding of hospitals during the conflicts between Greece and its neighbors, including the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and the First Balkan War (1912–13). For their work for the wounded, Olga and her daughter-in-law Crown Princess Sophia were awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in December 1897.

Before Olga’s arrival in Greece, there were no separate prisons for women or the young, and she was instrumental in the establishment of a women’s prison in the capital and, with the support of wealthy philanthropist George Averoff, one for juvenile delinquents.

Shortly after Greece’s defeat in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, shots were fired at Olga’s husband and daughter by disgruntled Greeks in 1898. Despite the failed assassination, Olga insisted on continuing her engagements without a military guard. Her son Nicolas wrote in his memoirs that one day he spoke of the importance of public opinion to his mother, and she retorted, “I prefer to be governed by a well born lion rather than four hundred rats like me.” Olga’s interest in political and public opinion was limited. Although she favored Greece’s Russian party, she had no political influence over her husband and did not seek political influence in the Greek parliament.

Evangelika controversy

An Orthodox Christian from birth, Queen Olga became aware, during visits to wounded servicemen in the Greco-Turkish War (1897), that many were unable to read the Bible. The version used by the Church of Greece included the Septuagint version of the Old Testament and the original Greek-language version of the New Testament. Both were written in ancient Koine Greek, but her contemporaries used either Katharevousa or the so-called Demotic version of Modern Greek.

Katharevousa was a formal language that contained archaized forms of modern words, was purged of “non-Greek” vocabulary from other European languages and Turkish, and had a (simplified) archaic grammar. Modern or Demotic Greek was the version commonly spoken. Olga decided to have the Bible translated into a version that could be understood by most contemporary Greeks rather than only those educated in Koine Greek.

Opponents of the translation, however, considered it “tantamount to a renunciation of Greece’s ‘sacred heritage'”. In February 1901, the translation of the New Testament from Koine into Modern Greek that she had sponsored was published without the authorization of the Greek Holy Synod. The price was set at one drachma, far below its actual cost, and the edition sold well. To mitigate opposition to the translation, both the old and new texts were included and the frontispiece specifically stated it was for “exclusive family use” rather than in church.

At the same time, another translation was completed by Alexandros Pallis, a major supporter of a literary movement supporting the use of Demotic in written language. Publication of the translation started in serial form in the newspaper Akropolis on September 9, 1901. Purist theologians and Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III of Constantinople denounced the translation.

A faction of the Greek press started accusing Pallis and his Demoticist supporters of blasphemy and treason. Riots, peaking on November 8, were started by students of the University of Athens, partly motivated by conservative professors. They demanded the excommunication of Pallis and anyone involved with the translations, including Olga and Procopios, the Metropolitan bishop of Athens, who had supervised the translation at her personal request.

Troops were called in to maintain order, and conflict between them and the rioters resulted in eight deaths and over sixty people wounded. By December, the remaining copies of Olga’s translation had been confiscated and their circulation prohibited. Anyone selling or reading the translations was threatened with excommunication. The controversy was called Evangelika, i.e. “the Gospel events” or Gospel riots, after the word Evangelion, Greek for “Gospel”, and led to the resignation of the metropolitan bishop, Procopius, and the fall of the government of Georgios Theotokis.

Wedding Announcement of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia and Rebecca Bettarini and last Imperial Marriage in Russia.

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Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia., King Gustaf V of Sweden, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Russian Emperor, Russian Empire

The wedding of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia and Rebecca Bettarini will take place in St Petersburg on October 1, 2021.


It will be the first imperial wedding in Russia since the wedding of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna in 1917.

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was the first child and only daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia, born Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. She was therefore a granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II.

She was a paternal first cousin of Nicholas II (Russia’s last Emperor) and maternal first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (consort of Queen Elizabeth II).


In September 1917, during the period of the Russian Provisional Government,  Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna married Prince Sergei Putyatin. They had one son, Prince Roman Sergeievich Putyatin, who died in infancy. The couple escaped revolutionary Russia through Ukraine in July 1918.

Previously, in 1908, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna married Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland, the second son of King Gustaf V of Sweden and his wife Victoria of Baden.

The couple had only one son, Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland later Count Bernadotte af Wisborg. The marriage was unhappy and ended in divorce in 1914.

