JOSEFINE SWOBODA AND QUEEN VICTORIA’S FAMILY 💖🥺❤️‍🩹

Beautiful portraits painted by the talented painter Josefine Swoboda (1861-1924) of the granddaughters and Great-granddaughters of Queen Victoria 🥺🦋🤍

Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, later Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia, when Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine by von Kaulbach.

꧁ ✵ Royals & Josefine Swoboda ✵ ꧂

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Princesses Beatrice, Marie (later queen Marie of Romania), Alexandra and Victoria of Edinburgh.

Victoria Melita (then Grand Duchess of Hesse) and her sister Marie (then Crown Princess of Romania). 1896.

Princess Victoria Meltia “Ducky” (later Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna) of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha with her sister Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 1904

Ducky was in mourning for her daughter Princess Elisabeth of Hesse who died on November 16th 1903 of Typhoid Fever.

Source: Pinterest

Prince George of Wales and his "chum" Princess Marie of Edinburgh (Missy)

Marie of Edinburgh (Marie Alexandra Victoria; 1875 – 1938) was born into the British royal family. Her parents were Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (later the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (daughter of Tsar Alexander II).

"Missy" (her nickname) grew into a “lovely young woman” with “sparkling blue eyes and silky fair hair.” She did not lack suitors from a young age and was courted by several royal bachelors, including Prince George of Wales. Prince George served for many years under his uncle, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, as a naval cadet in Malta. There, he grew close to young Marie.

Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh all approved of the match. Missy seemed ameneable to the idea of George as a possible husband. George's mother, Alexandra Princess of Wales and Marie's mother, the Duchess of Edinburgh vetoed the match. The Duchess of Edinburgh did not wish for her daughter to remain in England, she never liked her husbands native land.

Another reason the Duchess of Edinburgh was against the idea of the marriage between George and Marie was the fact that they were first cousins and although first cousin marriages were accepted in England, they were not permitted by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Thus, when George officially proposed to her, Marie did as she was told by her mother and informed him that the marriage was impossible and that he must remain her “beloved chum”. Marie's father was devastated, as his dearest dream had been to see Marie married to George.

George continued on his unhurried search for a suitable Princess to marry and found a solid and beloved life partner in Princess Mary of Teck (who had been his brother's fiance.) Marie married the Crowned Prince of Romania, Ferdinand.

Marie kept gifts that George gave her during their courtship until her death, and they remained close friends for the whole of their lives. In 1901, well after they had both married other people, she wrote to him that those years in Malta were the happiest she ever had.

Photographs: 1. Marie and her family and George at the time he was "courting" the young woman; 2 and 3. Young Marie; 4. George V; 5. Princess Marie of Romania; 6. George and Mary, Ernst Ludwig and Victoria Melita and Ferdinand and Marie.

Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia (Princess Victoria Melita), 1913.

Additional color versions available at my instagram.

Princesses Marie, Victoria Melita, and Alexandra of Edinburgh as young women in the 1890′s

"The 88th Anniversary of The Heartbreaking Death of Princess Victoria Melita: A Royal Outcast Who Never Found Happiness" 🤍🖤💔

She was born with a silver spoon but died with a wooden one. She married for love but lost everything. She had a royal bloodline, but no country to call her own. She faced wars, revolutions, and exiles with bravery but succumbed to a broken heart. She was Princess Victoria Melita, and this is her story...🌟

Princess Victoria Melita (nicknamed Ducky) came to Paris on 19 December 1936. She was far from well at the time, but she had planned to go to Germany the next day to see her elder daughter Marie, Princess of Leiningen, who was expecting a child.🥹

Shortly after her arrival in Wurzburg, Ducky contracted a chill but she would not hear of postponing her visit to her daughter. The birth of her granddaughter, Matilda, was not attended by any complications, and in the middle of January they all returned to Schloss Amorbach.

By now she was steadily getting weaker, and the doctors were anxious But by an immense effort of will, she attended the christening ceremony of her new grandchild.

It taxed her strength considerably, and her condition continued to deteriorate.

She suffered a stroke, one side of her body was paralyzed, and she was unable to speak coherently. 🖤

In February, Ducky's youngest daughter Kira was summoned to Amorbach, and Cyril and Vladimir were warned that she had taken a turn for the worse. They left at once to go to her bedside.

Ducky's niece, Missy’s daughter Ileana came to join the unhappy vigil.

By the time they reached Ducky, she could only mutter occasional words which were barely intelligible. There was nothing more the doctors could do.

