Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (; – 13 December 1958), known as Maria Pavlovna the Younger, was a granddaughter of Alexander II of Russia. She was a paternal first cousin of Nicholas II (Russia's last Tsar) and Marie of Edinburgh (consort of Ferdinand I of Romania) and maternal first cousin of George II, Alexander, and Paul (all kings of Greece), Helen of Greece and Denmark (second wife of Carol II of Romania), and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (consort of Elizabeth II).
Her early life was marked by the death of her mother and her father's banishment from Russia when he remarried a commoner in 1902. Grand Duchess Maria and her younger brother Dmitri, to whom she remained very close throughout her life, were raised in Moscow by their paternal uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
In 1908, Maria Pavlovna married Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland. The couple had one son, Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland, later Count Bernadotte af Wisborg. The marriage was unhappy and ended in divorce in 1914. During World War I, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna served as a nurse until the fall of the Russian monarchy in February 1917. In September 1917, during the period of the Russian Provisional Government, she married Prince Sergei Putyatin. They had a son, Prince Roman Sergeievich Putyatin, who died in infancy. The couple escaped revolutionary Russia through Ukraine in July 1918.
In exile, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna lived briefly in Bucharest and London, then she settled in Paris in 1920. In the 1920s, she opened Kitmir, an embroidering fashion atelier that achieved some level of success. In 1923, she divorced her second husband, and after selling Kitmir in 1928, she emigrated to the United States. While living in New York City, she published two books of memoirs: The Education of a Princess (1930), and A Princess in Exile (1932).
In 1942, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna moved to Argentina where she spent the years of World War II. She returned permanently to Europe in 1949. She died in Konstanz, Germany in 1958.
Early life
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was born in Saint Petersburg. She was the first child and only daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia, born Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark.Houston, Grand Duchess Marie: Eyewitness to the last days of tsarist Russia, p. 42 The baby was named after her late paternal grandmother, the Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and her paternal aunt, maternal grandaunt, and godmother, the Empress Maria Feodorovna, and was known by the nickname "Marisha"Grand Duchess Marie, Education of a Princess, p. 3 Maria was not yet two years old when her mother died from complications after giving birth to Maria's younger brother, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia in 1891.Vassiliev, Beauty in Exile, p. 151 Grand Duke Paul was so distraught by the unexpected death of his young wife that he neglected his two small children, who were left in the care of his elder brother, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who had no children of his own. Once he recovered emotionally, Grand Duke Paul took the two children away with him. A commander of the Imperial horse Guards, Grand Duke Paul loved his children, but as was customary at the time, he refrained from showing them spontaneous affection.Houston, Grand Duchess Marie: Eyewitness to the last days of tsarist Russia, p. 43 Maria and her brother were raised by governesses and tutors, but they adored their father who visited them twice a day. The children spent Christmases and later some summer holidays with Grand Duke Sergei and his wife Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna.Mager, Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia, p. 143 The couple set aside a playroom and bedrooms for the youngsters at their country home Ilinskoe.Mager, Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia, p. 179
Maria Pavlovna's childhood was spent in splendor. Her early memories were of magnificent palaces and lazy country estates populated by armies of servants. Until she was age 6, Maria spoke Russian badly as all of her governesses and the immediate family spoke English. Later she had another governess, Mademoiselle Hélène who taught her French and stayed with her until her marriage. At age 7, she traveled in her personal railway car accompanied by her governess to visit Germany and France. On Sundays, she and her brother were allowed to play with children from aristocratic families. Growing up without a mother and with a frequently absent father, Grand Duchess Maria and her brother Dimitri became very close, relying on each other for affection and companionship.Houston, Grand Duchess Marie: Eyewitness to the last days of tsarist Russia, p. 44
Education
In 1895, Grand Duke Paul began an affair with Olga Valerianova von Pistolkors, a married woman. He was able to obtain a divorce for her, and he eventually married Olga in 1902 while the couple was staying abroad. As they had married by defying Nicholas II's opposition, the tsar forbade them to return to Russia.Menzies, Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna of Russia (1890–1958), p. 4 Left fatherless, 12-year-old Maria and 11-year-old Dmitri moved to Moscow placed under the custody of their uncle Grand Duke Sergei and his wife Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna, a sister of the Tsarina Alexandra. Maria and Dimitri resented their aunt and uncle, blaming them for the forced separation from their real father, who had abandoned them. Grand Duke Sergei was strict and demanding, but devoted and affectionate toward the children. Marie wrote in her memoirs: "In his fashion he loved us deeply. He liked to have us near him, and gave us a good deal of his time. But he was always jealous of us. If he had known the full extent of our devotion to our father it would have maddened him."Maylunas & Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion, pp. 264 -265 Maria Pavlovna also commented that she could not entirely disagree with those who thought Grand Duke Sergei heartless, self-centered and cruel.Menzies, Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna of Russia (1890–1958), p. 5 Maria had a somewhat strained relationship with her aunt. Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna found it difficult to relate to the children, and she was cold and distant toward them.Mager, pp. 179–181 The teenage Maria was described by her maternal aunt Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna of Russia as "full of life and very jolly, but inclined to be self-willed and selfish, and rather difficult to deal with."Zeepvat, The Camera and the Tsars, p. 101
Grand Duke Sergei, who served as Governor General of Moscow, was a polarizing figure. Targeted by the SR Combat Organization, he was assassinated by a terrorist bomb at the Kremlin in February 1905. The bomber had refrained from an earlier attack because he saw that Grand Duchess Elisabeth, 15-year-old Maria, and her younger brother Dmitri were in the carriage, and he did not want to kill women and children.Maylunas & Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion, p. 258 After the assassination of their uncle, both children were emotionally distraught, particularly Dmitri. Grand Duke Paul claimed the custody of his children, but the tsar made Elisabeth their guardian.Hall, How lovely it is to be a Bride, p. 11 Grand Duke Paul was allowed to visit them, but not to return to Russia permanently. After her husband's assassination, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna regretted treating the children poorly, and she became closer to them.