On this date in history: February 10, 1840. Her Majesty Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland married her maternal first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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Emperor Alexander II of Russia, King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, King Leopold I of the Belgians, Lord Melbourne, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, royal wedding, The Prince Consort

Victoria once complained to her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, that her mother’s close proximity promised “torment for many years”, Melbourne sympathized but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a “schocking alternative”. Although a marriage between Victoria and her cousin Prince Albert had been encouraged by the Coburg family, specifically King Leopold I of the Belgians since 1936, Victoria was ambivalent at best toward the arrangement.

The idea of marriage between Albert and his cousin, Victoria, was first documented in an 1821 letter from his paternal grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, (Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf) who said that he was “the pendant to the pretty cousin”.

Victoria did however, show interest in Albert’s education for the future role he would have to play as her husband, but she resisted attempts to rush her into any marriage. Her uncle, King William IV of the United Kingdom, preferred that Victoria marry her paternal first cousin, Prince George of Cambridge. William IV also favored the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, second son of the Prince of Orange, future King Willem II. Victoria was well aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes.

In 1839, Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, the eldest son of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia (daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz), was sent on a tour of Europe by his parents where he met twenty-year-old Queen Victoria and both were enamored of each other. Simon Sebag Montefiore speculates that a small romance emerged. Such a marriage, however, would not work, as Alexander was not a minor prince of Europe and was in line to inherit a throne himself. In March 1855 Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich became Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

Following Albert’s second visit to Queen Victoria in October of 1839, along with his brother Ernst, Victoria continued to praise Him and it was during this visit that genuine romantic feelings began to stir for her. Victoria wrote to her uncle Leopold I of the Belgians to thank him “for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert … He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy.”

Albert and Victoria felt mutual affection and the Queen proposed to him on October 15, 1839, just five days after he had arrived at Windsor. Victoria’s intention to marry Albert was declared formally to the Privy Council on November 23.

The couple were married on February 10, 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace, London. Victoria was besotted. She spent the evening after their wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote ecstatically in her diary:

I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert … his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness – really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! … to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before – was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life!

Just before the marriage, Albert was naturalized by an Act of Parliament and granted the style of Royal Highness by an Order in Council. This style was only legal in Britain and under the German system of styles and titles Prince Albert remained His Serene Highness. Lord Melbourne advised against the Queen’s strong desire to grant her husband the title of “King Consort”. Parliament even refused to make Prince Albert a peer of the realm—(granting him a title of nobility) partly because of anti-German sentiment and a desire to exclude Albert from any political role.

Initially Albert was not popular with the British public; he was perceived to be from an impoverished and undistinguished minor state, barely larger than a small English county. In time Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen’s companion, replacing Lord Melbourne as the dominant, influential figure in the first half of her life.

Julia, Princess of Battenberg. Russian and German noblewoman

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Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, Countess Julia von Hauke, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and by Rhine, House of Battenberg, House of Mountbatten, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Marie of Hesse and By Rhine, Prince Louis of Battenberg, Princess of Battenburg, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of Hesse and By Rhine

Julia, Princess of Battenberg (previously Countess Julia Therese Salomea von Hauke; November 24, 1825 –September 19, 1895) was the wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the third son of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

The daughter of a Polish general of German descent, she was not of princely origin. She became a lady-in-waiting to Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, wife of the future Emperor Alexander II of Russia and a sister of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, whom she married, having met him in the course of her duties.

The marriage of social unequals was deemed morganatic, but the Duke of Hesse and by Rhine gave her own title of nobility as Princess of Battenberg. She was the mother of Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria, and is an ancestor of Charles, Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne, and to the current generations of the Spanish royal family.

Life

Julia Therese Salomea Hauke was born in Warsaw, Congress Poland, then ruled in personal union by the Emperor of Russia. She was the daughter of John Maurice Hauke, a Polish general of German descent, and his wife Sophie (née Lafontaine), who was of French, Italian, German, and Hungarian descent.

Julia’s father had fought in Napoleon’s Polish Legions in Austria, Italy, Germany, and the Peninsular War. After his service in the Polish army from 1790 and in the army of the Duchy of Warsaw from 1809 to 1814, he entered the ranks of the army of Congress Poland, was promoted to general in 1828, and was awarded a Russian title.

