“Our sweet little bright angel May”: The short life of Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine

On 24th May 1874, Princess Marie, seventh child of Princess Alice and Prince Louis of Hesse, was born at New Palace, Darmstadt. Her birthday coincided with her grandmother, Queen Victoria’s 55th ‘poor old birthday’, as she described it in her journal.

At first, the couple were disappointed not to have had another boy but soon that didn’t matter.

Known as ‘May’ by close family and ‘Maly’ by her mother, she was christened Marie Viktoria Feodore Leopoldine, in July 1874. As the youngest child of Princess Alice and Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine, her parents naturally doted on their daughter. In a letter, Alice described her having “fair hair, marked eyebrows and speaking eyes” like her sister, the Crown Princess of Germany.

Growing up, Marie shared a close relationship with her older sister, Alix, who was just two years older. The two spent much of their time in the nursery together and often dressed alike.

However, all this changed in November 1878, when diphtheria swept through the Hessian household. The first member of the family to fall ill was Marie’s eldest sibling, Victoria, who began complaining of a stiff neck in the evening of 7th November. A week later, Alix fell seriously ill and a steamer was brought in to prevent her from choking to death. As the two spent so much time together, it’s no surprise that four year old Marie began showing symptoms just a few hours later.

Within a couple of days, Marie’s father, brother and sister Irene had also gone down with the illness, while Princess Alice continued to nurse her family.

On 16th November, Marie’s condition worsened. Doctors sent a nurse to wake Alice but she arrived too late. The white membrane covering Marie’s throat had spread, causing her to choke to death. Alice broke all rules and kissed her daughter’s hands and face before watching her get wheeled away in a tiny coffin.

Alice and Louis decided not to tell the rest of the children until the beginning of December. Marie’s brother, Ernst Louis, reacted worse than anyone had anticipated. Again, Alice ignored the doctors and kissed her contagious son to try and comfort him. Within days she was showing her own symptoms and tragically died a week later, on 14th December 1878.

Marie and her mother were interred beside each other in the Neues Mausoleum, Rosenhöhe Park, Darmstadt. On top of their coffins is a statue of Marie lying in her mothers arms.

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