Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 1894 to 1901 as the wife of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and Consort of the Head of the House of Rom
Photograph by Hugo Thiele, c. 1900
The Duchess of Edinburgh with her children. From left to right: Princess Alexandra, Grand Duchess Maria, Princess Beatrice, Princess Marie, Prince Alfred and Princess Victoria Melita
The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha with his family: (from left to right) Princess Beatrice, the Duke, the Duchess, the Dowager Duchess, Princess Victoria, Princess Alexandra and Princess Marie at Rosenau
Victoria and Ernest at their wedding in 1894
Ernest Louis was the last Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, reigning from 1892 until 1918.
Ernest Louis wearing the collar of the Order of the Garter
Ernest in 1879 with his grandmother Queen Victoria and sisters Victoria, Elizabeth, Irene and Alix two months after the deaths of their mother and youngest sister. All are wearing mourning clothes.
Ernest was still devastated by the memory of his daughter's death thirty years later. "My little Elisabeth," he wrote in his memoirs, "was the sunshine of my life."
Ernest Louis in 1917, as officer during the First World War.