Maria Alexandrovna

Marie of Hesse

Princess Maximilienne Wilhelmine Marie of Hesse and the Rhine (8 August, 1824-8 June, 1880) was a princess of Grand Ducal Hesse and, as Marie Alexandrovna, Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia. She was born at Darmstadt, the capital of the Grand Duchy, and died at Saint Petersburg. The Mariinsky Theatre and the city Mariehamn in Åland is named after her.

Early life

She was the youngest of seven children born to Wilhelmine of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt (1788 - 1836), the younger four appearing to have been fathered by Baron Auguste Senarclens de Grancy. To avoid a scandal, Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine acknowledged Alexander and Marie as his own children; the other two had died young. Yet they still lived in a separate establishment in Heiligenberg while the Grand Duke lived in Darmstadt .

Marie of Hesse, her husband Tsar Alexander II, and son the future Alexander III

Marriage

When in 1838, the Tsarevich Alexander Nikolayevich toured Europe to find a wife, he fell in love with the 14-year-old Marie. He married her on April 16, 1841, even though he was well aware of the "irregularity" of her birth. His mother Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna objected, but Alexander insisted.

As she was very shy, she was regarded as stiff, austere, and with no taste in dress, no conversation, no charm. The damp climate of Saint Petersburg did not agree with the delicate chest Marie had inherited from her mother, so that she had a racking cough and recurring fever. Nevertheless, she became the mother of eight children. These pregnancies together with ill health kept her away from many Court festivities, which brought temptations to her husband.

Although he always treated her well, Marie knew Alexander was unfaithful and had many lovers. He already had three children with his favorite mistress, Princess Catherine Dolgoruki, when he moved her and their children into the Imperial Palace. They entered into a morganatic marriage less than a month after Marie's death on July 6, 1880.

Empress

In 1855 Alexander became Emperor, which forced her to attend more State functions whether she was ill or not. Although Alexander II always treated her well, she knew from 1858 onwards that his feelings were for someone else. In 1865, the death of her eldest and favourite son, the Tsarevich Nicholas, was a great blow.

Every now and again she was able to go to her brother Alexander who lived with his morganatic wife in Heiligenberg. There she met Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, wife of her nephew Prince Ludwig. She resented Alice's suggestion of the marriage between her brother Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and her own daughter, but the marriage ultimately went through. When Alice died in 1878, Marie often invited the motherless children for visits to Heiligenberg. It was during these visits that Marie's son, Grand Duke Serge, first got to know his future wife, Alice's daughter Elisabeth.

Children

Her children were:
*Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia (30 August, 1842 - 10 July, 1849).
*Tsarevich Nikolai of Russia (20 September, 1843 - 24 April, 1865).
*Alexander III of Russia (10 March, 1845 - 1 November, 1894).
*Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (22 April, 1847 - 17 February, 1909). He married Marie Alexandrine Elisabeth Eleonore von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Augusta of Reuss-Köstritz. They were maternal grandparents of Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark.
*Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia (14 January, 1850 - 14 November, 1908). He married Countess Alexandra, Countess Zhukovskaja.
*Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia (17 October, 1853 - 24 October, 1920). Married Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
*Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (10 May, 1857 - 17 February, 1905). Married Princess Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom.
*Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia (3 October, 1860 - 30 January, 1919). Married first Alexandra Yurievna of Greece and secondly Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, Princess Palei.