Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna (Alix of Hesse and by Rhine)

Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (1872-1918), consort of Tsar Nicholas II. Daughter of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his first wife, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom; a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and sister of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna. Became Empress of Russia upon her marriage in 1894, but was not crowned until 1896. Mother of four daughters, including Grand Duchesses Olga Nikolaevna and Tatiana Nikolaevna, and a haemophiliac son, Alexei. Relied on the political advice of her son’s faith healer, Rasputin, to the detriment of the monarchy. Lived as a prisoner from the February Revolution of 1917, until July 1918, when she was murdered by the Bolsheviks at Ipatiev House along with her husband and children.

Figure 10.1. Nikolai Kornilievich Bodarevsky (Russian), Portrait of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, 1907, Tsarskoye Selo, St. Petersburg, source: Wikimedia Commons.

1890s

Figure 10.2. *Left*, ball gown belonging to Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, Frankfurt, 1894, collection of The State Hermitage Museum; *right*, Alexandra Fyodorovna shown wearing the dress in a photograph taken by Gustav William Henry Mullins in August 1894 (prior to her marriage), Royal Collection.

Coronation dress, 1896

The last coronation in Russia, that of Tsar Nicholas II and his consort, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, took place on May 14, 1896 at the Kremlin’s Assumption Cathedral. A full discussion of her coronation ensemble is available here.