Recognizing his abilities, Emperor Nicholas I appointed him Deputy Minister of War of Congress Poland and made him a hereditary count in 1829. In the November Uprising of 1830, led by rebelling army cadets, Grand Duke Constantine, Poland’s Russian governor, managed to escape, but Julia’s father was shot dead by the cadets on a Warsaw street. Her mother died of shock shortly afterwards, and their children were made wards of the Emperor.

Julia served as lady-in-waiting to Empress Marie Alexandrovna, wife of Emperor Alexander II and a sister of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine. She met Prince Alexander while performing her duties at court in St. Petersburg. The Emperor did not approve of a courtship between his son’s brother-in-law and a noblewoman, and so the two arranged to leave the St. Petersburg court.

By the time Julia and Alexander were able to marry, she was six months pregnant with their first child, Marie. They were married on October 25, 1851 in Breslau in Prussian Silesia (now called Wrocław and in Poland).

Since Julia did not belong to a reigning or mediatized family, which were the only ones considered equal for royal marriage purposes, she was considered to be of insufficient rank for any of her children to qualify for succession to the throne of Hesse and by Rhine; the marriage was considered morganatic.

Her husband’s brother, Grand Duke Ludwig III of Hesse and by Rhine created her Countess of Battenberg in 1851, with the style of Illustrious Highness (Erlaucht), and in 1858 further elevated her to Princess of Battenberg with the style of “Her Serene Highness”, (Durchlaucht).

The children of Julia and Alexander were also elevated to princely rank. Thus, Battenberg became the name of a morganatic branch of the Grand Ducal Family of Hesse and by Rhine.

Julia converted from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism on May 12, 1875. Princess Julia died at Heiligenberg Castle, near Jugenheim, Hesse, aged sixty-nine, on September 19, 1895, the age of 70.

Prince Alexander of Hesse died of cancer in 1888. They lived to see four of their five children, who had no rights of succession to the Hessian throne, mount a throne or marry dynastically, and to become welcome in-laws to Queen Victoria, whose correspondence reflected a consistent respect and fondness for the Battenberg family.

There were five children of the marriage, all princes and princesses of Battenberg:

• Princess Marie of Battenberg (1852–1923), married in 1871 Gustav, Prince of Erbach-Schönberg (d. 1908), with issue.
• Prince Louis of Battenberg (1854–1921), created first Marquess of Milford Haven in 1917, married in 1884 Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (1863–1950), with issue (including Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, Queen Louise of Sweden, and Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma). In 1917, he and his children gave up their German titles and took the surname Mountbatten. He was the maternal grandfather of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
• Prince Alexander of Battenberg (1857–1893), created reigning Prince of Bulgaria in 1879, abdicated in Bulgaria and created Count of Hartenau, married morganatically in 1889 Johanna Loisinger (1865–1951), with issue.
• Prince Henry of Battenberg (1858–1896), married in 1885 Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (1857–1944), youngest child and daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; with issue (including Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg later Queen of Spain). His children resided in the UK and became lords and ladies with the surname Mountbatten in 1917 (see “Name change” below). His eldest son was created the first Marquess of Carisbrooke in 1917.
• Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg (1861–1924), married in 1897 Princess Anna Petrovich-Njegosh of Montenegro (1874–1971), with no issue.

Name change to “Mountbatten”

Julia’s eldest son, Ludwig (Louis) of Battenberg, became a British subject, and during World War I, due to anti-German sentiment prevalent at the time, anglicised his name to Mountbatten (a literal translation of the German Battenberg), as did his nephews, the sons of Prince Henry and Princess Beatrice.

The members of this branch of the family also renounced all German titles and were granted peerages by their cousin King George V of the United Kingdom: Prince Louis became the 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, while Prince Alexander, Prince Henry’s eldest son, became the 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke.

September 3, 1851: Birth of Olga Constantinovna of Russia, Queen consort of the Hellenes.

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Alexander III of Russia, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, King George I of the Hellenes, Kingdom of Greece, Olga Constantinova of Russia, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, Revolution, Russian Empire

Olga Constantinovna of Russia (September 3, 1851 – June 18, 1926) was Queen consort of the Hellenes as the wife of King George I. She was briefly the regent of Greece in 1920.

