nickyandalex

Nicholas Romanov was born on May 19th 1868 at Tsarskoe Selo; "The Czar's Village." He was the son of Alexander III and Marie, a Danish princess, also know as Dagmar. Early in life, his fater became czar, when he grandfather, Alexander II was killed. His untimely death was caused by a revolutionary, who bomed the carrage the czar was riding in. The czar managed to escape this attack with a few scrapes, but the revolutionary wasn't happy with that. He threw another bomb, and that one pratically landed in the czar's lap. The czar was literally blown to peices, his legs half torn off. The mortally wounded czar was taken back to the palace, where he died in a matter of hours. Alexander became the new czar.
Meanwhile, in London, Sunny, or Alex, princess of Hesse was growing up. Alex's life had not been easy either. In 1873, when Alex was barely a year old, her brother Frittie (aged 3) fell from a bedroom window and died soon after from internal bleeding. Frittie was hemophilic, a desease that would figure largely in Alex's life in years to come. Her mother Alice, never recovered from the loss, and died in 1878 from a broken heart accompanied by diptheria. The little girl know as Sunny was sent to live with Victoria, queen of England and her grandmother.
Nicky and Alex first met in 1884, at Peterhof. There they became good friends and even scrated their names in a window. They met again many time over the years and after one visit Nicky wrote in his diary:
"My dream is to one day marry Alex H. I have loved her for a long time, but more deeply since 1889, when she spent six weeks in Petersburg during the winter!"
Both families disapoved of the match, but Nicky wouldn't give up. Even during a brief affair with Russian ballet dancer Mathilde Kschessinska, he never forgot Alex. The affair was began by Alexander III who wanted Nicky to forget Alex. Mathilde once said:
"I adored the tsarevich and wanted only one thing... my happiness, however brief it might be."
Mathilde later married Andrew, a cousin of the Nicky's.
Nicky's chance to propose came in 1894, during the wedding of Alex's brother Ernest "Ernie" to Princess Victoria of Edinburog "Ducky". Nicky propsed but Alex refused, saying she could not convert to Russian Orthodox (Nicky being the czar, the czarina would have to be of the same religion. The czar is also a religious leader). The next day Nicky again approached her, and she agreed. The happy time would soon be clouded by sadness, as Alexander III died. After the extensive funeral, Nicky and Alex were wedded. The date was November 26th 1894. Soon after was Nicky's corination, beging the end of the Romanov Dynasty.