The “Sweet and Lovable” Princess Alexandra of Greece, Grand Duchess of Russia
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| Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia. |
Princess Alexandra of Greece was the third of the eight children and the eldest of the three daughters of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia. She was born on August 30, 1870 at the family's summer residence - Mon Repos - in the Greek island of Corfu. Alexandra and her siblings were raised in a simple but carefree environment, tended by English nannies and being left to play on the extended corridors of the Greek royal family's palace. At times King George would join his children on a bicycle ride.
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| Princess Alexandra of Greece with her mother, Queen Olga, c1888. |
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| Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovitch Romanov and his wife Princess Alexandra of Greece. Photo taken c1888 by Charles Bergamasco. |
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| Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna and her infant daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, c1891. Taken by A. Pasetti. |
Princess Alexandra was affectionately called "Aline" within her family. She was also known as the Greek Alix to distinguish her from her aunt and godmother, Alexandra, Princess of Wales and later Queen of United Kingdom. Bearing positive outlook, Alexandra was well-loved for her sweet and caring nature." She had one of those sweet and lovable natures that endeared her to everybody who came in touch with her," her brother, Prince Nicholas remembered. The prince was fond of her older sister and he was was her playmate, together with younger sister, Maria.
In the book, Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia, Hugo Mager (1998) described Princess Alexandra: "She looked young and beautiful, and ever since she was a child, life looked as it had nothing but joy and happiness in store for her."
As was customary within the family, King George I would take his family to his childhood home of Denmark on many holidays. There, they would visit George’s parents, King Christian IX and Queen Louise, and see their Danish, British, Russian and German cousins who all came to Denmark for large family gatherings.
The Greek royals would also host these numerous royal relatives who frequented Athens. One of their regular visitors was Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovitch of Russia, the youngest child and sixth son of Emperor Alexander II (Olga’s uncle). Frail and sick with respiratory illness, Paul would escape the bitter Russian winters for sunny and warm Greece and would be hosted by George and his family. Paul was drawn by Alexandra looks and disposition and it took no time before he sought her hands for marriage. Their engagement was announced on November 10, 1888 and their marriage was celebrated at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 17, 1889.
Following the Romanov traditions, Alexandra took the name Alexandra Georgievna. After their wedding, the couple took residence on the fashionable Promenade des Anglais, while also maintaining rooms at the Catherine Palace in Tsarkoye Selo. In 1890, she gave birth to a daughter, which the couple named Maria.
No sooner, Alexandra conceived again. Seven months into her pregnancy, the couple joined Paul's older brother, Grand Duke Sergei and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, in Ilinskoye, Sergei's estate outside Moscow. Alexandra was walking with her friends along the Moskva river when she saw a boat. She jumped into it but fell as she landed. While she was all right after the incident, Alexandra collapsed the day after, while attending a ball. Enduring violent labour pains, a son, who was named Dimitri, was born. The grand duchess, however, slipped into comatose and died after six days, on September 24, 1890, in Ilyinskoe.
King George and Queen Olga of Greece, her parents, rushed to Russia but arrived too late. It was later revealed through autopsy reports that Alexandra actually suffered from eclampsia and it was also found that she had nephritis and heart damage.
During her funeral ceremony at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Grand Duke Paul was inconsolable and was determined to throw himself into his wife’s grave. Grand Duke Sergei had to lead his brother away from the coffin so it could be closed and lowered below the ground. In 1939, Alexandra's nephew, King George II of Greece, through the Greek government, negotiated with the Soviets for the transfer of Alexandra's remains to Greece, where it was interred at the royal burial grounds in Tatoi.
Barely four years after her death, Grand Duke Paul morganatically married a commoner and divorcee, Olga Karnovich, a decision which strained his relationship with his family.
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