#Alexander of Battenberg

[ykzzr]

Queen Victoria with her daughter Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg and her in-laws Grand Duke Louis of Hesse and Prince Henry of Battenberg and her grandchildren Victoria, Princess Ludwig of Battenberg, Alix of Hesse, Princess Victoria Eugenie, Prince Alexander and Prince Leopold of Battenberg 1891.

[archduchessofnowhere]

While I can't find any evidence of Archduchess Maria Antonietta ever being considered a potential bride for Rudolf, it seems that she was a serious marriage candidate for Alexander of Battemberg, the first Prince of Bulgaria. Quoted on Egon Corti's biography of Alexander:

'Dear Papa,' he wrote to his father, 'as matters are now, I think it would be a good thing if you were to write to the Czar and tell him quite plainly that I cannot remain in Bulgaria without getting married. I gave up marriage with Archduchess Maria Antonia at the express wish of Russia, one with Vicky would be impossible for the same reason, and there does not seem to be anyone else.'

This letter is dated from 1884. Since Alexander explicitely wrote that he had to "gave up" marrying the Archduchess for political reasons and not because of her health, she must have been considered an eligible bride for him at some point between April 1879 (when he became Prince of Bulgaria) and November 1882, the date Maria Antonietta had to move to Cannes in search of a warmer climate because she became too sick. I doubt there was any serious talk of marriage after that, since she died only five months later.

[queenalexandraofdenmark]

~ ROYALS AND THEIR SIGNATURES ~

Part 3/3

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Princess Alice of Greece and Denmark(Princess Alice of Battenberg)

Crown Princess Thyra of Hanover(Princess Thyra of Denmark)

Princess Diana, Princess of Wales

Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia

Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna

Empress Elisabeth(Sissi) of Austria

Empress Maria Feodorovna(Dagmar of Denmark)

Tsar Alexander III

Princess Helen, Duchess of Albany(Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont)

Empress Maria Alexandrovna

[loiladadiani]

The focus of the photograph for me is the Empress María Alexandrovna. I am always looking for pictures of her, as she is described as beautiful when young. I can see indications of that in pictures such as this one, but I am also beginning to understand why it might have been that many mistook her shyness for coldness and aloofness.

On the photograph from left to right: Julie, Princess of Battenberg; Elizabeth of Prussia, Princess and Prince Carl of Hesse, Prince Wilhelmina of Hesse, Empress Marie Alexandrovna, Prince Louis of Hesse; Prince Gustav Vasa from Sweden; Princess Alice of Hesse and Prince Alexander of Hesse

[epoque-victorienne]

[princessvictoriamelita]

Battenberg siblings in 1896.

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

Princess Victoria Eugenie (Ena) of Battenberg with her brothers Alexander, and Leopold in 1891

[adini-nikolaevna]

If I'm not mistaken, empress Maria Alexandrovna's brother was infatuated with Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, but emperor Nicholas I did not want such a marriage to happen. Instead, he proposed a marriage with Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna, but he demurred. What did Ekaterina think about this? Thx u!

Hi! Nope, you are not mistaken—Prince Alexander of Hesse fancied himself in love with Grand Duchess Olga. She did flirt with him quite a bit, but she knew her father did not approve, and she sort of led Alexander on a little. Because her two sisters had married relatively insignificant royal partners, Nicholas was eager to see Olga make a dynastic marriage, and Alexander of Hesse was not what he had in mind. He did suggest his niece, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna, as an alternative, but Alexander had no interest in marrying a woman he didn’t love; what’s more, Ekaterina’s father, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, disliked the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and his dislike extended to her younger brother as well, so even if the young prince hadn’t demurred, it’s unlikely that the marriage would have happened. We don’t know much about what Ekaterina herself thought of the situation, but from what I understand, she was in no hurry to marry, and she had already refused the hand of another German prince. Ultimately, she married Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and interestingly, the couple made their home in St. Petersburg. Prince Alexander later fell in love with Countess Julia von Hauke, maid of honor to his sister, much to the displeasure of Nicholas I; he and Julia left Russia, and by the time they were able to wed, she was already six months pregnant. Her husband’s brother, the Grand Duke of Hesse, gave her the title of Princess of Battenberg, and as such, the current Mountbattens are her descendants.

[royal-confessions]

“I was surprised to find out how many connections the Vanderbilt family had to royalty. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt apparently had a lesbian relationship with Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven and was engaged to Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and of Tsar Alexander II. Her sister Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness was the mistress of Edward VIII and was the person to introduce him to Wallis Simpson. Grace Vanderbilt was the guardian of Lady Pamela Hicks when she was shipped off to New York and the Mounbattens became very close to family. Consuelo Vanderbilt was proposed to by Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg (who was the brother of Prince Henry Battenberg, who married Princess Beatrice, a daughter of Queen Victoria) but she turned him down. No wonder Prince Harry did an interview with Anderson Cooper 😅. I’m sure there’s many more connections but I just find that all so fascinating.” - Submitted by Anonymous

[romanovsonelastdance]

Who do you think would have had the highest chance of suitor for OTMAA? (Pre-revolution and war) as well as (after revo if they survived).

