There once were four sisters Victoria, Ella , Irene and Alix. Who lived in an obscure grand duchy in South-western Germany a place of winding cobbled streets and dark forests made legendary in the fairy tales of the brothers Grimm. In their days these four princess of the house of Hesse and Rhine were considered by ma to be the flower of queen Victoria flock of granddaughters celebrated for their beauty. As they grew up they became the object of intense scrutiny on that most fraught of international stages the royal marriage market of Europe. Despite their lack of large dowries or vast territories each sister in turn married well. But it was to the youngest and most beautiful of the four that fate dealt the biggest hand.

The four Hese sisters were daughters of princess Alice Second daughter of Queen Victoria and husband prince Louise , here to the grand Duke of Hese. In July 1862 aged only eighteen , Alice had left England heavily veiled and in morning of her recently decreased father prince Albert after marrying Louise at obserin house. By the dynastic standard of the day it was a modest match for a daughter of Queen Victoria but one that added another strand to the complex Web of royal inter marriage between European first and second cousin. During her long reign Victoria had orchestrated the marriage of the all her nine children and reminded meddle some enough into old age to ensure that after them their children and even their grandchildren secured partners befitting their royal status