EXTREMELY, never before seen, rare photo of the four eldest children of Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and By Rhine and Princess Alice of Great Britain and Ireland riding in a small carriage 🤍
From left to right: Victoria, Ernst Louis, Irene, and Elisabeth 🤎
Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, Ernst Louis, Princess Victoria of Battenberg and her family, Princess Alice and her husband Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Louise 1900s.
~Princess Marie 'May' of Hesse + Princess Alice of The UK edit~
These two important figures in the life of the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - the little sister with whom she was very close and the mother - died within a span of less than a month, which left a deep mark on the soul of six-year-old Alix and her family. When May died of diphtheria, the children didn't know about it for severa weeks. Alice finally told Ernst in early December. His reaction was even worse than she had anticipated; at first he refused to believe it. As he sat up crying, Alice broke her rule about physical contact with the ill and gave him a kiss. Twenty-eight days after her beloved daughter, Alice followed, leaving a distraught family still reeling from the loss of May and now having to deal with the departure of their mother.
Standing at the back from left to right: Ferdinand, Crowned Prince of Romania, Nicholas II, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Princess Victoria Melita (standing very far from her husband, Ersnt Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and By Rhine.)
Sitting in the middle row from left to right: The little boy still in skirts holding hands with the lady next to him, Marie, Crowned Princess of Romania, is Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich. Next to Marie is Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, holding her daughter Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna; next to her is Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna (I am using her original Russian title, she was also Duchess of Edinburg and eventually Grand Duchess of Saxe-Coburg Gotha.) I do not recognize the baby she is holding. Last, sitting in front of Ernie, is Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.
On the floor, sitting by Marie and holding a little girl's hand, is one of Marie's younger sisters. The little girl whose hand she is holding is Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, the younger. Her father, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, is sitting next to her. Lastly, I am very tempted to say that the woman sitting to the right of Pavel is the elder Hessian sister, Victoria, although I am not 100% sure!
Consegnato a Il Primato Nazionale il libretto a mia cura dedicato a Louis-Ferdinand Céline della serie "Gli Imperdonabili", un piccolo lavoro ma con tante curiosità sul nostro Fuorilegge della Letteratura preferito! Prendendo spunto, informo che siamo sempre disponibili a presentazioni sul tema (L.-F. Céline - Un profeta dell'Apocalisse; Céline, Drieu e Brasillach; Céline e altri "fuorilegge" come WS Burroughs e JG Ballard…).
Queen Victoria in her carriage at Balmoral Castle with her daughter Princess Beatrice and her grandchildren Prince Ernest Louis and Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, circa 1890.
The main reason I like this picture is that Ella is smiling in a very different, spontaneous way. Her eyes are involved in the smile. She has not turned into the “ethereal” beauty yet. I don't have a date for the picture. It might be around her engagement to Serge.
In the picture, from left to right: A very young Ernst Ludwig with a pup under each arm, Ella with a little girl in her arms whom I don't know; sitting on the steps in front of Ella, Princess Victoria, standing by Ella, Princess Alix, sitting right in front of Alix, the Grand Duke Ludwig IV, and sitting next to him, Grand Duke Serge.
There are two young women in the photo, one sitting next to Victoria and the other standing behind Sergei, whom I do not know.