Olga nikolaevna= Princes Vladimir Paley or Grand duke dmitri pavlovich romanov (there are some who thinks paley might have been).

Tatiana Nikolaevna= Prince Alexander of Yugoslvia or Prince Roman petrovich(idk about roman petrovich but from what I read he was mostly mentioned)

Maria= Prince Carol of Romania or Prince Louis Mountbatten( carol said he liked her at some point)

Anastasia= Princes Frederick of Denmark or Prince Paul of Greece and Denmark(Tbh, I feel like she would chose herself heheh)

Alexei= Princess Ileana of Romania or Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark.

Olga - I think Dmitri would have been 10000% off the table after the Rasputin murder, so between the two of them Vladimir Paley might be the more likely. He's two years younger than her and from a morganatic marriage, but Dmitri being involved with Rasputin's murder means it's just not going to happen. Pre or post revolution wouldn't matter much. Pre-Rasputin's murder though, Dmitri probably had higher chances.

Tatiana - probably Alexander of Serbia/Yugoslavia, but I think it comes down to if Tatiana thinks her duty is to Russia (in which case a marriage to a King is a way to solidify an alliance), or to her mother (in which case she might rather marry Roman, stay in Russia, and remain a confidante and helper to Alix). I do think she's the most suited to be a queen consort of the four. Post-revolution Roman's chances might be better, but if Alexander was in love with her than her not technically being a 'grand duchess' anymore probably wouldn't matter to him.

Maria - Pre revolution, probably Carol as much as it pains me to say. He's awful, but she was young and naive (like Sitta was) and if he turned on the charm and swept her off her feet she might fall for it at first. Plus, as I've said before, Dickie as a first cousin is a big no-no for Nicholas II/the Church, plus he's 'just' a Prince of Battenberg/Lord Mountbatten, technically it's an unequal marriage (like Olga and Prince Paley would technically be). Post-revolution I think Dickie stands a better chance because equal marriages are less important. First cousin thing is still a problem, though.

Anastasia - assuming she doesn't have any strong romantic feelings for either, Paul might be the more likely because he's at least Orthodox. I don't know that the Danes would make her change her religion, but it would still be lonely being a different religion than her husband and kids. With Paul they'd all be Orthodox. And I know Olga and Sitta at least exchanged letters, so Anastasia might know these cousins at least a little bit better than Frederik? I don't think the revolution would be much of a factor, although it might make her a less attractive option to Frederik.

Alexei - I'm Team Elizabeth (or really Team Any of Elena Vladimirovna's Daughters) all the way. She's closer in age to him, has stronger Russian connections than Ileana, was friendly with him and his sisters in his childhood, met him more than once, spent time in Russia with her relatives . . . it just makes so much sense in my head. Greece had the same revolution problems as Russia so it wouldn't matter here.

[archduchessofnowhere]

On Rudolf's marriage with Maria Antonia - the thing is, if he at any point considered marrying her, it would've been very easy to court her officially! His pool of possible marriage candidates was pretty small, but Maria Antonia as an archduchess would've been considered an eligible bride even by those strict standards. And yet, no credible biographer ever mentions her even being considered. It makes absolutely no sense for Rudolph to bother with a secretly romancing a girl he could marry very publicly. I mean that's basically what he did with Stephanie. And if he somehow couldn't, because of his or her family's disapproval, we would've at least gotten a hint of that too in correspondence. But as far I can tell, no.

Which is, on some level a pity, because she was the niece to Johann Orth of all people and I am all for giving more dimensions to his weird relationship to Rudolph. On the other hand, even as a piece of fanfiction, that theory is too convoluted, so.

Yeah, the whole "forbidden love" story makes no sense when you consider Antonietta was one of the few princesses that Rudolf could've courted with little problem. Personally I don't even think her tuberculosis would've been such a deal breaker for Franz Josef if Rudolf was truly so in love. And do we even know how sickly she actually was? Alexander of Battenberg seriously considered marrying her, which I don't think he would had she truly been bedridden for years, as Pachmann's story implies.

To me it seems that the choice of Antonietta as Rudolf's beloved was "strategical": she was a Habsburg (which reinforced Pachmann's claim as head of the Habsburgs), Johann Orth's niece (wrongly believed to be Rudolf's bestie), was Princess-abess of the Theresian Institution of Noble Ladies which was housed in Prague (where Rudolf also lived around that time), died close to the date Pachmann (allegedly) was born (which ties the story nicely with a bow).

