The Last Imperial Wedding: The Marriage of Princess Irina

The wedding of two lovers became the last for the Russian imperial family.

A wedding is always a significant event for any family, especially when it involves the marriage of a princess of imperial blood and one of the wealthiest heirs of his time. This wedding could have been one of many, but it went down in history as the last grand ceremony in the ruling imperial house.

Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, the niece of Emperor Nicholas II, a princess with refined and somewhat cold beauty, married the flamboyant heir of the Yusupov family, Felix. When rumors of the groom's unusual behavior reached the bride's family and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the engagement was put in jeopardy.

Nevertheless, the groom managed to convince the dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Irina's grandmother, to support their union, and she helped resolve the disagreements. In February 1914, the wedding took place. The newlyweds were married in the church of the Anichkov Palace. Emperor Nicholas II escorted Irina to the altar. The bride wore a dress of white satin with silver embroidery and a long train, her head adorned with a veil and a platinum tiara set with diamonds and rock crystal.

The groom was dressed in noble attire: a black tailcoat with a gold collar and white trousers.

The wedding was accompanied by prophecies and coincidences that have reached our days. Firstly, Irina was a favorite of Grigori Rasputin, who believed that Felix was not her match. However, Felix Yusupov became one of the participants in the murder of the elder in 1916. Secondly, at the wedding, the bride wore a veil that belonged to the Austrian princess Marie Antoinette, which many considered a bad omen. Despite all the trials faced by the imperial family and their entourage, exile, and financial difficulties, Irina and Felix's family life turned out to be happy.

They lived together for fifty-three years, raised a daughter named Irina, opened a fashion house in Paris, and died three years apart.