Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine was a Hessian and Rhenish princess, a member of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the youngest child and fifth daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. Her mother was the second daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Marie died of diphtheria and was buried with her mother, who died a few weeks later of the same disease.

Louis IV was the Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine from 13 June 1877 until his death in 1892. Through his marriage to Queen Victoria's second daughter Alice, he was connected to the British royal family. Two of his daughters married into the House of Romanov.