Princess Elisabeth of Hesse
Encyclopedia
Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (Prinzessin Elisabeth Marie Alice Viktoria von Hessen und bei Rhein) ( 11 March 1895 – 16 November 1903) was the only daughter of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his first wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, who was born Princess Elisabeth of Prussia
. Her paternal aunt, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1864–1918), had the same name and was also nicknamed Ella. Elisabeth's early death was rumored to be a result of poison meant for her uncle, Tsar Nicholas II, but the court physician said she died of virulent typhoid, probably caused by her taking a drink of water from a contaminated stream.
. He claimed that she made 'happy little squeals' when he showed her a particular shade of lilac
material. Ernst then decorated her nursery in shades of lilac. He later had a playhouse built for his daughter that stood in its own garden. Adults were forbidden to enter "much to the frustration of royal nurses and tutors, who could be seen pacing up and down impatiently outside as they waited for their high-spirited young charges to stop their games and emerge."
, a governess for the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, described Elisabeth as "a sweet and pretty child, with wide grey-blue eyes and a profusion of dark hair. She was much like her mother, not only in face, but also in manner." The four-year-old Elisabeth wanted a baby sister and tried to persuade her aunt and uncle to let her parents adopt one of her first cousins, Tatiana
or Maria. Her parents had only one other child together, a stillborn son, in 1900.
She was a favorite with her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who called the little girl "my precious." Queen Victoria refused to permit the unhappily married Victoria and Ernst to divorce for the sake of Elisabeth. It was Elisabeth whom Queen Victoria asked to see first and to receive eightieth birthday greetings from in 1899. When the child heard Queen Victoria's pony cart approaching on the road below Windsor Castle
, the four-year-old Elisabeth ran out on the balcony, waving and calling, "Granny Gran, I'm here!" Elisabeth's playfulness made the queen laugh out loud. Elisabeth's grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the Duchess of Edinburgh
, brought five-year-old Elisabeth to see Queen Victoria on her death bed on 22 January 1901. After the queen died, the child was taken in to see her body and told that her great-grandmother had gone to be with the angels. "But I don't see the wings," Elisabeth whispered. Elisabeth sat next to her second cousin, Prince Edward of York
(called David, later to become King Edward VIII) during Queen Victoria's funeral. "Sweet little David behaved so well during the service," wrote his aunt Maud
, "and was supported by the little Hesse girl who took him under her protection and held him most of the time round his neck. They looked such a delightful little couple."
In his memoirs, written more than thirty years after her death, her father wrote of Elisabeth's "deep sensitivity" and "very large heart." He wrote that "I never knew a child who had so much influence on adults. Her inner personality was very strong, and she had a natural quality that protected her from being spoiled." In October 1901, after the death of Queen Victoria, Elisabeth's parents finally divorced, her mother having previously embarked on an affair with another cousin, her future husband, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
. Her parents' divorce meant that Elisabeth divided her year between Darmstadt
and her mother's new home in Coburg
. Elisabeth was at first mistrustful of her mother and resented the divorce, although Victoria did her best to mend her relationship with her daughter during her visit with Elisabeth in the spring of 1902. She was only partially successful, though Victoria enjoyed turning her daughter into an outstanding horsewoman.
In his memoirs, Ernst said he had difficulty persuading Elisabeth to visit her mother. Before one visit, he found the child "whimpering under a sofa, full of despair." He assured Elisabeth that her mother loved her too. "Mama says she loves me, but you do love me," Elisabeth replied. Margaret Eagar thought the child's eyes were the saddest she had ever seen. "Looking at her I used to wonder what those wide grey-blue eyes saw, to bring such a look of sadness to the childish face," she wrote. Eagar wondered if Elisabeth had a premonition of her own death because she often told her cousin Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia
that "I shall never see this again." However, despite Elisabeth's sad eyes, she was generally a sweet, happy child who was a peacemaker when her cousins had a dispute.
