Natalia Alexeievna (Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt)
09/29/1773 AD married

The wedding between Tsarevich Paul Petrovich and Natalia Alexeievna took place in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (currently Kazan Cathedral). Very soon she showed her domineering and impetuous nature: the English envoy James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury noted that she "ruled her husband despotically, without even giving herself the trouble to show the least attachment to him."

During the first few months of her marriage, Natalia's gaiety and spontaneity animated the whole court. The Empress was delighted with her initially, but as time passed difficulties started to appear. The new Tsarevna's union was a failure: although Paul Petrovich loved his wife, Natalia was disappointed with her life as a married woman; for this, she began several political intrigues against Catherine II in order to help her husband to take the throne, because she felt such a need to accede to power due to her disastrous conjugal life. In addition, the Tsarevna refused to learn Russian and, being raised in modern Europe, showed certain independence in her statements, adhering to liberal ideas and even occasionally advocated the liberation of the peasants. Catherine II clearly didn't like her daughter-in-law's behavior. She wrote:

...Fearing evil, we do not trust the whole earth. Do not listen to any good or bad advice. Until now, there is no good nature, no caution, no prudence in all of this, and God knows what will happen because they do not listen to anyone and everyone wants to do it their own way. After a year and a half and more, she still do not speak Russian; we want to be taught, but she was not diligent in her studies. Her many debts are twice bigger than the biggest fortunes in the country, and hardly anyone in Europe gets so much.

Despite the fact that the Tsarevna wasn't in love with her husband, she used her influence over him and tried to keep him away from everyone except for a narrow circle of her friends.

According to contemporaries, the Tsarevna was a serious and ambitious woman, with a proud heart and a cool temper. In addition, she had been married for two years, but there was still no heir, to the concern of the court and the Empress.

Saint Petersburg

Lattitude: 59.9343° N
Longitude: 30.3351° E
Region: Russia and Eastern Bloc

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