Grand Duke Serge (1857-1905) & Elisaveta Feodorovna, Grand Duchess Serge (1864-1918)

[CyrilVladisla]

Was Elisabeth (Elizabeth) of Hesse considered as a possible bride for a Swedish prince? If Yes, who was the Prince of Sweden?
​

In The Mad Monarchist, Royal Saint: Princess Elizabeth of Hesse article mentioned:

In their first years of marriage, the new Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia continued to be a Lutheran.
However, over time, certainly with the example of her husband helping, she became convinced of the beauty and authenticity of the Orthodox faith and in 1891 she decided to formally convert and join the Russian Orthodox Church.

Is 1891 the correct year that Grand Duchess Elisaveta converted?
​

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Grand Duchess Elizabeth with Sergei at the Russian Church Consecration
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth... News Photo | Getty Images

Grand Duchess Elizabeth acknowledged that a great influence on the formation of the inner, purely spiritual side of her character was the example of a paternal ancestor, Elizabeth of Hungary.

 

[Al_bina]

4 April 2017

A new monument at the place of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich's assassination was unveiled by President Putin. The original one was destroyed after the 1917 revolution. Patriarch Kirill was in attendance too.

Unveiling of monument to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich | President of Russia

Russian Insider| Video of the above ceremony

 

[Bambii]

I'm so sorry to be renewing a thread which hasn't been active for months, but I've been doing a lot of research on Elisabeth of Hesse/Elizabeth Feodorovna lately and I was wanting to ask two things.

Firstly, would anyone happen to know much about her feelings towards Nicholas of Greece and if they had any contact in the following years? I know that he and Ella exchanged a few letters and I've read excerpts of some of her letters but not any from him, but did they ever see each other again afterwards?

Secondly, I have absolutely no doubt that Ella loved her husband deeply and he her. Countless examples prove that there was definitely a love between them. Ella's grief over his death was definitely genuine and she often spoke of him very quite affectionately in her correspondence, but in spite of all that, does it come across as though something was still odd about their relationship? I'm not too sure how I could express it, but could she have loved him without necessarily being in love with him?

 

[Stefanie]

As far as I know it' s an open secret that he was gay or bisexual and had an inclination for sadism

 

[Bambii]

As far as I know it' s an open secret that he was gay or bisexual and had an inclination for sadism

There has always been talk about Sergei being gay but where is the evidence? Without evidence, I would say it's nothing more than hearsay. As for being a sadist, sources and Ella herself have suggested that he always treated his wife nicely and respectfully, no signs of emotional and/or physical abuse.

Like I said, I think there was undoubtedly a love between the two. But something still doesn't sit right.

And if only there was more information available about her flirtation with Nicholas of Greece, although I suppose the reason for there being a lack of information is due to the fact that they only spent a short amount of time together and it never evolved into an extramarital affair, anyway.

 

[lucien]

As far as I know it' s an open secret that he was gay or bisexual and had an inclination for sadism

Indeed he was & had!What all these new pop-up "experts" complain about not being enough evidence is because they don't look further then Google usually... He and Ella were two fridges,they didn't really warm up to anyone,at all.

 

[JR76]

Indeed he was & had!What all these new pop-up "experts" complain about not being enough evidence is because they don't look further then Google usually... He and Ella were two fridges,they didn't really warm up to anyone,at all.

Nicholai Romanov (1922-2014) is quoted in a Swedish book about the Romanovs saying that Sergei was an animal and guilty of many crimes. I guess he should know.
That said, Maria Pavlovna has written that for all his flaws he was very gentle and affectionate towards her and her brother Dmitrij so he had many sides to his character.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Did Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich accompany his brother Grand Duke Sergei and Grand Duchess Elizabeth on their honeymoon?

 

[COUNTESS]

He was a strange man. Very kind and loving to some. And a killer to others. He was extremely antisemetic and fostered many pogroms that killed many people. He may have been gay, but was super religious and may not have taken part in that lifestyle, which made him even more difficult. Supposedly, he and Ella never slept together, but I have no evidence of that. He loved his brother's Paul's children and was their guardian.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Indeed. He was kinder and more loving to his orphaned niece and nephew than Ella was...if Marie is to be believed.

