The following year was notable for two Royal marriages in the King’s immediate circle, and for a bereavement which touched both His Majesty and the Queen in their closest family affections. The King went to Coburg in April to be present at the wedding of his niece, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his nephew, the Grand Duke of Hesse, the only son of the lamented Princess Alice. The occasion brought together a remarkable number of prominent members of Royal Houses, including Queen Victoria and the German Emperor, and was rendered additionally memorable by the fact that the engagement of the present Tsar of Russia to the bridegroom’s sister was then publicly announced. The King, who was on this occasion accompanied by Queen Alexandra, went to St. Petersburg in August for the wedding of the Grand Duchess Xenia, which was celebrated with all the lavish magnificence of Russian Court ceremonies. Although the Tsar was not then in his usual robust health, there was nothing to indicate how soon the King and Queen were to be recalled to Russia on a far different mission. To their lasting sorrow, the summons to the Tsar’s death-bed at Livadia arrived too late for them to be present at the last. Their Majesties left London on 31st October, immediately on receipt of an urgent message from the Tsaritsa, and had proceeded as far as Vienna when the news was broken to them that all was over. They, however, continued their melancholy journey, which was much delayed by bad weather, in order that they might be with the widowed Empress and her son through the terrible strain of the return to St. Petersburg, and the ordeal of the funeral ceremonies. The King’s fifty-third birthday was spent at Livadia, and for the first time since his birth the anniversary celebrations in London and at Sandringham did not take place. When the funeral _cortège_ reached St. Petersburg, Prince George joined his parents, and together they attended the elaborate obsequies of the Emperor, and the very quiet wedding of the young Tsar and Princess Alix of Hesse, which followed a few days later. The King remained in Russia for the Queen’s birthday, and left with his son the following day, while Her Majesty stayed behind to support her sister, the Empress Alexander. The relations between England and Russia after the King’s return became noticeably more cordial, and there is no doubt that this was owing in a large measure to His Majesty’s personal exertions, and the sympathy which he and his son displayed with the Russian people in their great sorrow.