teatimeatwinterpalace:A u g u s t 21 1 7 4 5 – Wedding of Grand Duke Peter and Sophia of Anhal
teatimeatwinterpalace:A u g u s t 21 1 7 4 5 – Wedding of Grand Duke Peter and Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst later Catherine the Great.Toward the end of july we returned from Peterhof to the city, where all the preparations where being made for my wedding ceremony. Finally August 21 was fixed by the Empress as the date for the ceremony. As this day approached, I grew more deeply melancholic. My heart did not forsee great happiness, ambition alone sustained me. At the bottom of my soul I had something, I know not what, that never for a single moment let me doubt that sooner or later I would succeed in becoming the sovereign Empress of Russia in my own right. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp and magnificence. My dear spouse paid absolutely no attention to me, but was constantly playing soldier with his valets, drilling them in his room or changing uniforms twenty times a day. I yawned and I was bored, having no one to speak to, or else I appeared in public. Empress Catherine IIThe two were absolutely incompatible with each other. Still, Catherine tried to keep up appearances in front of the court and was patient with her silly and eccentric husband, as long as such pretence served her ambitious purposes. These two people unfortunately brought together by circumstances were destined to break up. -- source link
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