Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)
On the morning of 13 March 1881, her father-in-law Alexander II of Russia, aged 62, was killed by a bomb on the way back to the Winter Palace from a military parade. In her diary, Maria later described how the wounded, still living Emperor was taken to the palace: "His legs were crushed terribly and ripped open to the knee; a bleeding mass, with half a boot on the right foot, and only the sole of the foot remaining on the left." Alexander II died a few hours later. Although the people were not enamoured of the new emperor, they adored Russia's new empress. As Maria's contemporaries said of her: "She is truly an empress." She was not altogether pleased with her new status. In her diary she wrote, "Our happiest and serenest times are now over. My peace and calm are gone, for now I will only ever be able to worry about Sasha." Despite being haunted by her father-in-law's gruesome death and her anxiety over the safety of her husband, at Alexander II's funeral, she was at least afforded the comfort of the presence of her brother-in-law and favourite sister, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the latter of whom, despite her husband's reluctance and Queen Victoria's objections, stayed on in Russia with Maria for several weeks after the funeral.
Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse)
In 1866, Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. With the passing of the years, they grew apart, particularly after the birth of their last son and the deterioration of her health. While the Empress remained in love with her husband, Alexander II had many affairs, but they did not threaten their marriage. From the mid-1850s until 1862, he had a relationship with Alexandra Sergeevna Dolgoruki (30 November 1834 – 12 September 1913). Alexandra belonged to one of Russia's most illustrious families and became one of the Tsarina's ladies in waiting in 1853. This affair ended in 1862 when Alexandra married general Pyotr Pavlovich Albedinsky (1826-1883). In 1865, Alexander II fell deeply in love with 18-year-old Princess Catherine Dolgoruki, a distant cousin of his former mistress. Catherine resisted him for over a year, but in July 1866, they became lovers. Inevitably Maria Alexandrovna heard about the affair, but initially, she did not attach great importance to it.