First marriage
During the next two years, Maria's aunt turned toward religion and charity work. Planning to retire from court and to form a religious order, Grand Duchess Elisabeth decided to find a husband for her niece, along with the help of her cousin, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden. Shortly after Easter 1907, Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland, the second son of King Gustav V of Sweden and Victoria of Baden, visited St Petersburg, and he was introduced to the 16-year-old Maria Pavlovna. She was plump, mischievous and proud. The prince was tall, thin, dark and distinguished looking "with beautiful grey eyes", Maria recalled. He stayed for dinner, and the following day, Maria was told that he wished to marry her. Pressed by her aunt to give a speedy answer, Maria agreed to the prince's proposal and found herself engaged to a man she had known for only few hours. The official betrothal was announced in June 1907 at Peterhof palace.
Maria Pavlovna wrote later that she felt her aunt had rushed her into the marriage. However, at the time, she enjoyed the attention, and she was eager to escape from the nursery. "Then we will be able to travel together," she wrote to Wilhelm after their engagement. "And to live just as we wish and to suit ourselves. I'm looking forward to a wonderful life – a life full of love and happiness, just as you described to me in your last letters."
The marriage had positive political and diplomatic implications for both Russia and Sweden, and Tsar Nicholas II gave his consent. Grand Duke Paul was not consulted. Contemporary newspaper reports suggest that Maria Pavlovna brought a large fortune to the marriage; as a Granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II, she was entitled to an annuity of 50,000 roubles prior to reaching the age of majority, and 100,000 roubles (approximately £10,500 in 1908)Edvinsson, R. (2016) Historical Currency Converter (Test Version 1.0), retrieve 30 March 2024 from https://www.historicalstatistics.org/Currencyconverter.html per year thereafter . As a Russian Grand Duchess, she also was reported to have received a dowry of 1,000,000 roubles upon her marriage, as well as a share in the estimated 8,000,000 rouble fortune left by her father upon his death.Long Eaton Advertiser. (29 May 1908). Russian Imperial Dowries. Newspapers.com. Retrieved 30 March 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/long-eaton-advertiser-russian-imperial-d/144405531/
From Peterhof, Maria Pavlovna went to Grand Duchess Elisabeth's rural estate Ilinskoe, near Moscow, where Wilhelm joined them for a month before he left on a cruise to the United States. The young couple maintained their intimacy through letters. Maria imagined herself in love: "It’s lovely to have somebody, even far away, who love you more than anything and whom you love more than everybody on earth“, she wrote to him.Hall, How lovely it is to be a Bride, p. 12 In October, Wilhelm returned to Russia joining Grand Duchess Maria and her brother Dimitri who introduced the Swedish prince to their father, Grand Duke Paul, who was permitted to come back to Russia for his daughter's wedding set to take place after she turned age 18 the next April.Hall, How lovely it is to be a Bride, p. 13 At Wilhelm's departure, Maria wrote to him: " I love you, so much with every day, every hour more and more. I wish it were April now, how lovely it would be". In her book of memoirs, written more than 20 years later, the grand duchess made different claims: "I was using Wilhelm, in a sense, only to obtain my freedom".Houston, Education of a Princess, p. 103 As the wedding day approached, she began to have doubts and wished to break off the engagement, but Princess Irene of Hesse, who was visiting her sister Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna, persuaded her otherwise.Hall, How lovely it is to be a Bride, p. 14 Soon Maria Pavlovna was again looking forward with enthusiasm to a new life. The wedding took place at Tsarskoye Selo on .
Swedish princess