Empress of Russia
Alexander III died on 1 November 1894 and Nicholas became the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias at the age of twenty-six. Alix of Hesse accompanied the Imperial family as they returned to St Petersburg with the body of the tsar, and it is said that the people greeted their new Empress-to-be with ominous whispers of "She comes to us behind a coffin."
The marriage with Nicholas was not delayed. Alexandra and Nicholas were wed in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace of St Petersburg on 26 November 1894. The marriage that began that night remained exceptionally close until the pair was assassinated simultaneously in 1918. It was a Victorian marriage, outwardly serene and proper, but based on intensely passionate physical love.
Read more about this topic: Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix Of Hesse)
Famous quotes containing the words empress and/or russia:
“The Empress is Legitimist, my cousin is Republican, Morny is Orleanist, I am a socialist; the only Bonapartist is Persigny, and he is mad.”
—Napoleon Bonaparte III (1808–1873)
“How can I explain the difference to me between America and Russia?... the America I’ve known is a place where men on horseback escort union marchers, the Russia I’ve known is a place where men on horseback slaughter young Socialists and Jews.”
—Golda Meir (1898–1978)