russia

Read part six here. In 1853, the Crimean War broke out. By September 1854, the war was not going much to Nicholas’s frustration. Nicholas and Charlotte both fell ill, and one courtier wrote, “Lately, he seems more dejected every day; his face is worried, his gaze dull. His beautiful, majestic figure has bowed under the [read more]

Read part five here. Once back in Russia, the focus returned to the upcoming nuptials of Charlotte’s eldest son, Alexander, and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. On 12 December 1840, Marie was accepted into the Russian Orthodox Church with the name Maria Alexandrovna. She and Alexander could now be officially betrothed. The wedding took [read more]

Read part four here. The Austrian diplomat Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont and his wife, Dolli, were invited to the Peterhof. Dolli later wrote, “But there, too, was Sophie Urusova, this enigmatic figure, with her dazzling white and dispassionate beauty, at the sight of which the Empress’s friends’ hearts ached, and who occupied a place in [read more]

Read part three here. Life changed forever in December 1825. Nicholas’s elder brother, Emperor Alexander I, died on 1 December in the arms of his once-estranged wife. He had fallen ill during a trip to Crimea. The news arrived in St Petersburg on 9 December. Charlotte’s mother-in-law, Empress Maria Feodorovna, fainted upon hearing the news [read more]

Read part two here. On 12 June 1817, Charlotte left Berlin with her brother, William. Her entire entourage consisted of 12 carriages, and Charlotte’s carriage alone was being pulled by eight horses. She had been told that Nicholas would meet her at the border, but he surprised her at Memel. When they finally reached the [read more]