, to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
. A few weeks later he took Elisabeth to stay with his younger sister, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia
and her family. At the imperial family's hunting lodge in Skierniewice
, Poland, Elisabeth went on long walks and had picnics in the forest with her cousins.
Her nanny, who called Elisabeth "my baby," woke Elisabeth in the middle of the night and settled her in a window seat of the nursery so that she might look out on the game spread out upon the grounds below. One morning, the eight-year-old awoke with a sore throat and pains in her chest, which the Russian Court doctor put down to too much excitement with her cousins the previous day. Her fever rose to 104 degrees. The imperial party didn't believe her illness was a serious one and went ahead with their plans for the day and attended the theater as planned. By the evening Elisabeth was in even more severe pain and had started gasping for breath. A specialist was summoned from Warsaw
. The specialist gave her injections of caffeine
and camphor
to stimulate her slowing heart, but without success.
"Suddenly she sat up in her bed and looked from one to the other of us with wide, frightened eyes," wrote Eagar. "She cried out suddenly, 'I'm dying! I'm dying!' She was coaxed to lie down again, but remained agitated. "The child turned to me, and said anxiously, 'Send a telegram to mama.'" Eagar promised it would be done. "She added, 'immediately.' ... We continued to fan the feeble spark of life, but moment by moment it declined. She began to talk to her cousins, and seemed to imagine she was playing with them. She asked for little Anastasie
and I brought the wee thing into the room. The dying eyes rested on her for a moment, and Anastasie
said, 'Poor cousin Ella! Poor Princess Elizabeth!' I took the baby out of the room." Doctors told Alexandra that the child's mother should be notified, but the telegram did not arrive until the following morning, when Elisabeth had already died. An autopsy following her death confirmed that she had died of virulent typhoid, although it was rumored she had eaten from a poisoned dish intended for the Tsar.
Princess Elizabeth of Prussia
Princess Elizabeth of Prussia was the second daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg, granddaughter of Frederick William II of Prussia...
. Her paternal aunt, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1864–1918), had the same name and was also nicknamed Ella. Elisabeth's early death was rumored to be a result of poison meant for her uncle, Tsar Nicholas II, but the court physician said she died of virulent typhoid, probably caused by her taking a drink of water from a contaminated stream.
Birth
Her parents, nicknamed 'Ernie' and 'Ducky,' were first cousins who married at the instigation of their common grandmother, Queen Victoria. The marriage was an unhappy one from the start. Princess Victoria Melita was eighteen at the time of Elisabeth's birth. She was fond of Elisabeth, but found it hard to compete with Ernst's devotion to their daughter. Ernst was convinced even before Elisabeth could speak that he alone could understand her. At the age of six months, she was scheduled to move to a new nursery and her father 'consulted' her on her color preferencesColor preferences
In the psychology of color, color preferences are the tendency for an individual or a group to prefer some colors over others, including a favorite color.-Introduction:...
. He claimed that she made 'happy little squeals' when he showed her a particular shade of lilac
Lilac (color)
Lilac is a color that is a pale tone of violet that is a representation of the average color of most lilac flowers. It might also be described as light purple. The colors of some lilac flowers may be equivalent to the colors shown below as pale lilac, rich lilac, or deep lilac...
material. Ernst then decorated her nursery in shades of lilac. He later had a playhouse built for his daughter that stood in its own garden. Adults were forbidden to enter "much to the frustration of royal nurses and tutors, who could be seen pacing up and down impatiently outside as they waited for their high-spirited young charges to stop their games and emerge."
Childhood
Margaretta EagarMargaretta Eagar
Margaretta Alexandra Eagar, also known as Margaret Eagar, , was a nanny for the four daughters of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, known collectively as OTMA: The Grand Duchesses Olga ; Tatiana ; Maria ; and Anastasia Margaretta Alexandra Eagar, also known as Margaret Eagar, (August 12, 1863...
