Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2015

Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh (known as ‘Ducky’ in the family) was born on November 25, 1876, at the San Anton Palace in Malta, where her father was stationed with the Royal Navy at the time. She was the second daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. She was a granddaughter of both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Alexander, Emperor II of All Russia.

Victoria Melita was christened on  January 1, 1877, at San Anton Palace in Malta by a Royal Navy chaplain. Her grandmother Queen Victoria was one of her godparents.

Ducky had four siblings:

During her childhood, the family’s primary homes were Clarence House in London and Eastwell Park in Kent. They also spent several years at the San Anton Palace in Malta when her father was stationed there with the Royal Navy. In addition, they had homes in Coburg – Palais Edinburg and Schloss Rosenau – where her father was heir to his childless uncle Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

In 1891, Queen Victoria began promoting the idea of a marriage between Ducky and her first cousin, Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine. He was the son of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, and Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine. When the two were visiting Queen Victoria, she observed that they got along well and, coincidentally, even shared the same birthday.

Victoria Melita and Ernst Ludwig, 1894. source: Wikipedia

In 1893, Victoria Melita’s father succeeded to the Grand Ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and she became Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The following year, on April 9, 1894, she and Ernie (who was now Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine) married at Schloss Ehrenburg in Coburg. The couple had two children:

Despite Queen Victoria’s observations, the new Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine and her husband were terribly mismatched. Victoria Melita craved Ernie’s attention, while he focused more on their daughter than his wife. For a few years, they seemed to make the best of it, enjoying each other’s company and entertaining friends and family from around Europe. By the late 1890s, it was clear that the marriage was a mistake. Allegedly, the final blow for Ducky was finding her husband in an intimate situation with a male servant. Despite this, Queen Victoria would not permit a divorce and the two continued their unhappy lives. Following Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, there was no longer any obstacle to ending their marriage, and they divorced on December 21, 1901. Ducky returned to her mother in Coburg, and she and her former husband shared custody of their young daughter. Two years later, while visiting the Russian Imperial Family, Ducky’s and Ernst’s daughter Princess Elisabeth fell ill with typhoid. Before Ducky could arrive, the young princess died. Her daughter’s death finally severed the connection that Ducky had with her former husband and her former home.

On October 8, 1905, Ducky married for a second time. This time her husband was another first cousin, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, with whom she had had a mutual attraction for many years. They had first met in 1891 when Ducky traveled to Russia to attend the funeral of her aunt by marriage, Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna (the former Princess Alexandra of Greece). However, while the two were attracted to each other, Ducky’s mother made every effort to dissuade her from the thought of marrying him, as the Russian Orthodox Church did not permit marriages between first cousins.

Despite this, the two maintained their attraction and eventually decided to marry. When Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia found out about the marriage, he stripped Kirill of his royal funding, his titles, and his military appointments. Nicholas also banished Kirill from Russia, so the couple settled in France. They had three children:

Victoria Melita with her husband Kirill and their two daughters; source: Wikipedia

In 1908, Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia put his personal feelings aside and permitted Kirill and Victoria Melita to return to Russia. Recent deaths in the Imperial Family brought Kirill to third in the line of succession, and it was deemed necessary to allow his return and restore his funding and military appointments. Victoria Melita was given the style of Imperial Highness and created Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna.

During World War I, Ducky worked as a nurse with the Red Cross. Soon after Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia’s abdication in 1917, Ducky and Kirill decided it was best to leave Russia. They traveled to Finland and remained there for over two years. In the fall of 1919, they moved on to Munich where they reunited with Ducky’s mother, and then they all moved to Zurich, Switzerland.

After her mother died in 1920, Ducky’s family now had two homes at their disposal – her mother’s villa in Nice and the Villa Edinburg, which later became known as the Kirill Palace, in Coburg, now in Bavaria, Germany, and for the next several years, split their time between the two. In 1926, they settled for the last time in France, purchasing a villa in Saint-Briac. Here they settled into a quieter life, while Victoria Melita put her energies into raising her son and ensuring her daughters made significant marriages.

Victoria Melita with her husband Kirill and their two youngest children. source: Wikipedia

In February 1936, while attending the christening of her fifth grandchild, Victoria Melita suffered a stroke. She passed away on March 1, 1936, at the age of 59. She was first buried in the Ducal Mausoleum at the Glockenburg Cemetery in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany. In March 1995, her remains, as well as those of her husband, were moved to the Grand Ducal Burial Vault at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia.

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