Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and Princess Dagmar of Denmark, 1866
Alexander Aleksandrovich regarded his family as a sacred personal sphere apart from the obligation of presentation before court and state. His marital constancy developed in opposition to his father’s frivolity and fickleness. From the moment of his marriage, he entered into a loving close relationship with the grand duchess. After the wedding, he wrote, ‘It was such a pleasant and extraordinary feeling to think that finally I am married and the most important step in life had been taken.’ He described his first night with rare feeling - locking the door, the joys of the embrace, then long conversation and little sleep.
Dagmar became the kindred, sympathetic soul that had been lacking in his life. His family reflected the romantic Victorian ideal of a sanctuary for humane and tender feelings. His diary entry on New Year’s Day, 1867, recalled the bliss he had discovered on his visit to Denmark, when he met his bride-to-be. ‘I thought that I could love no more, or at least not with such passion, but I now saw and felt something completly different. I then understood the blessing and kindness of God. I then felt the meaning of true happiness.’
"Scenarios of Power Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy: From Peter the Great to the Abdication of Nicholas II " by Richard Wortman