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Princess Marie von Hessen und bei Rhein (1824-1880), German princess and Russian empress, she was born 8 August 1824 at Darmstadt, Hessen and died 8 June 1880 at St. Petersburg.
She was the youngest of her mother's seven children, the younger
four appearing to have been fathered by Baron Auguste Senarclens de
Grancy. To avoid a scandal, her mother's husband acknowledged
Alexander and Marie; the other two had died young. Yet they still
lived in a separate establishment in Heiligenberg while their 'father'
lived in Darmstadt.
When the future Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, toured Europe to
find a wife, he fell in love with the 14-year-old Marie and married
her in 1841, even though he was well aware of the 'irregularity' of
her birth. At first her mother-in-law objected to the marriage but
Alexander II insisted.
As she was very shy, she was regarded as stiff, austere, and with
no taste in dress, no conversation, no charm. The damp climate of
St.Petersburg did not agree with her delicate chest inherited from her
mother, so that she had a racking cough and recurring fever.
Nevertheless, she became the mother of eight children. These
pregnancies together with ill health kept her away from many Court
festivities, which brought temptations to her husband. In 1855 her
husband became Emperor, which forced her to attend more State
functions whether she was ill or not. Although Alexander II always
treated her well, she knew from 1858 onwards that his feelings were
for someone else. In 1865 the death of her eldest and favourite son,
Nicholas, was a great blow.
Every now and again she was able to go to her brother Alexander who
lived with his morganatic wife in Heiligenberg. Here she met Princess
Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria. She resented Alice's suggestion of
the marriage between the Duke of Edinburgh and her own daughter, but
when Alice died in 1879 Marie often invited the motherless children
for visits to Heiligenberg. It was during these visits that Marie's
son, Grand Duke Serge, first got to know his future wife, Alice's
daughter Elisabeth.
The continuing threats of the Russian Revolutionaries were
accompanied by several assassination attempts. Because of these,
Alexander II brought his mistress, Katharina Dolgorouky, and their
three children to the Imperial Palace. Here Marie could hear these
children playing on the floor above her. She died shortly afterwards
on 3 June 1880 and, on 6 July 1880, Alexander II married his mistress.
However, this marriage was not to last long as, on 1 March 1881,
Alexander II was murdered in St.Petersburg.
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