The Last Tsar - Chapter Seven Princess Alix

Chapter Seven
Princess Alix

'One day I will marry Princess Alix of Hesse', - Nicholas wrote in his diary in 1889, when he was twenty-one years old. Princess Alix was born in Dermstadt, Hesse, a medieval town in Germany with cobbled streets, in 1872. Her mother was Princess Alice, second daughter of Queen Victoria. Her mother died when she was only seven years old. She grew up by eating baked apples and rice pudding. After her mother's death, Queen Victoria became her guardian. She spent most of the year in England with her grandmother. She met Nicholas for the first time when she was twelve years old. She travelled to St. Petersburg for the marriage of her sister Ella to Grand Duke Sergei, the younger brother of Tsar Alexander III, the uncle of Nicholas II. The wedding took place in 1883.

The next time Alix saw Nicholas was when she was seventeen years old. It was in 1889 when Alix went to Moscow to stay with Ella for the summer holidays. Nicholas was twenty-one then. They never saw each other again until 1894, when the Grand Duke Earnest, Alix's brother, got married. Nicholas attended the wedding as the representative of his father, Tsar Alexander III. It was during Earnest's marriage that Nicholas proposed to Alix. After some hesitation, she accepted.

What sort of woman was she? Why was she blamed for the downfall of Russian monarchy? What was wrong with her? Her character, nature and bad health should be denounced for that terrible tragedy.

Her aunt, Empress Victoria of Prussia, mother of Kaiser William II, wrote to her mother, Queen Victoria - 'Alix is very imperious.'

Her Mother-in-law, Dowager Empress Marie, wrote in her diary - 'She is ambitious beyond my imagination.'

Michael Rodzianko, President of Duma (parliament), wrote - 'Unhealthy mysticism of the Empress led Russia to terrible catastrophes.'

Princess Catherine Radziwill wrote in her book - 'She was selfish and ruthless. She wasn't an autocrat but despot.'

The Grand Duke Alexander, wrote in his book - 'She was incredibly selfish.'

Muriel Buchanan, the daughter of the British Ambassador, Sir George Buchanan, wrote in her book - 'Every time the Emperor yielded to reform every time he was prevented by the Empress.' 'To her mind autocracy was the only form of government for Russia.'

Alexander Kerensky wrote in his book - 'Empress Alexandra was very different from her husband. She was arrogant, domineering and selfish. She was born to rule. Her influence over her husband was formidable. She played a dominant role in the dissolution of the Russian empire. For some time she suffered from hysteria and was partially paralysed. She ruled Russia for two years in co-operation with Rasputin in the most critical and worst time in the history of Russia, when the country desperately needed a strong and efficient ruler. Her diseased mind did not see any better form of government for Russia but autocracy.'

The French Ambassador wrote in his diary - 'The evil course followed by Tsarina and her despicable entourage will be responsible to history.'

She paid a high price. She saw her husband and all of her children felled, one after another, before she fell in a hail of bullets.