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Olga Constantinovna of Russia

A member of the Romanov dynasty, she was the daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, the fifth daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Amelie Theresa Luise, Duchess of Württemberg. She is an ancestor of the British, Greek, Romanian, Yugoslavian and Spanish Royal Families through her elder daughter Olga.

Through her father, Olga was a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I, a niece of Emperor Alexander II and first cousin of Emperor Alexander III.

She spent her childhood in Saint Petersburg, Poland and the Crimea. Her father was a younger brother of Alexander II, and her mother was considered one of the most intelligent and elegant women of the court. Olga was particularly close to her older brother, Nicholas, and was one of the few members of the imperial family to keep in touch with him after he was banished to Tashkent.

Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg (Mother)

The young King George I of Greece visited Russia in 1863 to thank Olga’s uncle Emperor Alexander II for his support during George’s election to the throne of Greece. Whilst there, George met the then twelve-year-old Olga for the first time.

George visited Russia again in 1867 to meet with his sister Dagmar, who had married Tsarevitch Alexander (later Alexander III) the year before. He was determined to find a wife and the idea of an alliance with a Russian grand duchess, born into the Eastern Orthodox Church, appealed to him.

Olga fell in love with George, but she was nevertheless anxious and distraught at the thought of leaving Russia. Her father was initially reluctant to agree to their marriage, thinking that at the age of fifteen she was too young and, being close to his daughter, concerned by the distance between Greece and Russia.

For her part, Grand Duchess Alexandra was much more enthusiastic than her husband and, when some members of the imperial family noted the extreme youth of her daughter, she replied that Olga would not always be as young. Eventually, it was decided that Olga and George would marry when she had reached her sixteenth birthday. Meanwhile, she would continue her schoolwork until her wedding day.

Olga and George married at the chapel of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg on October 27, 1867. After five days of festivities, they spent a brief honeymoon at Ropsha, south-west of Saint Petersburg. Over the following twenty years, they had eight children.

At first, she felt ill at ease in the Kingdom of Greece, but she quickly became involved in social and charitable work. She founded hospitals and schools, but her attempt to promote a new, more accessible, Greek translation of the Gospels sparked riots by religious conservatives.

On the assassination of her husband in 1913, Olga returned to Russia. When the First World War broke out, she set up a military hospital in Pavlovsk Palace, which belonged to her brother. She was trapped in the palace after the Russian Revolution of 1917, until the Danish embassy intervened, allowing her to escape to Switzerland. Olga could not return to Greece as her son, King Constantine I, had been deposed.

In October 1920, she returned to Athens on the fatal illness of her grandson, King Alexander. After his death, she was appointed regent until the restoration of Constantine I the following month. After the defeat of the Greeks in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22 the Greek royal family were again exiled and Olga spent the last years of her life in the United Kingdom, France and Italy.

August 6, 1844: Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Part II. Marriage.

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Edinburgh, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Emperors of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and by Rhine, Marie of Hesse and By Rhine, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Marriage

During a visit to her maternal relatives, the Princes of Battenberg, at Jugenheim in August 1868, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, then fifteen years old, met Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son, was a shy and handsome young man, with a career in the British navy. He was visiting his sister, Princess Alice, who was married to Maria Alexandrovna’s first cousin, Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

Alfred’s voyage around the world with the Royal Navy kept him away, traveling for the next two years. Maria and Prince Alfred saw each other again in the summer 1871, when Emperor Alexander II and his wife visited the Battenbergs again at their schloss, Heiligenberg. The Emperor and his wife were accompanied by seventeen-year-old Maria and her two elder brothers.

Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia

Alfred also happened to be there, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales. During that summer, Maria and Alfred felt attracted to each other, spending their days walking and talking together. They had a common love of music; Alfred was an enthusiastic amateur violinist, while Maria played the piano. Although they wished to marry, no engagement was announced, and Alfred returned to England.

Their parents were against the match. Emperor Alexander II did not want to lose his daughter, to whom he was deeply attached. He presented his daughter’s youth as the main obstacle and suggested a waiting period of at least one year before any definitive decision should be taken. The Emperor also objected to a British son-in-law, due to the general anti-English feeling in Russia following the Crimean War.

The Empress regarded the British customs as peculiar and the English people as cold and unfriendly. She was convinced that her daughter would not be happy there. However, marriage negotiation began in July 1871, only to be stalled in 1872.

