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L'Art et la mode, no. 31, vol. 28, 3 août 1907, Paris. Robe de taffetas pékiné; veste à taille courte. Manche de mousseline plissée. Imp. d'art L. Lafontaine, Paris. Bibliothèque nationale de France

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Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and by Rhine with his children Victoria (on stairs), Irene (holding horse's bridle), Elisabeth and Alix (seated in the carriage). Ernest Louis is seated on a tricycle.

Wolfsgarten 1880s

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Josefine Swoboda (29 January 1861 – 27 October 1924) was an Austrian artist who focused on watercolor portraits. She was from a family of artists and her first lessons in painting were done with her father Eduard Swoboda.

In 1890 she earned the title of court painter from Queen Victoria. She would work off and on for the British royal family until 1899.

Alexandra, Princess of Wales 1895

Princess Alice of Battenberg 1891

Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg 1890

Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein 1897

Prince Leopold of Battenberg 1890

Princess Patricia of Connaught

Princess Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine 1899

Source of paintings: Royal Collection Trust

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Prince Henry of Prussia, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Princess Louise of Battenberg, and Prince Sigismund of Prussia.

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King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Cowes, Isle of Wight, August 1909

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Grand Duchesse Anastasia, Olga, Tatiana and Maria

"Taken on board the "New Zealand" on Maria's 15th birthday, 14 June 1914. Photo from Grand Duchess Olga's album GARF 673-1-204 No. 28"

Source: George Hawkins via Facebook in the group "Princess Victoria of Hesse, Princess Louis Battenberg Victoria MilfordHaven"

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Formal photographs of the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Taken on 11 August 1916 by Alexander Funk, these would become the last formal photographs the sisters would ever sit for. In less than two years their lives would cruelly come to an end.

Anastasia, Olga, Maria and Tatiana

Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia

Olga

Anastasia

Maria and Olga

Tatiana

Anastasia

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For her coronation on 15 October 1922 Queen Marie of Romania had a new crown made for herself instead of wearing the same one worn by her predecessor, Queen Elisabeth.

Marie's crown was modeled after the one worn by Milica Despina, the wife of 16th-century Wallachian ruler Neagoe Basarab. Designed by Costin Petrescu, it was made in the Art Nouveau style by Falize, a Parisian jewelry house.

Made of gold mined from the Transylvania region of Romania, it contained rubies, emeralds, amethyst, turquoise and opals and weighed 4 pounds (1.8 kg). Grains of wheat decorate the base of the crown topped by eight large and eight small flower ornaments connected by interlacing branches. A globe and cross sit a top the eight arches above the flower ornaments. The crown had two pendants on the sides; these hang from either side of the headband just above the ear, each bearing a coat of arms- on of Romania and the other, the arms of the Duke of Edinburgh, which Marie had used as her own arms prior to her marriage. From each of these pendula hang three chains, each with a cross within a gold circle at the end.

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Princess Alice of Battenberg and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. About 1901.

Nicholas was married to Alexandra, who was the youngest sister of Alice's mother, Victoria. Alexandra and Victoria were born Princesses of Hesse and by Rhine and granddaughters of Queen Victoria via her second daughter, Alice.

In 1903 Alice would marry Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, a cousin of Nicholas' and her last born child would become Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. Alice was the grandmother of King Charles III.

Though congenitally deaf, Alice learned to read lips and speak English and German, and also later Greek, the language of her new homeland.

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Eleanor of Toledo (1522-1562) was a Spanish noblewoman who married Cosimo I de' Medici and became Grand Duchess of Florence. She brought a vast dowry and the ties to nobility and royalty that Cosimo's family had lacked. Theirs turned out to be a marriage of mutual affection and unlike the times, Cosimo was said to be faithful to his wife.

Aside from being the mother of eleven children, Eleanor was trusted by her husband with her political knowledge and left regent when Cosimo was away from Florence. She had a keen interested and head for business and was charitable to those less fortunate. Like others of the time, Eleanor and her husband were patrons to many artists including Agnolo Bronzino. Weakened by ill health in her adult life and suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, malaria claimed her life on 17 December 1562.

Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, by Agnolo Bronzino.

Eleonora di Toledo by Agnolo Bronzino ca. 1539-1540

Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo and Her Son by Agnolo Bronzino, 1544–45

Eleonora di Toledo by Agnolo Bronzino c. 1560 You can see her health failing her judging by the gauntness of her face.

For twenty years I've had an interest in Eleanor. Something about her has always fascinated me. The first time I learned of her was when I watched a history documentary "Mummy Detective: Crypt of the Medici" hosted by Dr. Bob Brier.

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Tsar Nicholas II on a bicycle.

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Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Balmoral 

September 1896

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Danish royal siblings.

Left to right- Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark (future King Frederick VIII), Princess Alexandra (then Princess of Wales and future Queen of the United Kingdom), Prince William (future King George I of Greece) and Princess Dagmar (future Empress Maria Feodorovna of) Russia. Circa 1860s.

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Princess Victoria of Battenberg and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

Moscow. 1910.

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Queen Marie of Romania in the early 1930s.

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Princess Jalila of Hejaz (1923–1955) was a Hijazi princess. She was the daughter of Ali, King of Hejaz, and Princess Nafissa Khanum, and sister to Crown Prince Abd al-Ilah .

She tragically died from extensive burns sustained from lighting an oil stove.

Newspaper article source:

The Daily Telegraph

London, Greater London, England • Thu, Dec 29, 1955 Page 7

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Princess Heinrich of Prussia, formerly Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (1866-1953).

Irene was the daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and by Rhine.