Friday, July 29, 2011

Nicholas will not allow Grand Duke Kirill to marry Victoria Melita

Embed from Getty Images 
 July 29, 1905

News has been received in Berlin from Coburg that the Russian Emperor Nicholas II "has refused permission" to his cousin, Grand Duke Kirill, to marry the divorced Grand Duchess of Hesse and By Rhine, reports the New York Times.

The Grand Duchess is a first cousin to both Kirill and Nicholas II.  She is the former Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, second daughter of the late Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his Russian-born wife, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna.

Grand Duchess Maria is the sister of Alexander III and Grand Duke Wladimir, fathers of Nicholas II and Kirill, respectively.  Victoria Melita and her former husband, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, are also first cousins, as both are grandchildren of the late Queen Victoria.   Ernst Ludwig's younger sister, Alix, is married to Nicholas II.

Rumors have been circulating for two years now regarding Kirill's desire to marry Victoria Melita.  There also have been announcements that the couple has already married.  For every announcement of an engagement between the cousins, there has been the "statement that Emperor Nicholas" is averse to the marriage.

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