In November 1878, diphtheria – a highly contagious bacterial disease that causes inflammation of the mucous membranes along with other potentially fatal symptoms – rapidly spread amongst the family of Princess Alice and Prince Louis of Hesse, who had recently returned to Darmstadt following a trip to Eastbourne in England.
In the evening of 7th November, the couples eldest child – Princess Victoria – began complaining of a stiff neck and was officially diagnosed with diphtheria the following morning. Five days later, Alice’s two youngest children – Princesses Alix and Marie – also began showing symptoms. Within days, almost the whole family had fallen ill; besides Princess Alice, who was nursing her family, and her daughter Elizabeth, who had been sent to stay with her paternal grandparents for safety. The couples only surviving son, Prince Ernst Louis had also been sent to his grandparents but unfortunately still fell ill.
Although most members of the family recovered reasonably quickly, concerns soon began over the health of six year old Alix, who had began experiencing difficulty breathing as a result of a membrane forming in her throat. Doctors were called in and steamers were used to try and clear her airways to prevent her from choking.
However, just as Alix began to recover, four year old Marie began rapidly going down hill. Just after midnight on 16th November, doctors noticed that the white membrane covering Marie’s throat had got worse and was now over her airways. According to Queen Victorias journal on 22nd November, Marie had been doing better “& could breathe & swallow a little, when suddenly, she raised herself up, gave a choking cough, turned blue, & all was over!” Nurses had been sent to wake Alice but by the time she arrived at Marie’s bedside, it was too late.
In a telegram to the Queen, Alice wrote: “Our sweet little one is taken, broke it to my poor Louis this morning. He is better, Ernie still very ill. In great anguish”. In another telegram that was sent later the same day, she described how “the pain is beyond words, but God’s will be done. Our precious Ernie still a source of such terrible, fear, the others, though not safe, better”.
Alice was understandably distraught by her daughter’s passing. It was the second time she had lost a child to an uncontrollable disease, something no parent should ever have to experience. Wanting to say one final farewell to her daughter, Alice began kissing Marie’s little hands and face, putting herself in danger of contracting the illness.
While Alice was grieving for “our sweet little bright angel May”, Prince Ernst Louis took another turn for the worst and fears began rising over whether he would survive. Fortunately, by the 23rd November, “Ernie was better, though not altogether free from fever.”
The royal couple had decided not to tell their other children about Marie’s death until the beginning of December when everyone was officially on the road to recovery. Upon hearing the news on 1st December, Prince Ernst Louis reacted the worse than anyone had predicted. In a letter to Queen Victoria, Alice wrote that “the sorrow was such a blow, it quite upset him, though I told him as gradually as possible. The tears kept running down his little face, & I comforted him, as best I could, saying, that we should be together again, & that she had none of the suffering, we now had. He wished to know about her death, & gave a sigh of relief that it had been without suffering & came so quick. He plays with Alicky & is bright again between whiles, one must not let him dwell on his sorrow”.
However, in comforting her son, Alice was again breaking all rules about physical touch and putting her own, already weakened health in danger.
At first, Alice showed no symptoms, but on 8th December Queen Victoria received a telegram “with the fearful news, that darling Alice had now got this horrible disease”. Later that day Victoria received another telegram “saying darling Alice had continued fever, tonsils attacked, not much outer swelling”.
Over the coming days Alice’s condition became a cause for concern. She was still able to eat and drink and her temperature was fluctuating, suggesting some signs of improvement. However, by the 13th December, her temperature had risen drastically and the swelling of her throat had got worse, with the membrane covering most of her throat and causing difficulty in breathing. By that evening, almost all hope had gone as Queen Victoria sat in the Blue Room at Windsor Castle, where she had watched her beloved Albert sink away exactly seventeen years earlier, waiting for some news.
In a semi-unconscious state Alice spoke her final words – “From Friday to Saturday, four weeks.. May… Dear Papa.” – before falling unconscious at around 2:30am on 14th December. The thirty-five year-old Princess passed away just five hours later. She was the first of Queen Victorias nine children to die and her death coincided with that of her fathers.
Alice and Marie were later interred side by side at Neues Mausoleum at Rosenhöhe Park in Darmstadt. On top of their coffin sits an effigy of Marie lying in her mother’s arms.
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