In April 1894, Nicholas joined his Uncle Sergei and Aunt Elizabeth on a journey to Coburg, Germany, for the wedding of Elisabeth's and Alix's brother, Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, to their cousin, Victoria Melita of Edinburgh. Other guests included Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Empress Frederick (Kaiser Wilhelm's mother and Queen Victoria's eldest daughter), Nicholas's uncle, the Prince of Wales, and the bride's parents, Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh and Marie Alexandrovna, the Duchess of Edinburgh (sister of Alexander III).
Shortly after arriving in Coburg, Nicholas proposed to Alix and she rejected his proposal on the grounds that she could not convert to Orthodoxy. After the wedding of Ernst and "Ducky", however, the Kaiser had a talk with Alix, telling her that it was her duty to marry Nicholas and convert, as did Elizabeth, who voluntarily converted to Orthodoxy in 1892. After Nicholas proposed to Alix a second time, the two became officially engaged on 8 April 1894. For their parts, Nicholas's parents were reluctant to give the engagement their blessing, as Alix had made poor impressions on her visits to Russia, and only gave their consent after it became clear that Tsar Alexander's health was deteriorating. Queen Victoria had also been initially opposed to the match, because, while she had no objections against Nicholas personally, she had a dislike of Russia.
That summer, Nicholas travelled to England to visit both Alix and the Queen. The visit coincided with the birth of the Duke and Duchess of York's first child, the future King Edward VIII. Along with being present at the christening, Nicholas and Alix were listed amongst the child's godparents.After several weeks in England, Nicholas returned home for the wedding of his sister, Xenia, to a cousin, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich ("Sandro").
By that autumn, Alexander III was dying. Upon learning that he would at least be able survive for a fortnight, the Tsar had Nicholas summon Alix to the imperial palace at Livadia. Alix arrived on 22 October and the Tsar insisted on receiving her in full uniform. Ten days later, Alexander III died at the age of forty-nine, leaving twenty-six-year-old Nicholas as Tsar of Russia. That evening, Nicholas was consecrated by his father's priest as Tsar Nicholas II and, the following day, Alix was received into the Russian Orthodox Church, taking the name Alexandra Feodorovna
Source: Wikipedia
Thanks to Alena for this beautiful postcard. I thought
to share the story of how the royal couple met.
The stamp shows the 2015 "Mining and Metallurgical Company
Norilsk Nickel" The stamp feels embossed, which means you can feel
the outline of the spade and person!
Sent: 17 Oct Received: 4 November 2015 Travelled: 18 days
