A young Alexandra Feodorovna, nee Alix of Hesse and by Rhine.

Portraits of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia along with Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, wearing costumes of Tsar Alexei and Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya for the 300 years anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, Winter Palace, 1903.

VERY cute and rare photo of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hesse) with her newborn daughter, Anastasia Nikolaevna and her 3rd daughter Maria Nikolaevna, Peterhof 1901 🤍✨

Alexandra reading a book.

Alexandra Feodorovna’s Wedding Dress

“Her wedding dress was a magnificent creation; the outfit was so intricate that it took nearly an hour for Alexandra to dress. Her stockings were of lace, her shoes embroidered and decorated. Over these she wore layers of stiff petticoats. The wide, full skirt of silver brocade opened from the waist down to reveal a second underskirt of silver tissue, edged with fur. The décolletage was cut low, to reveal the neck and shoulders, and the gown had short sleeves trailing ermine-edged tippets. The tightly fitted, boned bodice was sewn with diamonds which sparkled with every move. The folds of the overskirt fell back to form a train, and a separate, sweeping court train of cloth-of-gold edged with ermine fell from her shoulders. Over this, Alexandra wore the imperial mantle of cloth-of-gold, lined and edged with ermine. These robes were so heavy that four pages had to help carry them.

Alexandra wore her hair swept back to emphasise her graceful neck and shoulders. Two long, twin side curls were attached to her own hair. Her long veil of tulle was held in place by a Russian Kokoshnik tiara, of diamonds set in platinum, and the Romanov nuptial crown of diamonds sewn on crimson velvet. Alexandra also wore a number of diamond brooches on the front of her gown, along with the jewelled chain of the Order of St. Andrew and strings of pearls around her neck. These jewels, as well as the tiara, had been wedding gifts from the late tsar, costing some 300,000 rubles ($150,000). She also wore the imperial riviére, a diamond necklace of 475 carats, and a pair of matching earrings. The earrings were so heavy, in fact, that they had to be supported by wires around the ears, which slowly cut into the flesh as the day wore on. Around her tiara, Alexandra wore a wreath of orange blossoms, brought from the Imperial Conservatory in Warsaw. Across the dress stretched the red ribbon of the Order of St. Catherine.”

[Greg King, The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia]

Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna smiling at her 2 year old son Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, 1906 💕✨

Queen Victoria with her granddaughters, Princesses Irene, Victoria, Elisabeth, and Alix of Hesse and by Rhine. 1880s.

History meme

[5/7] Relationships: Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna

On her wedding night, before going to bed, Alexandra wrote in her husband’s diary: “At last united, bound for life, and when this life is ended, we meet again in the other world and remain together for eternity. Yours, yours” (Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie).

My dream is some day to marry Alix H. I have loved her a long while and still deeper and stronger since 1889 when she spent six weeks in St. Petersburg. For a long time, I resisted my feeling that my dearest dream will come true (Nicholas II’s 1892 diary entry).

The marriage that began that night remained unflawed for the rest of their lives. It was a Victorian marriage, outwardly serene and proper, but based on intensely passionate physical love.

To Alexandra, Nicholas was always “Nicky”. To him, she was “Alix” or “Sunshine” or “Sunny”. Sometimes through the rooms of this private wing, a clear, musical whistle like the warbling song of a bird would sound. This was Nichola’s way of summoning his wife. Early in her marriage, Alexandra, hearing the call, would blush red and drop whatever she was doing to hurry to him. Later, as his children grew up, Nicholas used it to call them, and the birdlike whistle became a familiar and regular sound in the Alexander Palace (Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie).

"Alix was a very wonderful person; not, perhaps, as beautiful as her beloved sister, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, but very striking. There was a curious atmosphere of fatality about her. I once said — in the way that cousins can be very rude and outspoken to each other — “Alix, you always play at being sorrowful : one day the Almighty will send you some real crushing sorrows and then what are you going to do?” Well, I think history has proved how right I was. 

Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein "My memoires of six reigns".

The Russian Imperial Family.

Portraits of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna wearing uniform of the chief of the 5th Hussar Alexandria regiment, Tsarkoye Selo, 1911.

On December the 14th 1878, Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse died after a short battle with illness. Alice, who were the sister-in-law of Princess Alexandra, is said to have been her brother Albert’s favourite sister. Albert sank deep in grief at the loss of Alice and his wife, Princess Alexandra (seated beneath Alice in the photo) said upon meeting Queen Victoria;

"I wish I had died instead of her".

Nicholas II and Alexandra drinking coffee together.

Rare photograph of Princess Alix and Prince Ernest of Hesse and by Rhine with Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse and Princess Margaret of Prussia in 1893

Rare photo of the Hessian Royal Family (minus Elisabeth) late 1880s

Standing: Princess Alix of Hesse, Prince Ernst Louis of Hesse (later Grand Duke)

Sitting: Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse, Princess Irene of Prussia (née Hesse), Princess Victoria of Battenberg (née Hesse)