Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia - 1874

[Blog Real]

On 23 January 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 Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess 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.

https://www.rct.uk/collection/theme...of-prince-alfred-duke-of-edinburgh-23-january

https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/w...d-grand-duchess-maria-alexandrovna-of-russia/

https://www.dearest-mama.com/the-we...ke-of-edinburgh-maria-alexandrovna-of-russia/

 

[SirGyamfi1]

Neither families necessarily wanted this match.

 

[Biri]

But this marriage had happened.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

But this marriage had happened.

It benefitted both sides in a way. Marie’s great dowry and trust fund would pay off some of Alfred’s debts as well as later on, the Duchy of Coburg’s. For Marie, additional status and her choice of spouse.

 

[Prinsara]

It benefitted both sides in a way. Marie’s great dowry and trust fund would pay off some of Alfred’s debts as well as later on, the Duchy of Coburg’s. For Marie, additional status and her choice of spouse.

Marie thought she was lowering herself with this marriage — or quickly ended up believing that when Queen Victoria told her her Imperial rank gave her absolutely no precedence in the UK. Certainly not what Marie believed she was entitled to.

For Marie's part, Julia Gelardi's book about her and a few other Romanov women portrays her much more sympathetically than usual, I find.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

Marie thought she was lowering herself with this marriage — or quickly ended up believing that when Queen Victoria told her her Imperial rank gave her absolutely no precedence in the UK. Certainly not what Marie believed she was entitled to.

For Marie's part, Julia Gelardi's book about her and a few other Romanov women portrays her much more sympathetically than usual, I find.

Well she insisted on marrying Alfred so she had herself to blame.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

What uniform did Prince Alfred wear at his wedding?

 

[Curryong]

What uniform did Prince Alfred wear at his wedding?

He wore Russian naval officers uniform, and the Order of St Andrew. Alfred was the only one of Queen Victoria’s children to marry outside of England, as he wed in St Petersburg in January 1874. Of course he was marrying the only daughter of Tsar Alexander so any wedding outside Russia would have been extremely unlikely.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

The Greco-Russian Wedding Ceremony in the Imperial Chapel of the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg
http://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/U233728