Queen Victoria was also against the match. No British prince had ever married a Romanov, and she foresaw problems with Maria’s Orthodox religion and Russian upbringing. The Queen considered that Russia was generally “unfriendly” towards Britain. Victoria was also suspicious about Russian moves in the direction of India.

The Queen was dismayed, therefore, when she heard that official negotiations had restarted in January 1873. There were rumors going about St Petersburg that Maria Alexandrovna had compromised herself with Prince Golitsyn, the Emperor’s aide-de-camp, and her family were anxious to see her settled.

Alfred refused to believe those rumors and he was prepared to fight to marry the woman he loved. Queen Victoria therefore swallowed her pride and said nothing. Both mothers continued to look for other partners for their children, but Alfred and Maria would not have anyone else.

Marie liked neither the Prince of Württemberg nor the Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz that were presented to her as alternatives. As the Empress failed to find a German prince acceptable for her daughter, a meeting among Alfred, the Empress and her daughter took place in Sorrento, Italy in mid April 1873.

The reunion did not go as planned because Marie came down with fever and Alfred could spend only a short time with her. That year, there was an Anglo-Russian dispute over the Afghan border. The Queen’s ministers thought that a marriage might help to ease the tension between the two countries, if only by putting the monarchs into closer contact with one another.

In June 1873, Emperor Alexander II joined his wife and daughter at Ems, and Alfred was invited to meet them at Jugenheim. Alfred arrived in early July. On July 11, he Officially asked for Maria Alexandrovna’s hand In marriage and she accepted him. He was nearly twenty-nine; she was nineteen. He sent a telegram from Germany back to his mother: “Maria and I were engaged this morning. Cannot say how happy I am. Hope your blessing rests on us.”

The Queen sent her congratulations, but confined her misgivings to her diary on July 11, 1873: “Not knowing Marie, and realizing that there may still be many difficulties, my thoughts and feelings are rather mixed.” When breaking the news to her eldest daughter, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, Queen Victoria simply said: “The murder is out.”

On January 23, 1874, the Duke of Edinburgh married the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the second (and only surviving) daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Wilhelmine of Baden, at the Winter Palace, St Petersburg.

To commemorate the occasion, a small English bakery made the now internationally popular Marie biscuit, with the Duchess’ name imprinted on its top. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh made their public entry into London on March 12, The marriage, however, was not a happy one, and the bride was thought haughty by London Society.

Maria, the new Duchess of Edinburgh, was surprised to discover that she had to yield precedence to the Princess of Wales and all of Queen Victoria’s daughters and insisted on taking precedence before the Princess of Wales (the future Queen Alexandra) because she considered the Princess of Wales’s family (the Danish royal family) as inferior to her own. Queen Victoria refused this demand, yet granted her precedence immediately after the Princess of Wales. Her father gave her the then-staggering sum of £100,000 as a dowry, plus an annual allowance of £32,000.

For the first years of her marriage, Maria Alexandrovna lived in England. She neither adapted to the British court nor overcame her dislike for her adopted country. She accompanied her husband on his postings as an Admiral of the Royal Navy at Malta (1886–1889) and Devonport (1890–1893). The Duchess of Edinburgh travelled extensively through Europe. She visited her family in Russia frequently and stayed for long periods in England and Germany attending social and family events.

Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Princess of of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

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Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Prince Andrew of Greece., Prince Ernst II of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg, Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg, Princess Alice of Battenberg, Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Princess of of Hohenlohe-Langenburg., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

From the Emperor’s Desk: Sorry I’m late with this. April 18th was the 115th anniversary of the birth of Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, born Princess of Greece and Denmark. April 24th 1981 was the 39th anniversary of her death.

Princess Margarita with her mother Princess Alice and sister Princess Theodora, c. 1912.

Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark (April 18, 1905 – April 24, 1981) was the eldest child and daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. She was born at the Royal Palace in Athens. She was the first great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and the eldest sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. She also had three sisters: Theodora, Margravine of Baden; Cecilie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine; and Sophie, later Princess Georg of Hanover.

Marriage and children

Margarita married Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg on April 20, 1931 in Langenburg, Germany.

