Other possible Queen consorts for Nicholas II

The two candidates mentioned most often at the time were Helene of Orleans and Margaret of Prussia, daughter of the German Emperor Frederick III and Victoria of Great Britain. Helene was favoured by Nicholas's parents.
 
I once wondered about the daughters of King George I of Greece. Not sure if there is anything that would stand in the way, but the two brothers (Tsar Nicholas and Grand Duke George) went on their world tour with King George's son.
 
I once wondered about the daughters of King George I of Greece. Not sure if there is anything that would stand in the way, but the two brothers (Tsar Nicholas and Grand Duke George) went on their world tour with King George's son.

Strictly speaking it was not possible, first cousin marriages are not sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church and George I of Greece and Nicholas II's mother the Empress Maria Feodrovna were siblings.

First cousin marriages did happen for some members of the Romanov dynasty, Grand Duke Kyril and Victoria Melita of Edinburgh come to mind but at the time of that marriage, he was relatively unimportant from a dynastic point of view. The Tsar and his heir were obviously held to higher standards than other members of the dynasty and I doubt they could have contracted such a marriage.
 
Had Helene managed to snag the future Tsar its worth wondering what impact this would have had upon the position of the Orleans dynasty in France.
 
Helene's father refused to let her to convert away from Catholicism, reportedly because Pope Leo threatened to excommunicate them both if he did.
 
Helene's father refused to let her to convert away from Catholicism, reportedly because Pope Leo threatened to excommunicate them both if he did.

I believe that was in relation to her romance with the Duke of Clarence.
Bit of an insane response really by the Count of Paris, it would have strengthened his position greatly if his daughter was Queen and Empress of the world's greatest Empire.

Marriage plans between Nicholas and Helene never really progressed beyond his parents looking for an alternative to Alix of Hesse, there was never any serious prospect of them marrying as Nicholas was not interested in anyone but Alix. I doubt the Pope was consulted on this one.

Helene is an interesting character, twice she missed out on being a Queen/Empress (UK & India and Russia), she ended up a member of a junior branch of the Italian royal family but she was ambitious and was constantly pushing her husband and sons forward as the main line was not terribly successful with producing male heirs.

Its interesting to wonder where that ambition would have led had Helene ended up as Tsarina of Russia. One has to assume that she would do everything in her power to push her family's position forward in France and the Romanovs were extremely well liked in France, a French Tsarina would have been insanely popular.
 
I believe that was in relation to her romance with the Duke of Clarence.
Bit of an insane response really by the Count of Paris, it would have strengthened his position greatly if his daughter was Queen and Empress of the world's greatest Empire.

Marriage plans between Nicholas and Helene never really progressed beyond his parents looking for an alternative to Alix of Hesse, there was never any serious prospect of them marrying as Nicholas was not interested in anyone but Alix. I doubt the Pope was consulted on this one.

Helene is an interesting character, twice she missed out on being a Queen/Empress (UK & India and Russia), she ended up a member of a junior branch of the Italian royal family but she was ambitious and was constantly pushing her husband and sons forward as the main line was not terribly successful with producing male heirs.

Its interesting to wonder where that ambition would have led had Helene ended up as Tsarina of Russia. One has to assume that she would do everything in her power to push her family's position forward in France and the Romanovs were extremely well liked in France, a French Tsarina would have been insanely popular.

Also, if she had become Tsarina, there would still be a Romanov dynasty. No haemophilia would be in the family as Helene was not a haemophiliac. Thus, there'd be no need for Rasputin and the family would remain popular. Hell, Helene may have even had more sons rather than four girls and a weak, sickly, haemophiliac boy.

I do believe that I have my next timeline! I shall get planning IMMEDIATELY!
 
Also, if she had become Tsarina, there would still be a Romanov dynasty. No haemophilia would be in the family as Helene was not a haemophiliac. Thus, there'd be no need for Rasputin and the family would remain popular. Hell, Helene may have even had more sons rather than four girls and a weak, sickly, haemophiliac boy.

I do believe that I have my next timeline! I shall get planning IMMEDIATELY!

I think its a massive stretch to blame the Russian revolution and collapse of the Romanovs on Alexei's condition. It was a contributing factor but the seeds of revolution had been sown decades beforehand and Nicholas II was not suited to handling such a situation.

Of course Helene could have been a more positive influence on Nicholas, Alexandra was certainly the worst possible option for someone like Nicholas.
 
I don't blame it all on Alexei. That was just the final nail in the coffin, so to speak; without it, they'd probably survive until Nicholas II died -- a tyrant, replaced by someone who isn't a tyrant = instant popularity increase and, if Helene was the Queen, there'd be no haemophilia which is a bonus!
 
I don't blame it all on Alexei. That was just the final nail in the coffin, so to speak; without it, they'd probably survive until Nicholas II died -- a tyrant, replaced by someone who isn't a tyrant = instant popularity increase and, if Helene was the Queen, there'd be no haemophilia which is a bonus!

I think the prospects for the French monarchy could be even greater. Based on wikipedia, it seems that Helene's family were re-exiled from France due to the republican government's anger at the positive public reaction to the marriage of Helene's older sister Amelie to the Crown Prince of Portugal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Hélène_of_Orléans

A marriage between an Orleans Princess and the heir to the Russian Empire would have been on a totally different level of significance and must have implications for the French monarchist movement.
 
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