She wrote that Ella, for all her later piety, was a cold fish who didn't have a maternal bone in her body.

She also alleged that Ella was desperate to get rid of her by marrying her off.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

In 1883 Princess Elizabeth of Hesse spent three weeks with her grandmother Queen Victoria. It was mid August before Elizabeth prepared to return to Germany. Within a week of her departure, Elizabeth broke off her engagement to Grand Duke Sergei.

 

[duchessrachel]

I want to read a book of Grand Duchess Ella. I have found two and want to know if one is better than the other: First Book and Second Book

 

[An Ard Ri]

Simply amazing that the coffin of the Grand Duke survived the Soviet destruction of the Chudov Monastery in 1928 and the sealed up crypt was rediscovered in 1990 and the the coffin found.

 

[Curryong]

Simply amazing that the coffin of the Grand Duke survived the Soviet destruction of the Chudov Monastery in 1928 and the sealed up crypt was rediscovered in 1990 and the the coffin found.

Yes it is. Of course he died (or rather was assissinated) in 1905 at a time of great unrest so perhaps great precautions were taken at the time.

I want to read a book of Grand Duchess Ella. I have found two and want to know if one is better than the other: First Book and Second Book

I don't know Book No 2 I'm afraid but I have Christopher Warwick's bio and can recommend that one. It's very comprehensive, except perhaps about Ella's intimate marital life with Serge.

 

[Alison H]

Seconded - I've got the Christopher Warwick one as well, and it's very good.


(I'm not sure that they had an intimate married life! But I don't suppose anyone could really know if they had or not, other than the two of them and maybe their closest servants.)

 

[Curryong]

No, that's true, but they did share a bed all their married life, so the possibility is there. It was a very strange marriage in many ways, with Serge as very much a control freak over his wife and household anyway. Warwick at least doesn't spend an awful lot of his book speculating on the sexual aspect of the couple's relationship, if there was one of course.

 

[duchessrachel]

I don't know Book No 2 I'm afraid but I have Christopher Warwick's bio and can recommend that one. It's very comprehensive, except perhaps about Ella's intimate marital life with Serge.

Thank you

Seconded - I've got the Christopher Warwick one as well, and it's very good.


(I'm not sure that they had an intimate married life! But I don't suppose anyone could really know if they had or not, other than the two of them and maybe their closest servants.)

Thank you.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Princess Victoria of Battenberg visited Grand Duchess Elizabeth inn 1908 when the foundation stone was laid for the church at Ella's convent. Victoria visited Elizabeth in 1909 when the site had blossomed to include a hospital, a dispensary, a home for orphan girls, and a separate house for disabled veterans.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia and Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine - 1884

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia was the son of Tsar Alexander II and Tsarina Marie Alexandrovna of Russia.
Princess Elizabeth (Elisabeth) of Hesse and by Rhine was the daughter Of Grand Duke Louis IV and Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse.
Elizabeth took the name of Elizabeth Feodorovna.
She and Sergei wed at the chapel of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg on June 15, 1884.
Her silver dress was encased in jewels.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

At her wedding Elizabeth wore a pink diamond tiara.
http://cdni.rbth.com/rbthmedia/images/2020.11/original/5fae616115e9f938f0033c83.jpg

 

[natawa]

Interesting Marengo. I think all of Britain found the Russians a bit loose. Robert Massie has a wonderful account of Nicholas' coronation and a British diplomat's re-telling of his horror of daringly cut necklines, large jewels hung in indiscreet places in the body, too much dancing and not enough decorum.

Victorian British males were probably not accustomed to such wanton display.

but what about the debauchery and love joys of Victoria's son Edward!!!??? There was no modesty at all

 

[Blog Real]

Picture of Grand Duke Serge and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

Other photo of Grand Duke Serge and Grand Duchess Elisabeth, 1892.