Prince Gottfried was a son of Prince Ernst II of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria through her second son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his wife, Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, a daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

In descent from Queen Victoria, Prince Gottfried was a second cousin once removed of Princess Margarita and in descent from Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, they were third cousins.
Gottfried succeeded his father as reigning Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg on December 11, 1950.

Six children were born of their marriage, all of whom were styled as His/Her Serene Highness:

* Stillborn daughter (born and died December 3, 1933)
* Prince Kraft Alexander Ernst Ludwig Georg Emich (June 23, 1935 – March 16, 2004); succeeded his father as The Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
* Princess Beatrix Alice Marie Melita Margarete of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (June 10, 1936 – November 15, 1997)
* Prince Georg Andreas Heinrich of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (born November 24, 1938) married Luise, Princess of Schönburg-Waldenburg on September 9, 1968.
* Prince Rupprecht Sigismund Philipp Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (April 7, 1944 – April 8, 1978)
* Prince Albrecht Wolfgang Christoph of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (April 7, 1944 – April 23, 1992) married Maria-Hildegard Fischer on 23 January 1976. They have one son:

All of Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg’s children are first cousins to the Children of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom: The Prince of Wales, The Princess Royal, The Duke of York and The Earl of Wessex.

Death

Princess Margarita died aged 76 on April 24, 1981 in Langenburg, Germany.She survived her husband by 21 years.

April 16, 1942: Death of Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg by marriage.

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Alexandra of Edinburgh, Alexandra of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg, Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Alfred Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Ernst II, Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Alexandra Louise Olga Victoria; September 1, 1878 – April 16, 1942).

Princess Alexandra was born on September 1, 1878 at Rosenau Castle, Coburg. Her father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her mother was Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, a daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom as well as of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

Nicknamed ‘Sandra’ by her family, Alexandra spent her childhood first in England and between 1886 and 1889 in Malta, where her father was serving with the British Royal Navy. In 1889 the family moved to Coburg, Germany since her father, Alfred, was the heir apparent to the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

In 1893, her great-uncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (brother of her paternal grandfather, Prince Albert) died without issue. Since Albert was dead, and her uncle, The Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) had renounced his claim to the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the vacant duchy fell to Alexandra’s father, the Duke of Edinburgh. Thus, Princess Alexandra was both a British princess and a Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. She was a bridesmaid at the 1885 wedding of Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter The Princess Beatrice to Prince Henry of Battenberg.

She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of York on 6 July 1893. Throughout her life, Alexandra was usually overshadowed by her two eldest sisters, Marie and Victoria Melita. Alexandra, was considered by some individuals as being less beautiful and more subdued than her sisters, was plain, placid and not as brilliant. This author personally disagrees with that assessment.

Princess Alexandra with her three sisters. From left to right, Princess Beatrice, Princess Victoria Melita, Princess Alexandra, and Queen Marie of Romania.

During Alexandra’s formative years, her father, occupied with his career in the Navy and later as a ruler in Coburg, paid little attention to his family. It was Alexandra’s mother who was the domineering presence in their children’s life. The duchess believed in marrying her daughters young, before they began to think for themselves.

At the end of 1895, she arranged Alexandra’s engagement to Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (September 16, 1863 – December 11, 1950). Alexandra’s grandmother, Queen Victoria, complained that she was too young. Alexandra’s father objected to the status of his future son-in-law. The House of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg was mediatized – a formerly ruling family who had ceded their sovereign rights to others while (in theory) retaining their equal birth.

It was not considered a brilliant match, but they were also related. Ernst was a grandson of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Queen Victoria’s half-sister. The wedding took place on April 20, 1896 in Coburg, Germany. Together, they had five children.

Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Alexandra lived for the rest of her life in Germany. At the death of her father in 1900, Alexandra’s husband was appointed regent of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg during the minority of the new Duke, Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany who was her first cousin. Alexandra’s only brother, Alfred, had died in 1899. During World War I, she worked as a Red Cross nurse. In February 1916 her eldest daughter was married at Coburg to Prince Friedrich of Gluckburg and she became a grandmother when the couple’s first child, Prince Hans of Glucksburg was born in May 1917. On her thirty-fifth wedding anniversary in April 1931, her son Gottfried married Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, the eldest child and daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. She was the first great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, and the eldest sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

In the years preceding World War II, Alexandra was an early supporter of the Nazi Party, which she joined on May 1, 1937, together with several of her children. She died in Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany in 1942.