The photo exhibited at the Livadia Palace Museum depicts Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov wearing a uniform of an unidentified hussar regiment and the German princess Alix of Hesse. It was taken on the day of their engagement, April 8, 1894, in the German town of Coburg.
Nicholas and Alexandra first met ten years before their engagement, in June 1884. Twelve-year-old Princess Alix attended the wedding of her older sister Ella, who married Nicholas’s uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and became Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia. At the time, Tsesarevich Nicholas — affectionately referred to by his relatives as Nicky — was sixteen years old. Although it was love at first sight, it was only a decade later that the future Emperor had the opportunity to propose.
Nicholas and Alexandra got engaged on April 8, 1894. Nicholas underlined this date in his diary with three bold lines and called it a wonderful day of his betrothal to his “dear beloved Alix”. Six months later, the bride received a telegram urgently summoning her to Crimea. The health of Alexander III was declining. The decision was made to expedite the wedding, but the Emperor was not destined to attend it. On October 20, 1894, at the age of forty-nine, Alexander III died in the Small Livadia Palace. “Our wedding was like a continuation of the funeral. Only now I was wearing a white dress, ” Empress Alexandra Feodorovna recalled later. The wedding took place in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace a week after the funeral.
Every year, Alexandra and Nicholas celebrated their engagement anniversary together. The first time they were apart on April 8 was when they were already in their forties. “My dear boy, what happiness and what love you have given me over all these years… Time flies so fast! It has been 21 years already! You know I have kept the ‘princess dress’ I wore that morning? And I shall wear your brooch…” Empress Alexandra Feodorovna wrote in an affectionate letter to Nicholas II while he was at the front in April 1915.
Nicholas and Alexandra loved each other dearly. They were faced with many hardships, including the incurable illness of Tsesarevich Alexei, the Russo-Japanese war, the Russian Revolution of 1905, World War I, the downfall of the Empire and the tragic death of their entire family.
Nicholas and Alexandra first met ten years before their engagement, in June 1884. Twelve-year-old Princess Alix attended the wedding of her older sister Ella, who married Nicholas’s uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and became Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia. At the time, Tsesarevich Nicholas — affectionately referred to by his relatives as Nicky — was sixteen years old. Although it was love at first sight, it was only a decade later that the future Emperor had the opportunity to propose.
Nicholas and Alexandra got engaged on April 8, 1894. Nicholas underlined this date in his diary with three bold lines and called it a wonderful day of his betrothal to his “dear beloved Alix”. Six months later, the bride received a telegram urgently summoning her to Crimea. The health of Alexander III was declining. The decision was made to expedite the wedding, but the Emperor was not destined to attend it. On October 20, 1894, at the age of forty-nine, Alexander III died in the Small Livadia Palace. “Our wedding was like a continuation of the funeral. Only now I was wearing a white dress, ” Empress Alexandra Feodorovna recalled later. The wedding took place in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace a week after the funeral.
Every year, Alexandra and Nicholas celebrated their engagement anniversary together. The first time they were apart on April 8 was when they were already in their forties. “My dear boy, what happiness and what love you have given me over all these years… Time flies so fast! It has been 21 years already! You know I have kept the ‘princess dress’ I wore that morning? And I shall wear your brooch…” Empress Alexandra Feodorovna wrote in an affectionate letter to Nicholas II while he was at the front in April 1915.
Nicholas and Alexandra loved each other dearly. They were faced with many hardships, including the incurable illness of Tsesarevich Alexei, the Russo-Japanese war, the Russian Revolution of 1905, World War I, the downfall of the Empire and the tragic death of their entire family.
