Before marrying Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov of Russia’s parents propose the two Princesses on the right as potential brides.
Tsar Alexander lll and Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia were both vehemently anti-German and did not want Alix as a daughter-in-law. Marie Feodorovna told her sister Alexandra,Princess of Wales that the youngest daughter of an undistinguished Grand Duke was not worthy to marry the heir to the Russian throne, and she believed that Alix was too tactless and unlikeable to be a successful Empress.
Alexander favored Princess Hélène of Orleans the tall, dark-haired daughter of Philippe, Comte de Paris, pretender to the throne of France.Nicholas was not attracted to Hélène, writing in his diary: «Mama made a few allusions to Hélène, daughter of the Comte de Paris. I myself want to go in one direction and it is evident that Mama wants me to choose the other one.»Hélène also resisted this match, as she was Roman Catholic and her father refused to allow her to convert to Russian Orthodoxy.
Alexander sent emissaries to Princess Margaret of Prussia, sister of German Emperor Wilhelm II, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Nicholas declared that he would rather become a monk than marry Margaret; she in turn was unwilling to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church from being Protestant.
When his health failed in 1894, Alexander III decided to allow Nicholas to marry Alix so that he could secure the succession.Marie reluctantly permitted Nicholas to propose to Alix.
