The future Leopold III with his bride, Astrid of Sweden.
They were both related to OTMAA. Astrid (1905) was a second cousin through the Danish line (her mother Ingeborg and Nicholas II were cousins), and there are photos of her and her sisters (her brother wasn’t born yet) with OTMAA. Her older sister Margaretha was a “penpal” to Maria Nikolaevna; they were born only a day apart: Margaretha on 25 June 1899 and Maria on 26 June 1899.
Leopold (1901) was a third cousin once removed through the Coburg line; his great-grandfather Leopold I was the uncle of Queen Victoria, Alix’s grandmother. I haven’t seen that Leopold or his siblings ever met OTMAA, but their father King Albert was often depicted on postcards alongside Nicholas II and George V during WWI.
In case anyone is interested, here is the full OTMAA excerpt from the Lady Mary “Russian Royal Family” article in Woman at Home magazine from 1916. Might be helpful to see it in full context rather than broken up for each sister!
The Grand Duchesses
The four daughters of the Tsar and Tsarina, if not beautiful, are very interesting girls to see.
The eldest, the Grand Duchess Olga, now one and twenty, has a clever, thoughtful face, which is but an index of her mind. The Russians fairly worship her. They know how serious-minded she is, but they chiefly like her for her other, her jolly and sporting side. No one is fonder of outdoor life than she, and more especially loves riding—all four sisters are smart horsewomen—and will sometimes say she envies the life of the circus rider more than that of any other woman.
When still a baby, the Grand Duchess Olga, with her parents, came to stay at Balmoral. It is a true story that when the flaxen-haired Prince of Wales, then two years old, came toddling in the grounds by the side of her perambulator, the Tsarina exclaimed, “La Belle Alliance.”
Years later, when the Prince was still in the schoolroom, the little Grand Duchesses arrived at Cowes on a visit, and His Royal Highness stuck up a boyish friendship with the second daughter of the Russian royalties, the Grand Duchess Tatiana, and became her inseparable companion. The now nineteen-year-old Tatiana, in a different way, is as attractive as her sister. Piquante, although not pretty, she is a neat figure and holds herself to admiration. Like her sister she has become a Red Cross nurse since the war broke out, has worked unremittingly, and is a most welcome apparition with the soldiers at the hospitals.
The third daughter, Grand Duchess Marie, is the prettiest of the quartet, and abounds with health and vitality. Less intellectual than her sisters, she has other charms to boast, and is said to be the favourite of her father, whom she frankly adores. It was the Tsar who gave his daughter the name of the “Amiable One,” which has been taken up by his people.
It is said that the Grand Duchess, who was sweet seventeen on the 26th of June, is the likeliest of the brides among the Russian Grand Duchesses for the Prince of Wales.
The Grand Duchess Anastasia, now fifteen, is very unlike her sister Marie, but she, too, is pretty. Her features are delicate and refined and in her eyes there lurks the wistfulness that we know in those of her mother, the Tsarina’s.
The Grand Duchess Anastasia is an inveterate reader, and already she has achieved much in the pleasant paths of learning; is, indeed, the student of the family and altogether a girl to admire.
The Grand Duchesses have led very bright, even joyous lives. To see them one would never have imagined that the sorrows of their parents had come nigh them.
The Tsarevitch
Fond of one another, as they are, the girls may be said to idolise their brother, the Tsarevitch. Handsome as a picture, and by nature a jolly and vivacious boy, the young Tsarevitch suffered from extreme delicacy for years past, and, unable to walk, was always carried about by a devoted Moujik. Of late, however, there has been a surprising improvement in his condition, and it is hoped that when his time shall come he may be able to ascend his father’s throne. Although spoilt and autocratic, he is a lovable boy, and the Russians have a great feeling for their Tsarevitch. Unlike his sisters he was once nervous of strangers; was although apprehensive; but since the war broke out a new courage has come to him.
Born in April 1897, she was a few months older than Tatiana Nikolaevna. She was the third of six children and the only daughter born to King George V and Queen Mary: “Our Princess,” as you can see here.