, a governess for the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, described Elisabeth as "a sweet and pretty child, with wide grey-blue eyes and a profusion of dark hair. She was much like her mother, not only in face, but also in manner." The four-year-old Elisabeth wanted a baby sister and tried to persuade her aunt and uncle to let her parents adopt one of her first cousins, Tatiana
Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia , , was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and of Tsarina Alexandra...
or Maria. Her parents had only one other child together, a stillborn son, in 1900.
She was a favorite with her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who called the little girl "my precious." Queen Victoria refused to permit the unhappily married Victoria and Ernst to divorce for the sake of Elisabeth. It was Elisabeth whom Queen Victoria asked to see first and to receive eightieth birthday greetings from in 1899. When the child heard Queen Victoria's pony cart approaching on the road below Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
, the four-year-old Elisabeth ran out on the balcony, waving and calling, "Granny Gran, I'm here!" Elisabeth's playfulness made the queen laugh out loud. Elisabeth's grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the Duchess of Edinburgh
Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
-Later life:She died in October 1920 in Zürich, Switzerland apparently after receiving a telegram addressed to her as "Frau Coburg"; she was buried in the Ducal Family's cemetery outside Coburg...
, brought five-year-old Elisabeth to see Queen Victoria on her death bed on 22 January 1901. After the queen died, the child was taken in to see her body and told that her great-grandmother had gone to be with the angels. "But I don't see the wings," Elisabeth whispered. Elisabeth sat next to her second cousin, Prince Edward of York
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
(called David, later to become King Edward VIII) during Queen Victoria's funeral. "Sweet little David behaved so well during the service," wrote his aunt Maud
Maud of Wales
Princess Maud of Wales was Queen of Norway as spouse of King Haakon VII. She was a member of the British Royal Family as the youngest daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark and granddaughter of Queen Victoria and also of Christian IX of Denmark. She was the younger sister of George V...
, "and was supported by the little Hesse girl who took him under her protection and held him most of the time round his neck. They looked such a delightful little couple."
In his memoirs, written more than thirty years after her death, her father wrote of Elisabeth's "deep sensitivity" and "very large heart." He wrote that "I never knew a child who had so much influence on adults. Her inner personality was very strong, and she had a natural quality that protected her from being spoiled." In October 1901, after the death of Queen Victoria, Elisabeth's parents finally divorced, her mother having previously embarked on an affair with another cousin, her future husband, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia was a member of the Russian Imperial Family. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the deaths of Tsar Nicholas II and his brother Michael, Cyril assumed the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia and later the title Emperor and Autocrat of all the...
. Her parents' divorce meant that Elisabeth divided her year between Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
and her mother's new home in Coburg
Coburg
Coburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany. Its 2005 population was 42,015. Long one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined with Bavaria by popular vote in 1920...
. Elisabeth was at first mistrustful of her mother and resented the divorce, although Victoria did her best to mend her relationship with her daughter during her visit with Elisabeth in the spring of 1902. She was only partially successful, though Victoria enjoyed turning her daughter into an outstanding horsewoman.
In his memoirs, Ernst said he had difficulty persuading Elisabeth to visit her mother. Before one visit, he found the child "whimpering under a sofa, full of despair." He assured Elisabeth that her mother loved her too. "Mama says she loves me, but you do love me," Elisabeth replied. Margaret Eagar thought the child's eyes were the saddest she had ever seen. "Looking at her I used to wonder what those wide grey-blue eyes saw, to bring such a look of sadness to the childish face," she wrote. Eagar wondered if Elisabeth had a premonition of her own death because she often told her cousin Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia ; , November 16 after 1900 – July 17, 1918) was the eldest daughter of the last autocratic ruler of the Russian Empire, Emperor Nicholas II, and of Empress Alexandra of Russia....
that "I shall never see this again." However, despite Elisabeth's sad eyes, she was generally a sweet, happy child who was a peacemaker when her cousins had a dispute.
