Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1895–1903)

Princess Elisabeth
Princess Elisabeth of Hesse in 1903.
Born	(1895-03-11)11 March 1895 Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire
Died	16 November 1903(1903-11-16) (aged 8) Skierniewice, Russian Empire (now Poland)
Burial	Rosenhöhe, Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire
Full name Elisabeth Marie Alice Viktoria Nicknamed: Ella
House	Hesse-Darmstadt
Father	Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
Mother	Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (Prinzessin Elisabeth Marie Alice Viktoria von Hessen und bei Rhein) (11 March 1895 – 16 November 1903) was the only daughter of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his first wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, who was born Princess Elisabeth of Prussia. Her paternal aunt had the same name and was also nicknamed Ella. Elisabeth's early death was rumored to be a result of poison meant for her uncle, Tsar Nicholas II, but the court physician said she died of virulent typhoid, probably caused by her taking a drink of water from a contaminated stream.

Her parents, nicknamed 'Ernie' and 'Ducky,' were first cousins who married at the instigation of their common grandmother, Queen Victoria. The marriage was an unhappy one from the start. Princess Victoria Melita was eighteen at the time of Elisabeth's birth. She was fond of Elisabeth, but found it hard to compete with Ernst's devotion to their daughter. Ernst was convinced even before Elisabeth could speak that he alone could understand her. At the age of six months, she was scheduled to move to a new nursery and her father 'consulted' her on her color preferences. He claimed that she made 'happy little squeals' when he showed her a particular shade of lilac material. Ernst then decorated her nursery in shades of lilac. He later had a playhouse built for his daughter that stood in its own garden. Adults were forbidden to enter "much to the frustration of royal nurses and tutors, who could be seen pacing up and down impatiently outside as they waited for their high-spirited young charges to stop their games and emerge."

Margaretta Eagar, a governess for the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, described Elisabeth as "a sweet and pretty child, with wide grey-blue eyes and a profusion of dark hair. She was much like her mother, not only in face, but also in manner." The four-year-old Elisabeth wanted a baby sister and tried to persuade her aunt and uncle to let her parents adopt one of her paternal first cousins, Tatiana or Maria. Her parents had only one other child together, a stillborn son, in 1900.