The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Charlotte of Prussia: “A great lady” (Part seven)

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 burden of his worries. […] Since the Empress fell ill and he has to contemplate the possibility of her death, the unfortunate Emperor has lost all courage. He neither sleeps nor eats. He spends the nights in the Empress’s rooms.¹

In early 1855, an influenza epidemic broke out in St Petersburg, and by the end of January, Nicholas had caught a bad cold. He stubbornly continued to carry out his duties, even as his cold turned into the flu. He forbade bulletins about his health because his soldiers were still dying in the war. On 23 February, he finally gave in and rested. However, one of his lungs had already been severely affected, and by 29 February, his eldest son was informed by doctors of his diagnosis.

Nicholas refused to accept that he was going to die, and he refused to take communion when Charlotte suggested it. It only dawned on him when Charlotte tearfully asked if he still loved her. He responded, “Whether I love you! How can I not love you? The day we first saw each other, my heart told me: ‘ This is your guardian angel for life!’ And this prophecy of the heart has come true.”² Finally, he had an announcement that he was dying and began to make arrangements for his funeral. Charlotte was to dress in white, as if she were a bride rather than a widow in black.

Charlotte installed herself on a leather sofa next to Nicholas’s cot as he entered his last hours. He told his eldest son to “Serve Russia!” and said goodbye to various family members. Charlotte held his right hand, and Alexander his left, as he died on 2 March 1855.³ On 18 March, the Emperor was buried in the uniform of the Chevaliers Guards. As requested, she wore white. However, as the coffin was lowered into the crypt, she fainted.⁴

As dowager Empress, Charlotte moved back to Anichkov. She was too weak to attend the wedding of her son, Nicholas, and Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg, in early 1856. In May 1856, she travelled to Berlin, where she received the condolences of her brother, the King. From Berlin, she travelled to Stuttgart to stay with her daughter Olga. After six weeks, she went to Wildbad, where she was received by the Grand Duchess of Baden and her two youngest daughters, Marie and Cecilie. The 16-year-old Cecilie had been chosen to marry Charlotte’s youngest son, Michael.⁵ During this time, Charlotte was painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

She was back in St Petersburg by September to attend her son’s coronation. On the morning of the coronation, her brother wrote, “Today is the coronation in old Moscow – May God grant Charlotte the strength to endure both the exertion and the emotional turmoil of all kinds, remembering what happened thirty years ago!”⁶ She endured and embraced her son at the end of the ceremony.

Shortly afterwards, Charlotte travelled to Nice, and she immediately felt at home there. Charlotte bought land for the founding of a Russian Orthodox Church in the Rue Longchamp. She was soon joined by her daughter, Olga, and her brother, Charles. She worried about Olga, who was unhappy in her marriage and had not had children. After Easter, she was finally able to visit Rome, which was a great joy to her. After a year of travelling, she returned to St Petersburg. She now began living mainly at Tsarkoye Selo and took on the role of a dowager Empress.

In 1859, she once more headed to Germany under the name Countess Romanova. She took the waters at Ems before travelling on to spend time with Olga. She was not back in Russia by September to see her grandson, Nicholas, take the oath as his father’s heir. She continued her travels through Europe and underwent various treatments, such as having leeches applied to her temples.⁷

In January 1860, the church in Nice was consecrated, just in time for her return. She travelled to Marseille and was forced to cross into France. She now had to meet Emperor Napoleon III, whom she blamed for the Crimean War. Napoleon was later said to have told a guest that she was “a great lady.”⁸ Charlotte celebrated her 62nd birthday in Wildbad. After this, she would make her last visit to her brother’s court in Berlin.

By then, Charlotte was half-blind, and her brother was so ill that he did not give any inclination that he recognised her. It took over a day for him to be able to utter her name. Charlotte was devastated to see him like this. Travelling had taken a huge toll on Charlotte’s health, and she returned to Russia after the summer. She settled in at Tsarkoye Selo, where she would spend her final days.

During the month of October, Charlotte gradually grew weaker, but like her husband, she refused to take communion and did not believe she was really very ill. In the end, she relented and was noted as being “calm and content” afterwards.⁹ During these last few days, her five-week-old grandson, Paul, was baptised without ceremony, so that she could still be his godmother.¹⁰

On 30 October, she received communion again, but she refused the last rites. Olga arrived from Germany, and Michael came from London. As the family gathered around her, news began to spread around Moscow that she was dying. Charlotte began to say her goodbyes, and Alexander sat at her bedside. In the early hours of 1 November 1860, the struggle began. Finally, she fell asleep and took her last breath around 8.30 a.m. Countess Elise Fersen wrote, “On the last night before her death, the Empress clearly called out the names Fritz and William. She was constantly occupied with her dear family; the names papa, ma mere¹¹, and Sanssouci were also clearly understood. The Empress often called out to the late Emperor, and said last, ‘Niki, Niki, je viens, veux te de moi?’¹² Those were roughly her last words, spoken at 4 a.m.”¹³

Charlotte was interred next to her husband at the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral,

1. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.319
2. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.320
3. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.321
4. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.322
5. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.325
6. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.326
7. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.336
8. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.337
9. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.342
10. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.343
11. My mother
12. I am coming. Do you want me?
13. Die Preußin auf dem Zarenthron by Marianna Butenschön p.344