A grudge, a ghost, a fire, and the girl who survived it all.
This is part one of the story of Alexandra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and her Fabergé tiara. It was supposed to be a simple story about a tiara - a pretty hat made of diamonds. I didn’t expect it to take me to the darkest places of the 20th century. From war and betrayal to the Third Reich, Soviet prisons, and nuclear war, this story has it all - including a happy ending. Because unlike the story of many royal jewels, this one ends with the tiara safe and sound. I wish I could say the same for all the people in this story.
You may have seen the headlines & social media posts when her tiara came up for auction in 2019. But who wore the tiara? Most of the time, there was little to say about Alix herself. So I decided to dig deep and see what I could find.
Turns out, there's a heck of a story here.
It begins with her parents and the troubled legacy of her father's family - a stolen kingdom, a missing fortune, and a grudge that lasted for decades (if not more).
Alix herself was the center of a whirlwind of gossip from almost the minute she debuted. Would she be the one who married one of their enemies and healed the rift between their two families?
Long story short: nope.
Instead, Alix married a man she'd known since they were kids. And they were happy - until the vicissitudes of war and revolution tore them from their home and country.
This is part one of her story.
#fabergetiara #royaljewels #womeninhistory #royalty
Continue the story with part two:
📹 Part two of Alix's story: • Part 2: Alexandra of M...
In this video, I mentioned:
📹 Maria Anna's video: • LONG VERSION: Archduch...
📹 Louise of Belgium's video: • The Princess in the As...
Sources
---------------
They're all listed at the bottom of the accompanying blog post here: girlinthetiara.com/alexandra-...
FIND ME ONLINE
-----------------------------
💻 Check out the site:
girlinthetiara.com/
💵 Support this channel & unlock bonus content with Patreon:
/ girlinthetiara
📬 Join the mailing list (and get Grand Duchess Louise of Baden's meatloaf recipe):
girlinthetiara.com/mailing-list/
📝 See what's new on the blog:
girlinthetiara.com/blog/
ABOUT THE GIRL IN THE TIARA
----------------------------------------------------
I tell stories about tiaras and the fascinating royal women who wore them. Join me as I follow these tiaras across generations and countries, through wars and revolutions and-sometimes-into darkness and disappearance and destruction.
This isn't the kind of history your professor lectured about. Instead, think of this as conversational history, like a mash-up of Drunk History and The Crown. Yes, there's a little swearing. There's also humor and heart and a boatload of compassion for these amazing royal women.
ABOUT ME
-------------------
I never intended to start a channel or a website about tiaras and royal history. But a midlife crisis forced me to re-examine my life. I gave up fiction writing after self-publishing 9 of the 10 books I'd written and earning next to nothing.
Instead of the misery of marketing books, I turned to my first love...royal history. So here I am, a 40-something burnout, trying to start over by recapturing her love of history, royal women, and their jewels.