Grand Duke Alexis dies in Paris

November 14, 1908

Grand Duke Alexis of Russia died in Paris today. The cause of death was pneumonia. He was 58-years-old. The Grand Duke, an uncle of Nicholas II, had lived in Paris since 1905, when he retired as the Imperial Navy's supreme director.
"Charges of mismanagement and inefficiency against the marine department had been current for years, and after the war with Japan they increased ten-fold," according to the Grand Duke's obituary in the Chicago Daily Tribune. Nicholas II tried to mitigate the situation by stating that his uncle had "long importuned to be relieved of responsibility for the navy."

Grand Duke Alexis was a younger son of Alexander II. In 1872, he made an extensive visit to the United States, and was "given a cordial welcome on all sides."

He was described as a bachelor, although had entered into two morganatic marriages, according to the Tribune. Alexis was very much in love with a woman of a lower rank, who bore him a son. He was forced to end the relationship at the time of his American visit. Alexei,"the son of this left-handed alliance grew to manhood," and was recognized by the Grand Duke. He was given the title Count Belevsky. He is married to Princess Marie Troubetskoy, and they have four children.

Grand Duke Alexis was a "a handsome man, with a sturdy frame, bewhiskered, and with a Kaiser Wilhelm way of wearing his mustache."