On June 6th, 1872, I was born Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany, the daughter of His Royal Highness Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine and my mother, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. My maternal grandmother is Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
My mother died when I was six, and my father died when I was twenty. My brother, Ernst Ludwig, succeeded my father as Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.
I was very close to my grandmother, Queen Victoria, when I was growing up. I spent most of my early years in the United Kingdom. My childhood nickname was "Sunny."
I didn't get married until I was 22. I refused to marry anyone but my future husband, the then-tsarevitch of Russia, Nicholas Alexandrovitch. In order to become Tsarina, I renounced my Lutheran faith and joined the Russian Orthodox Church. I married Nicholas on November 26, 1894 at the Winter Place in St. Petersburg.
I have five wonderful children:
Grand Duchess Olga, 1895
Grand Duchess Tatiana, 1897
Grand Duchess Maria, 1899
Grand Duchess Anastasia, 1901
Tsarevich Alexei, 1904
One of the saddest moments in my life was when I learned that I had transmitted hemophilia to my son, Alexei.
I was crowned Tsarina of Russia in 1895. I would struggle for the next twenty-two years to clean up the Russian court and instill virtues in the Russian people.
