A watercolour showing the Anglican wedding ceremony of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and the Grand Duchess Marie, daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, in the Alexander Hall of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg: Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, the Dean of Westminster is shown pronouncing the blessing upon the bride and groom. This service followed the Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony (see RCIN 920784). Signed and dated.

Part of the protracted negotiations for the marriage contract involved matters of faith, and the Grand Duchess being able to continue the practice of her Orthodox faith, the faith of any children and the marriage ceremonies. As a result, two services, one Orthodox and one Anglican, were performed. For the Anglican service, a temporary chapel was created in the Alexander Hall of the Winter Palace, and the service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster. In advance, he promoted the idea that, for the marriage to be legally valid under the terms of the Royal Marriages Act, the Anglican chapel in the Winter Palace had to be temporarily declared to be British sovereign territory. This view was rejected by Lord Selborne (1812–95), the Lord Chancellor, who reminded the Lord Chamberlain that a legal marriage contracted under foreign law was valid in the United Kingdom and, as such, as the marriage was legal in Russia, so it was in Britain.

The watercolours of the Orthodox and Anglican ceremonies were sent by the Duke of Edinburgh to his mother, Queen Victoria, on 28 January 1874: ‘I hope to be able to send with this by tomorrow’s messenger two sketches by Chevalier & in one of the Greek ceremony, by using the little additional strips you will be able to follow the different parts of the service.’ The Queen received them on 2 February and recorded in her diary: ‘Endless letters including another from Augusta S. & one from Affie, who sent me 2 very clever little sketches by Chevalier of the 2 marriages’.

The services were described by the ambassador: 'The Greek service was performed with its impressive effect; the deep tone of the choir, the thrilling force of the chorus, the magnificent dress and jewelled ornaments of the priesthood [...] gave an imposing and solemn effect to the ceremony. After the termination of the Greek Service the procession moved to the Salle [...] for the performance of the Anglican Ritual.' (The National Archives, FO 83/834)

Text adapted from Russia, Royalty & the Romanovs, London, 2018