Grand Duchess Helen to marry a Bonparate

July 13, 1898

Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia continues to shop around for a husband for her only daughter, Grand Duchess Helen. The Marquise of Fontenoy reports today on the possible marriage between Helen and Prince Louis Bonaparte, which she writes "cannot fail to strengthen the bonds of union between France and Russia." Even Germany, which fears stronger ties between the two countries, cannot fail to see the "redeeming points" of the marriage.

Grand Duchess Vladimir is a German Princess by birth, and is "of all the foreign ladies who have married members of the reigning house of Russia the one who has become the least Russianized, and who has remained the most devoted to her native land."

The Marquise also notes that the Grand Duchess, who was born Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, is the only foreign-born Grand Duchess "who has obstinately refused under any circumstances to become converted to the Russian religion."

[This is, in fact, not true. Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg did not convert to the Orthodox church when she married Grand Duke Constantine. Elisabeth continued to worship in the Lutheran church until her death.]

Grand Duchess Helen "is a beautiful girl of 17 years of age." She "created a favorable impression upon Queen Victoria," whom she met last spring in Nice. "She is renowned at the Russian court for her high spirit and for her quick temper." She once flung a cup of hot tea "at the head of her governess when in a fit of passion."

The marriage for Prince Louis would be financially advantageous. His father, the late Prince Jerome Napoleon, disinherited his elder son, Prince Victor, in favor of Prince Louis, as Prince Victor was dependent on the "generosity of an elderly woman of stormy antecedents." Prince Louis' income does not exceed $30,000 a year.

The real question is why "is that the Court of Russia should show itself so full of amiability towards a member of the relatively parvenu house of Bonaparte, and so unfriendly, on the other hand to the Duke of Orleans and to members of his family."

The Duke of Orleans applied for a commission in the Russian army, which was refused by the Emperor. He was also asked by the police during his only visit to St. Petersburg.

Prince Louis Bonaparte "has always borne himself with so much dignity, sense of self-respect and discretion." His life has been scandal-free, unlike the Duke of Orleans' unsavory life. The Duke of Orleans has also "done a good deal of harm in the eyes of the French nation, as well as of Russia," by marrying an Austrian archduchess. Austria is a part of the Triple Alliance, and, thus the marriage is considered an offense to Russia and to France.

Should Prince Louis marry Grand Duchess Helen, and become Emperor of the French, "he would possess advantages inestimably superior to those of either the First or Third Napoleon, or of King Louis Philippe. Prince Louis is related to nearly every reigning house. He is a nephew of King Umberto of Italy and a first cousin of the King of Portugal. Through the House of Württemberg, he is related to Queen Victoria, the German Emperor and the King of Sweden.