Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - Grand Duchess of Russia

Grand Duchess of Russia

Nicholas II was forced to reinstate Kirill after deaths in the Russian royal family had promoted Kirill to third in the line of succession to the Russian throne. Kirill and Victoria were brought back to Russia, with Victoria granted the title of Grand Duchess of Russia. She would be known in Russia as Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna, although the name Victoria was alien to Russian ears, she was allowed to keep it in remembrance of her grandmother Queen Victoria. In May 1910 Victoria and Kirill arrived in St Petersburg. The new grand duchess enjoyed entertaining at evening dinners and lavish balls attended by the cream of Saint Petersburg society. Victoria had an artistic talent that she applied to home decoration in her several elaborate residences which she arranged attractively. She decorated, gardened, and rode and also enjoyed painting, particularly watercolors.

Victoria fit in within the Russian aristocracy and the circle of her mother in law Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. As French was frequently spoken in high circles, Victoria never completely mastered the Russian language. Although she was a first cousin of both Nicholas II, on her mother's side, and to Empress Alexandra, on her father's side, the relationship with them was neither close nor warm. As Kirill became a keen auto racer, the couple often took trips by car, a favorite pastime was traveling through the Baltic provinces. Victoria dreaded the long Russian winter with its short days, and she traveled abroad frequently visiting her sister Marie in Romania and her mother in the south of France or in Coburg. Victoria and her husband had a close relationship with their daughters, Maria and Kira. The family was spending the summer of 1914 on their yacht in the Gulf of Finland and were in Riga when the war broke out.