On the evening of 1 March they noticed a rapid weakening of the pulse.

Ducky's three sisters, Missy (Marie), Sandra (Alexandra) and Baby Bee (Beatrice) all joined the bedside vigil, praying for her to go quickly and instead being tormented at the sight of her lingering. 💔

At fifteen minutes past midnight on 2 March, she passed away...💔

No more moving account of her last days and death can be given than the description in Missy’s letter to Lady Astor (4 March):💔💔💔

The whole thing was tragic beyond imagination, a tragic end to a tragic life. She carried tragedy within her – she had tragic eyes – always – even as a little girl – But we loved her enormously, there was something mighty about her – she was our Conscience. But when he betrayed her, she did not know how to forgive, so she allowed him to murder her soul. From then onwards, her strength became her weakness, her undoing – she was too absolute, she could not overcome herself. And now she had to die, unforgiving! Her lips were sealed because of the stroke which had felled her to the ground – but although she knew we were there and the first day she found a murmur of recognition for each of us in turn, she shuddered away from his touch – Whilst we sat, in turns holding her hand, he stood like an outcast on the threshold of her door not daring to enter her room – It took 11 long days before she was released. The last five she lay in a sort of coma – and the end came Sunday morning exactly at 12¼ – suddenly it was all over, as she lay there grey, gaunt, the mask of grief . . . it was torture – but I am calm, I know it is better thus – she could not have lived as a cripple – but with their egoism, those she loved killed her. They left her too lonely, and she cried continually for three long years & nothing brought her comfort nor resignation, except occasionally her garden or her painting. She would not let us help her. Her faith in humanity was dead. I know how much both you & Waldorf tried to help her – she was deeply grateful, I know she was, only her dreadful habit of never answering made her case hopeless – In spite of our tremendous love for each other, because of her silence, I was never able to keep in touch with her, nor to really help her – There is an unbearable tragedy in it all . . .

The Edinburgh sisters wrapped Ducky's body in a long white robe, and in the coffin, Missy placed white lilacs around her head and shoulders. On 5 March, the coffin was brought to Coburg and placed in the family vault of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg. The funeral took place the next day, with rain and snow flurries, adding to the gloom of an icy winter scene, as she was laid to rest beside her parents and brother...🌃

Ducky had left a wish that there should be no pomp and ceremony.

Afterward, Missy found it hard to leave the grave of the sister who ‘always hated being alone’...

As Meriel Buchanan would later write, the Grand Duchess Cyril died ‘a bitter, disappointed woman, whose brilliant personality had been warped by failure and frustration’. Now she was alone; but at last, the ‘passionate, often misunderstood child’, who had grown up into a bitter, disappointed woman, was at peace...

On the occasion of the 88th anniversary of the tragic death of Princess Victoria Melita, Grand Duchess Cyril💔💔💔

And the world moved on, oblivious to the tragedy that once graced its courts. 🌟

Princesses Alexandra, Victoria Melita, and Marie of Edinburgh, 1887.

The daughters of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. The eldest Princess Marie (right) later became Queen consort of Romania, while the second daughter Princess Victoria Melita (middle) later became Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia.

They are the granddaughters of Queen Victoria, and Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

Source Royalty In Colour

Romanov relatives: Alexandra of Edinburgh with her son Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Alexandra was the third daughter of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna and Prince Alfred. Known as 'Sandra,' she was somewhat less-famous than her elders sisters Marie of Romania and Victoria Melita. Gottfried was her eldest child and only surviving son. He married Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, eldest sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, future Grand Duchess of Russia

Hi, I hope you are doing great. First, I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate the work you have put into this blog. Remembering Elisabeth, a little girl whose life was cut short by illness, is heartwarming. I always feel bad for this princess. I saw this post of yours from 1897 where Elisabeth is petting a black dog surrounded by some of her family members. There is a restored and colorized video on youtube with it! It is name 'Yet another Victorian Sunday (1899)'

Thank you very much for writing to me, I had no idea of this! Thanks for your kind words. You made my day. ❤️

I just downloaded and edited it adding a close up.

Footage of Princess Elisabeth of Hesse sitting on the floor and caressing a dog. She is surrounded by her father (Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse), her maternal grandmother (Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia), her maternal uncle (Prince Alfred of Edinburgh), her mother (Grand Duchess Victoria Melita), Princess May of Teck and her maternal grandfather (Grand Duke Alfred of Edinburgh).  Clarence House Gardens, June 1897.