On this day — 28th (O.S. 16th) August 1874, the wedding of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847–1909) and Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1854–1920) took place in the chapel of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. Vladimir was 27 years old, Maria was 20.
Maria had previously been engaged to George Albert I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, but broke off the engagement shortly after she met Vladimir.
The marriage was delayed by three years due to the fact that Maria who was a Lutheran did not want to convert to Orthodoxy. Vladimir’s mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, was disappointed by Maria’s refusal to convert to Orthodoxy: she herself converted from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy and believed that the Russian Orthodox Church was «good enough for any of her daughters-in-law.» She told Vladimir that she hoped that Maria would «become a Russian soul and body,» indicating her hope for Maria’s conversion.
In the end, Emperor Alexander II allowed Vladimir to marry Maria, without insisting on her conversion to Orthodoxy. Prior to this incident, every bride of a Russian Grand Duke had to convert to Orthodoxy. Her refusal thus shocked the Imperial Court. It was not until 1908, that she converted to Orthodoxy. Many historians believe that the ambitious Maria acted to improve her sons Kirill’s chances for the throne.
Upon her marriage, she took the Russian name Maria Pavlovna. Being the great-great-granddaughter of the Russian Emperor Paul I and wanted to emphasize her high lineage with the patronymic «Pavlovna». Maria and Vladimir had four sons and one daughter.
