Alix of Hesse marries "Eddy" (Prince Albert Victor) instead of Nicholas II?

isabella

Rattenfänger von Memphis said:
Nicholas II could have married his first cousin Princess Marie of Edinburgh( OTL Queen Marie of Romania). She was half Russian, her mother being Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. Her father was Prince Alfred, son of Queen Victoria. Both Nicholas II and Marie were grandchildren of Tsar Alexander II.

Princess Marie was quite a catch and would have been an outstanding choice for Nicholas II.

In OTL, when Prince Victor Albert, AKA "Eddy", died, his brother Prince George (later King George V) became heir to the British throne. He always had a crush on Princess Marie and during the aftermath of Prince Victor’s death, Queen Victoria and others in the British royal family were very keen on Prince George and Princess Marie marrying. The marriage never happened because Princess Marie’s mother did not want her to live in England. The mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, AKA the Duchess of Edinburgh, cited the Orthodox church law against first cousins marrying.

A biography of the later Queen Marie of Romania, "The Last Romantic" by Hannah Pakula, sums up this royal episode..


This "No First Cousin Marriages" was only a ruse by the Grand Duchess because she raised no objections when her younger daughter, Princess Victoria Melita later married her first cousin Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse. And when Victoria Melita divorced Ernst Ludwig and married a second time to another first cousin, Grand Duke Kirill of Russia. Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna was perfectly happy with both choices.

The time frame for a marriage between Nicholas II and Princess Marie would fit too. Alix marries Victor Albert on February 27, 1892 (the OTL date when Victor Albert was to have married Princess Mary of Teck) which breaks Nicholas’s heart. It was not until June 1892 OTL that Princess Marie became engaged to Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania whom she married on January 10, 1893. Nicholas II would have had at least a 4-month window of opportunity to pursue Princess Marie.

And I think Princess Marie’s mother would much rather wanted her daughter to become Tsarina of her native Russia instead of Queen of Romania. In OTL Marie was an outstanding Queen of Romania. In an ATL like this, she would have been an incredible Tsarina of Russia.
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Alix would likely marry Eddie in 1890 or 1891 (he proposed to her first in 1889 and renounced in 1890) and she would likely need to not meeting Nicholas at all (so a different match for Ella) for accepting Eddie
 
LadyPerfidia

LadyPerfidia

isabella said:
Alix would likely marry Eddie in 1890 or 1891 (he proposed to her first in 1889 and renounced in 1890) and she would likely need to not meeting Nicholas at all (so a different match for Ella) for accepting Eddie
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Wilhelm wanted to marry Ella but she rejected him which is a whole other topic. So Ella marrying Willy butterflies Nicky and Alix from meeting or the very least make Alix more likely to marry Eddy.
 

Kellan Sullivan

HortenseMancini said:
See the thing is imho the first cousin marriage prohibition makes her an unsuitable match…might as well pair Nicky with a Greek princess, who would come with the bonus of being orthodox
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technically the emperor can grant a dispensation for the marriage to take place (something Alexander I did for Ekaterina Pavlovna, both times), and which Nikolai II refused to grant to either his brother, Mikhail, or Kiril Vladimirovich (although, IIRC, the reason given in the latter was because Kiril's bride was a divorcée)
 
LadyPerfidia

LadyPerfidia

But the problem is would it make sense for Alex III to approve a first cousin marriage? IMO Nicky marrying a Greek or English princess won't be a waste potential alliance for Russia.
 

isabella

TheeHistoryBuff said:
Wilhelm wanted to marry Ella but she rejected him which is a whole other topic. So Ella marrying Willy butterflies Nicky and Alix from meeting or the very least make Alix more likely to marry Eddy.
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Ella had plenty of suitors who she rejected and initially she was not interested also in Sergei so we have a lot of options from preventing her OTL match
 

isabella

TheeHistoryBuff said:
Maybe she wasn't interested in marrying or make her accept an suitor out of pity.
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Ella not becoming interested in Sergei (initially she was not impressed by him) or Queen Victoria being successful in her tentative to persuade Ella to break the engagement would be likely more than enough for preventing Nicholas and Alix’s first meeting
 
LadyPerfidia

LadyPerfidia

isabella said:
Ella not becoming interested in Sergei (initially she was not impressed by him) or Queen Victoria being successful in her tentative to persuade Ella to break the engagement would be likely more than enough for preventing Nicholas and Alix’s first meeting
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So Ella might just become a nun earlier in life or get married later?
 
LadyPerfidia

LadyPerfidia

Also, I saw Kellan Sullivan posted that Alex III wanted Margrethe of Prussia, but I thought Alex III was as Anti-german as Minnie was.
 
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