Beauty and Freedom

To quote Queen Victoria, "dear, lovely Ella" was thrown down a mine shaft on this date 92 years ago.

I believe Ella's - Grand Duchess Elizabeth's - whole life was dedicated to beauty and bringing beauty to the lives of those around her, by recognising the beauty in every individual being.

In these days of a throw-away society - or perhaps a post-throw-away society, as we become more aware of the beauty of the planet, of animals (Ella became a vegetarian, too), of Nature and craftsmanship - someone who exudes true beauty (not what passes for beauty in the shallow advertising of everyone appearing to look the same) still remains a bright light!

In memory of 'dear, lovely Ella' - an individual, murdered by the conformist bolsheviks on 18th July 1918.

Princess Alice of Hesse

Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria, was open-minded and interested in intellectual pursuits like her sister Vicky. She was an interesting woman. Unfortunately, she had a very sad life.

The Princess was only a teenager when her beloved father died. She was very close to Prince Albert and nursed him a lot during his illness. She played the piano to him and read to him. When the grief overcame her she quietly left the room and came back when she had calmed down. "Her fortitude amazed their doctors and servants."

After the Prince died the poor Princess then had to take over many of Queen Victoria's duties and try and nurse her through her terrible grief. This proved impossible but the Princess was a great help to her.

Princess Alice's wedding to Prince Louis of Hesse, soon after her father's death, was more like a wedding than a funeral. Almost everyone dressed in black and spent the ceremony crying. Even the Archbishop who married the couple cried.

The Princess joined her husband in Darmstadt. Her marriage was not happy because Prince Louis liked military parades and shooting, instead of reading and cultural pursuits. He hardly ever read a book. Princess Alice was quite disappointed in him.

In spite of this, they had five children in quick succession. The children included Princess Alexandra, who became the tragic Tsarina, and beautiful Grand Duchess Ella, who was also killed by the Bolsheviks in a terrible way. Princess Alexandra's son, Alexai, inherited his haemophilia from his mother. Her brother, Fritti, was a haemophiliac. Princess Alice was distraught when the young boy fell out of the window and died shortly afterwards. She never really recovered from her grief.

The Princess devoted herself to charity work. Soon after her marriage there was a war between Austria and Prussia. Hesse was on the side of Austria which made Princess Alice and Vicki enemies. Princess Alice admired Florence Nightingale and nursed the sick and wounded with great devotion. After the war she continued her interest in charity work. She founded a mental asylum and worked for many charities, and established schools and hospitals.

She caused controversy when she became interested in a controversial theologian, David Strauss. He believed in the historical aspects of Jesus's life, but not the 'supernatural' aspects. Princess Vicky invited him to the palace and liked to discuss Christianity with him. Many Germans didn't like this, and the Empress Augusta even accused her of being an atheist.

Princess Alice was sickly. She suffered from severe headaches, neuralgia, and rheumatism. She wore herself out with her charity work. After her little daughter May died of diptheria, Alice soon caught it from her son, Ernest, who also had the illness. She died at only 35 on the anniversary of her father's death.

Queen Victoria wrote that 'the princess who behaved so admirably during her dear father's illness...should be called back on this very anniversary, seems almost incredible, and most mysterious.'

Princess Alice was greatly beloved in Germany and England because of her charity work. The Princess Alice hospital in Eastbourne was opened in her memory in 1883.

The Glamorous Grand Duke

Legend has it that Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovitch and Chanel met on a beach, although they may have been introduced to each other by Dmitri's sister, Marie Pavlovna. One wonders what the dark and handsome Dmitri and the petite Chanel first said to each other! They soon became lovers.

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess certainly had a strong influence on Chanel's fashion career. Dmitri introduced her to the former perfumier to the Tsars, Earnest Beaux, and Marie made gorgeous embroidered clothes for the business before becoming a designer herself. Beaux created the celebrated Chanel No.5.

Dmitri was the son of the Tsar's uncle, Grand Duke Paul, and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Greece, who died giving birth to him. After Paul made a morganatic marriage and was sent into exile by the Tsar, Marie and Dmitri were looked after by the Tsaritsa's sister, Grand Duchess Ella and her husband, Grand Duke Serge. Ella was beautiful but rather cold and Serge was greatly disliked. Although they were surrounded by splendour and played with the Tsar's children, it must have been a strange childhood. Ella was obsessed with Serge, who was secretly gay. Serge was rather cruel, but apparently he was kinder to the children than Ella. He was regarded as a petty tyrant and assassinated in 1905.

Dmitri had many lovers before he met Chanel, including the ballerina, Vera Karalli and his cousin's morganatic wife, Natasha. The greatest scandal involving the grand Duke occurred when he and the flamboyant Felix Youssopoff had an affair. Dmitri was considered as a husband for Grand Duchess Olga by the Tsaritsa at one stage.

When he and Felix got fed up with Rasputin's evil influence over Alexandra and the Tsar, they decided to murder him. They thought that this would solve the many problems of the royal family and the country. Rasputin was very difficult to get rid of. His killing involved poisoning, shooting and drowning. The Tsar was horrified when he found out that Dimitri was involved and sent him into exile. This, of course, saved his life.

Dmitri always had money problems and his love affair with Chanel didn't last. However, he eventually married a wealthy American heiress, Audrey Emery, moved to Florida and had a son, Paulie. Paul eventually became the Mayor of Palm Beach.

They eventually divorced and Dmitri died young of tuberculosis in Switzerland during the Second World War. He was reburied in the palace chapel on the island of Mainau in Lake Constance in southern Germany. Marie's son owned the property there and she wanted him buried there.

A Little More of Ella's Childhood Christmas

(From The Life & Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna by Baroness Sophie Buxhoevden:

"Christmas was celebrated partly in the English and partly in the German way, and was a family feast in which all the household shared. A huge Christmas tree stood in the ballroom, its branches laden with candles, apples, gilt nuts, pink quince sausages, and all kinds of treasures. Round it were tables with gifts for all the members of the family. The servants came in and the Grand Duchess gave them their presents. Then followed a family Christmas dinner, at which the traditional German goose was followed by real English plum pudding and mince pies sent from England. The poor were not forgotten, and Princess Alice had gifts sent to all the hospitals. Later, the Empress continued the same Christmas customs in Russia."