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# Emperor Alexander III had a brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was married to a German princess, Maria Pavlovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/u-imperatora-aleksandra-iii-byl-brat-velikii-kniaz-vladimir-aleksandrovich-zhenatyi-na-nemetskoi-printsesse-marii-pavlovne-meklenburg-shverinskoi/
- Published: 2017-05-12T11:59:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:45:40.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Aristocracy, Monarchies, Heritage, Mores, People

Emperor Alexander III had a brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was married to a German princess, Maria Pavlovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Grand Duchess was also known as Miechen. What a shrew she was!

The whole life of the grand ducal couple was marked by bilious envy of the monarch; it is known that they made no secret of their delight when the train carrying Alexander III's family was wrecked. The chief motive of Miechen's intrigues and gossip was her wish to see her own children on the Russian throne. She burned with hatred for Nicholas II as well, and it was Maria Pavlovna, or Maryapavlovna, as she was called, who was the original source of the rumour about the Empress's dalliance with Rasputin.

Our old friend Skobelev called the German Miechen outright an agent of Bismarck. There are many memoirs describing how this German ill-wisher placed the Emperor and his consort in an awkward position in society by flouting etiquette.

Miechen owned a diamond tiara, which she managed to smuggle out to Europe after the Revolution, where Maria Pavlovna died in 1920\. Her daughter eventually sold the tiara to Mary of Teck, grandmother of Elizabeth II, who is pleased to wear the so-called Vladimir Tiara to this day. A great deal of gossip surrounds this item from the English Queen's personal collection, concerning the legality of the purchase of property that may be considered stolen from the Soviet state, since the tiara was taken out of the country in secret after the Revolution. There is an opinion that even when hidden away by the Grand Duchess, the tiara remained state property.