The Romanovs

Engagement, accession and marriage

In April 1894, Nicholas joined his Uncle Sergei and Aunt Elizabeth on a journey to Coburg, Germany, for the wedding of Elisabeth's and Alix's brother, Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, to their cousin, Victoria Melita of Edinburgh. Other guests included Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Empress Frederick (Kaiser Wilhelm's mother and Queen Victoria's eldest daughter), Nicholas's uncle, the Prince of Wales, and the bride's parents, Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh and Marie Alexandrovna, the Duchess of Edinburgh (sister of Alexander III).

Shortly after arriving in Coburg, Nicholas proposed to Alix and she rejected his proposal on the grounds that she could not convert to Orthodoxy. After the wedding of Ernst and "Ducky", however, the Kaiser had a talk with Alix, telling her that it was her duty to marry Nicholas and convert, as did Elizabeth, who voluntarily converted to Orthodoxy in 1892. After Nicholas proposed to Alix a second time, the two became officially engaged on 8 April 1894. For their parts, Nicholas's parents were reluctant to give the engagement their blessing, as Alix had made poor impressions on her visits to Russia, and only gave their consent after it became clear that Tsar Alexander's health was deteriorating. Queen Victoria had also been initially opposed to the match, because, while she had no objections against Nicholas personally, she had a dislike of Russia.

That summer, Nicholas travelled to England to visit both Alix and the Queen. The visit coincided with the birth of the Duke and Duchess of York's first child, the future King Edward VIII. Along with being present at the christening, Nicholas and Alix were listed amongst the child's godparents. After several weeks in England, Nicholas returned home for the wedding of his sister, Xenia, to a cousin, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich ("Sandro").

By that autumn, Alexander III was dying. Upon learning that he would at least be able survive for a fortnight, the Tsar had Nicholas summon Alix to the imperial palace at Livadia. Alix arrived on 22 October and the Tsar insisted on receiving her in full uniform. Ten days later, Alexander III died at the age of forty-nine, leaving twenty-six year old Nicholas as Tsar of Russia. That evening, Nicholas was consecrated by his father's priest as Tsar Nicholas II and, the following day, Alix was received into the Russian Orthodox Church, taking the name Alexandra Feodorovna.

Nicholas may have felt unprepared for the duties of the crown, asking his cousin and brother-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander, "What is going to happen to me and all of Russia?" Perhaps under-prepared and unskilled, Nicholas was not altogether untrained for his duties as Tsar. Throughout his reign, Nicholas chose to maintain the conservative policies favoured by his father. While Alexander had concentrated on the formulation of general policy, Nicholas devoted much more attention to the details of administration.

Leaving Livadia on 7 November, Tsar Alexander's funeral procession, which included Nicholas's paternal aunt, Queen Olga of Greece, the Prince, and Princess of Wales, arrived in Moscow. After laying in state in the Kremlin, the body of the Tsar was taken to St. Petersburg, where the funeral was held on 13 November.

Nicholas and Alix's wedding was originally scheduled for the spring of 1895, but it was moved forward at Nicholas' insistence. Staggering under the weight of his new office, he had no intention of allowing the one person who gave him confidence to leave his side. Instead, Nicholas' wedding to Alix the wedding took place on 26 November 1894, which was the birthday of the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, and court mourning could be slightly relaxed. Alexandra wore the traditional dress of Romanov brides, and Nicholas a hussar's uniform. Nicholas and Alexandra, each holding a lit candle, faced the palace priest; a few minutes before one in the afternoon, they were married.