Death
On 6 October 1903, Ernst hosted a large family gathering at Darmstadt for the wedding of his niece, Princess Alice of BattenbergPrincess Alice of Battenberg
Princess Alice of Battenberg, later Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and mother-in-law of Elizabeth II....
, to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia. He was a grandson of Christian IX of Denmark.He began military training at an early age, and was...
. A few weeks later he took Elisabeth to stay with his younger sister, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia
Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse
Alix of Hesse and by Rhine later Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova , was Empress consort of Russia as spouse of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire...
and her family. At the imperial family's hunting lodge in Skierniewice
Skierniewice
Skierniewice is a town in central Poland with 49,132 inhabitants , situated in the Łódź Voivodship , previously capital of Skierniewice Voivodship . It is the capital of Skierniewice County. The town is situated almost exactly half-way between Łódź and Warsaw.Skierniewice gained municipal rights...
, Poland, Elisabeth went on long walks and had picnics in the forest with her cousins.
Her nanny, who called Elisabeth "my baby," woke Elisabeth in the middle of the night and settled her in a window seat of the nursery so that she might look out on the game spread out upon the grounds below. One morning, the eight-year-old awoke with a sore throat and pains in her chest, which the Russian Court doctor put down to too much excitement with her cousins the previous day. Her fever rose to 104 degrees. The imperial party didn't believe her illness was a serious one and went ahead with their plans for the day and attended the theater as planned. By the evening Elisabeth was in even more severe pain and had started gasping for breath. A specialist was summoned from Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The specialist gave her injections of caffeine
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
and camphor
Camphor
Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C10H16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...
to stimulate her slowing heart, but without success.
"Suddenly she sat up in her bed and looked from one to the other of us with wide, frightened eyes," wrote Eagar. "She cried out suddenly, 'I'm dying! I'm dying!' She was coaxed to lie down again, but remained agitated. "The child turned to me, and said anxiously, 'Send a telegram to mama.'" Eagar promised it would be done. "She added, 'immediately.' ... We continued to fan the feeble spark of life, but moment by moment it declined. She began to talk to her cousins, and seemed to imagine she was playing with them. She asked for little Anastasie
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna....
and I brought the wee thing into the room. The dying eyes rested on her for a moment, and Anastasie
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna....
said, 'Poor cousin Ella! Poor Princess Elizabeth!' I took the baby out of the room." Doctors told Alexandra that the child's mother should be notified, but the telegram did not arrive until the following morning, when Elisabeth had already died. An autopsy following her death confirmed that she had died of virulent typhoid, although it was rumored she had eaten from a poisoned dish intended for the Tsar.
Funeral and legacy
Elisabeth's body was placed in a silver casket, a gift from Nicholas II, for the journey back to Darmstadt. Her father arranged a white funeral, with white instead of black for the funeral trappings, white flowers, and white horses for the procession. The Hessian people came out by the thousands to view the funeral procession and "sobbed in unison so that I could hear it," Ernst wrote. A cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II, expressed shock at the child's death in a letter to Tsar Nicholas II on 7 November 1903. "How joyous and merry she was that day at Wolfsgarten, when I was there, so full of life and fun and health ... What a terrible heartrending blow for poor Ernie, who doted and adored that little enchantress!" Elisabeth was buried in the Rosenhöhe with other members of the Hessian grand ducal family. A marble angel was later installed to watch over her grave. In a final gesture to Elisabeth and Ernst, Victoria Melita placed her badge of the Order of Hesse, granted to her upon her marriage, into Elisabeth's coffin. Ernst was still devastated by the memory of his daughter's death thirty years later. "My little Elisabeth," he wrote in his memoirs, "was the sunshine of my life."Titles and styles
- 11 March 1895 – 16 November 1903: Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Elisabeth Marie Alice Viktoria of Hesse and by Rhine