But as for actual evidence, there seems to be none. Just to name one exemple at how this whole story is indeed pretty much fanfic at this point, Judith Listowel - a biographer of Rudolf - dedicates a lot of parragraphs to the affair, narrating the tragic love story and then ranting against Pachmann's claim... apparently unaware that Pachmann himself was the first person to ever talk of this affair in the first place? It's honestly an amazing (to not say something else) piece of work, since Listowel sets aside any sort of historiographical research and just starts writing fiction:

Rudolf was heartbroken over her [Maria Antonietta's] decision to take the veil. This had been his first love, she was young and beautiful and he wanted to marry her, and was trying to get round his father - it is believed with the blessing of the Empress Elizabeth. (...) It was at this time that Rudolf developed an interest in suicide, and it is a matter for speculation whether or not Maria Antonia's sacrifice in becoming a nun had anything to do with it.

Not only there is no citation for ANY of this, but also Listowel is under the very wrong impression that Antonietta was a nun. The Princess-Abess did not take any vows and could leave her position at any point in order to get married, which is what literally half of the Institution's princesses-abesses did. This is so easy to check that it annoyed me way more than the contradiction of saying that there's no doubt of the love affair and then stating that Pachmann was a liar.

[loiladadiani]

Portraits of Romanovs (and Relations) by Nicholas Panagiotti Zarokilli

Nicholas Pannagiottis Zarokilli was born in Turkey in 1879. He was a painter particularly fond of creating pictures of beautiful women. From 1912 to 1920, Zarokilli produced paintings for publications like MoToR, Modern Priscilla, Women’s Home Companion, The Green Book, McCall’s, and The Saturday Evening Post.

He also designed World War I posters. The United States needed money for the war, so the artist created posters to try and encourage people to give for the cause.

Zarokilli was known well for his dry-point paintings. Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate or "matrix" with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically identical to engraving.

He painted portraits for people such as the Queen of Spain, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Grand Duchess Anastasia, the King of Portugal, and Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Guggenheim. Landscapes were also his love, painting the cities of Venice, Madrid, and Seville.

The following is his rendering of several members of the Romanov family (and other relations.) I have seen some of these here and there before (several of you have them in your Tumblrs and always admired them; I think he captures the likenesses admirably. I found the ones here together and identified on the British Museum website (they were done between 1920 and 1922.)

These are the names of the easily recognizable "personages" in the paintings in the order they appear below:

Prince Felix Yusupof (wearing a suit)

Prince Felix Yusupof (head)

Princess Irina Alexandrovna

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (sitting)

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (bust)

Prince Andrei Alexandrovich

Prince Feodor Alexandrovich

Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna

Grand Duke Kyril Vladimirovich

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger

Queen Marie of Romania (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh) - Granddaughter of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain (born Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (youngest granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Hessian Princess through the morganatic Battenberg line)

References

N.P. Zarokilli Archives | The Saturday Evening Post

Nicholas Panagiotti Zarokilli | British Museum

[thequilandpaperwriter]

Portraits of Infante Jaime de Borbón Y Battenberg, Duke of Segovia. The first picture to the right was taken by photographer Alexander Bassano later (Bassano Ltd, Royal Photographers) on a whole plate glass negative on March 11th, 1920.

The picture to the left with a slightly older infante Jaime was taken by photographer Richard Neville Speaight later (Speaight Ltd) in 1923.

[princessvictoriamelita]

Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, 1860s.

[the-last-tsar]

May I ask who were the possible royal suitors of OTMA and A lexei

Hello!

As I know to Olga there was Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, King Carol II of Romania, King Edward VIII of U.K and King Alexander I of yugoslavia. Some sources also speak about King George VI of U.K and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich. There was also Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich (he had a crush on her) and Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich. Prince Christopher of Greece loved her and tried to marry her but Nicholas declined the offer.

To Tatiana there was King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (sources said the he was in love with her), King George VI of U.K and Prince Adalbert of Bavaria.

To Maria there was Prince Louis of Battenberg. King Carol II of Romania asked for her hand but Nicholas declined.

To Anastasia, some sources speak about King Leopold III of Belgium.

Boris of Bulgaria, Peter of Montenegro and Prince Arthur (son of Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught) were also mentioned as possible husbands for the girls.

As for Alexei there was Ileana of Romania, Princess Ingrid (she became Queen of Denmark). Others princesses of Norway and Greece were mentioned too.

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

A group gathering at Osborne House 1898

From left to right: Prince Leopold of Battenberg, Princess Marie Louise of Scheiswig Holstein holding Prince David of York (future king Edward VIII), Princess Mary Duchess of York (future Queen Mary) holding Mary Princess Royal, Prince Alexander of Battenberg (sitting), Princess Margaret of Connaught, Prince George Duke of York (future King George V) standing over Prince Albert of York (future King George VI), Queen Victoria of the U.K, Prince Arthur of Connaught, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (Duchess of Connaught), Princess Patricia of Connaught (sitting on ground), Princess Beatrice of Battenberg, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig Holstein, Prince Leopold of Battenberg