Maria Alexandrovna (Grand Duchess)

Family

Maria Alexandrovna was born in Tsarskoye Selo . She was the second daughter of Emperor Alexander II (killed on March 1, 1881) and his wife, Empress Maria Alexandrovna , who was the daughter of the Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse . On her birthday, Maid of Honor Anna Tyutcheva wrote in her diary:

“This little girl is a great joy in the imperial family, she was very much awaited and wanted, because after the Grand Duchess Lina, who did not live to seven years, the crown princess had only sons. This new stranger was assigned the name of Faith, but the old princess Gorchakova wrote to the empress that she had a dream that the princess would have a daughter if she promises to call her Mary. So, they will call her Mary ... "

Maria Alexandrovna was the sister of Emperor Alexander III . Her other brothers stood out: Vladimir Alexandrovich - patron of the arts , collector, president of the Academy of Fine Arts , Sergey Alexandrovich , who was the Moscow governor and died as a result of the terrorist attack , and Alexey Alexandrovich , who led the Russian fleet during the Russian-Japanese war . Maria Alexandrovna also accounted for Emperor Nicholas II .

A. O. Smirnova recalled that Maria Alexandrovna grew up as a “weak girl” and suffered from worms , and Dr. Oblomievsky cured her with homeopathy . Ms. Maid of Tyutchev, "with the help of an English nanny, Kitty was pulling out the balls of a malicious worm of the tapeworm, which poisoned all food." The father didn’t wait for the soul in his daughter and "always wanted to ride with her all the weather", which contradicted the doctors' instructions.

In the Winter Palace for the Grand Duchess in 1858, apartments on the first floor in the western building (halls 34–38) with a view of the Admiralty were decorated.

Marriage

With the future husband of His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, met in the fall of 1868 in Heidelberg . In 1871, they met again in Darmstadt. The Grand Duchess did not like the prince because of his impetuous unceremoniousness, he wooed on the third day. The emperor was not against marriage, but noticed that he was not constraining his children in their choice and allowed the prince to come to St. Petersburg. At the beginning of 1873, Queen Victoria addressed the Empress with an official letter regarding her son’s marriage, but received an answer that the grand princess still had the choice. In the summer of 1873, Maria Alexandrovna met with the prince at Darmstadt and agreed to become his wife.

On January 23, 1874, the Grand Duchess Mary was married to His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh , the second son of Queen Victoria , in the Great Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg . Alexander II gave her a dowry of an unprecedented sum of 100,000 pounds for those times, and, moreover, an annual allowance of 20,000 pounds.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh arrived in London on March 12 . Marriage was unhappy, and London society considered the bride too arrogant. Emperor Alexander II insisted that his daughter be addressed "Your Imperial Highness" and that she had primacy before the Princess of Wales. These statements simply infuriated Queen Victoria. The queen said that the title "Her Royal Highness", adopted by Maria Alexandrovna after the wedding, should replace the title "Her Imperial Highness", which belonged to her by birth. For her part, the Duchess of Edinburgh was offended that the Princess of Wales , the daughter of the Danish king Christian IX , preceded her, the daughter of the Russian emperor. After marriage, Mary was titled as Her Royal Highness, Her Royal and Imperial Highness and Her Imperial and Royal Highness. Queen Victoria gave her first place after the Princess of Wales.

Saxe-Coburg and Goth

After the Duke of Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha died on August 22, 1893 , the free duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha passed on to his younger nephew, Maria Alexandrovna’s husband, Prince Alfred, as his elder brother, the Prince of Wales , refused this throne . Alfred refused British allowance of 15,000 pounds per year and seats in the House of Lords and the internal council, but retained the 10,000 pounds received from the marriage to maintain his London estate Clarence House . After Maria Alexandrovna’s husband ascended the throne of dukes, she became known as the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, while retaining the title of the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Their son, Crown Prince Alfred , was convicted of extra-marital relations and tried to shoot himself in January 1899 , during the 25th anniversary of his parents' wedding. He survived, and his parents sent him to Merano , where the heir died two weeks later on February 6 .

The Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha died of throat cancer on July 30, 1900 in the castle of Roseno in Coburg . The ducal throne passed over to his nephew, Prince Charles-Edward, duke of Albany . The widowed Duchess Maria remained to reside in Coburg.

Death

Maria died in October 1920 in Zurich , Switzerland , and was buried in the tomb of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg-Goths at Glokenberg cemetery in Coburg .

On July 22, 1871, she was appointed chief of the 14th Uhlan Yamburg Regiment , which from that time was called the 14th Uhlan Yamburg Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess (from 1874 - Grand Duchess) Maria Alexandrovna regiment.

• 1853–1874 : Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna
• 1874–1920 (in Russia): Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna
• 1874-1893 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh
• 1893–1900 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness (?) Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gothic and Edinburgh
• 1900-1920 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness (?) Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Edinburgh