Queen Elizabeth II is related to Emperor Nicholas II! How did this happen?
Alexandrina Victoria, or simply Queen Victoria, ruled Britain for 63 years.
Named after the Russian Emperor Alexander I.
When she was born, she was fifth in line for succession. But by the time she came of age, Victoria was the only remaining contender for the throne.
She was crowned in 1838 at the age of 18.
A year later, a delegation from the Russian Empire, led by Alexander II, arrived at Buckingham Palace.
The 20-year-old Tsarevich and 19-year-old Queen Victoria immediately took a liking to each other.
But their relationship was not destined to develop. The Queen of England's husband, whoever he was, could not become king. Alexander, however, was the direct heir to the throne of the Russian Empire. ⠀
Naturally, his father, Nicholas I, could not allow his son to go from being heir to the throne to simply being Queen Victoria's husband.
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Therefore, in 1840, the Queen of England married Prince Albert of Saxony, her cousin.
Nicholas II's mother, Maria Feodorovna, was one of the daughters of the Prince of Glücksburg (later Christian IX, King of Denmark).
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Her sister, Alexandra, became the wife of the British King Edward VII, and their son, George V, looked exactly like Nicholas II. George V was Nicholas II's first cousin.
Of Victoria and Albert's 34 grandchildren, two granddaughters, Elizabeth and Alice, cemented their ties to Russia.
The former became the wife of Grand Duke Sergei (son of Alexander II), and the latter the wife of Emperor Nicholas II. After her baptism, Alice was known as Alexandra Feodorovna.
Thus, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and the great-niece of Nicholas II, and her husband, Philip, is the great-great-grandson of Nicholas I and Queen Victoria.
