Royalty
THE GRAND DUCHESS OF HESSE WITH HER DAUGHTER SHORTLY BEFORE THE PRINCESSES UNTIMELY DEATH
VICTORIA MELITA
(1876-1936, wife of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and secondly Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovitch of Russia, granddaughter of Queen Victoria)
Fine postcard photo by Prof. E. Uhlenhuth in Coburg, signed
on her long white dress, showing her three quarters length, standing next to a stool which her daughter Princess Elisabeth of Hesse is sitting on, resting her head on her mother's shoulders, 5½ x 3½, no place, postally used and postmarked Gotha, 22nd September
Item Date: 1903
Background
Princess Elisabeth of Hesse ( 11 March 1895 – 16 November 1903) was the only daughter of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his first wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, who was born Princess Elisabeth of Prussia. Her paternal aunt had the same name and was also nicknamed Ella. Elisabeth's early death was rumored to be a result of poison meant for her uncle, Tsar Nicholas II, but the court physician said she died of virulent typhoid, probably caused by her taking a drink of water from a contaminated stream.
Stock No. 38301