A representative delegation arrived from Russia for the wedding of Princess Victoria and Prince Ernst, headed by the Tsarevich Nicholas, with his uncles Paul, Sergei and Vladimir and their Grand Duchesses, the royal family's confessor Father John and even

A representative delegation arrived from Russia for the wedding of Princess Victoria and Prince Ernst, headed by the Tsarevich Nicholas, with his uncles Paul, Sergei and Vladimir and their Grand Duchesses, the royal family's confessor Father John and even a domestic teacher of Russian. Why all this? Most of the guests were waiting not for the marriage itself, about which everything was already settled and nobody cared, but for the betrothal of the Russian heir and Alix of Hesse, the bridegroom's sister.

The question of their union was still open. Although Alexander III, awaiting the end, had softened, another obstacle turned up: the princess refused to accept Orthodoxy, which was a mandatory condition for marriage to the imperial scion. But the entreaties of her relatives and the ardent attentions of Nicholas Alexandrovich did not go to waste. In the end, as you understand, Alix gave way. A year later she would be the wife of the heir to the Russian throne.

The most interesting thing in this story, in my view, is not even the part played in the matchmaking by Queen Victoria herself. It is the entry in Nicholas's diary for 8 April, the day of the bride's consent: "Went at once with Alix to the Queen and then to Aunt Marie, where the whole family kissed and licked each other for joy."

THE WHOLE FAMILY KISSED AND LICKED EACH OTHER FOR JOY