Alexandra Nikolaevna

Birth of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia

.

Alexandra was the youngest daughter and fourth child of Tsar Nicholas I, and his wife Princess Charlotte of Prussia.

Alexandra was descibed as very beautiful, and had inherited her mother's "Prussian look".

In the family she was known by her affectionate nickname, "Adini"

Her father affectionately spoke of Adini as "... a little moppet, but very sweet".

Alexandra was famous in St Petersburg society for both her wit and her lively personality.

She was also the musician in the family, and a great singer.

On 28th January 1844, Alexandra married Prince Frederick William of Hesse, in St. Petersburg.

Alexandra became acutely ill with tuberculosis shortly before her wedding, and this complicated the pregnancy which soon followed.

She was never well enough to travel to Hesse, and take up her new position with her husband.

They stayed in St. Petersburg, where her health rapidly declined.

Alexandra went into labor prematurely, three months before the child was due, and gave birth to a son, Wilhelm.

The infant died shortly after he was born, and Alexandra died later the same day, she was just 19 years old.

She was the first of her parents' children to die, and they were devastated.

Alexandra was buried at the Peter & Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

In the gardens of the Peterhof palace near St Petersburg, there is a memorial bench with a small sculpture bust of the Grand Duchess.

Her rooms there have been preserved, just as they were at the time of her death.

Six sheaves of wheat made of diamonds, which came to Hesse on one of the dresses in Alexandra's trousseau, were transformed into a tiara around 1900.

This tiara is now the traditional wedding tiara of the Hessian family, and was last worn by Countess Floria Franziska of Faber~Castell when she married Donatus~Hereditary Prince of Hesse, in 2003.

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/.../Grand_Duchess_Alexandra...

.

https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaievna of Russia, Created posthumously: 1860

Adolf Jebens~currently on display at Hermitage Museum.