Alix Viktoria Helene Luise Beatrix was born on 6 June 1872 in Darmstadt; she was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his first wife, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. As an infant, she was very pretty, with delicate features and long dark lashes. Her mother gave her the nickname of Sunny , due to her cheerful disposition, a practice later picked up by her husband. Out of her siblings, she was closest to Princess Marie ( May ), who was 2 years younger. Both of them enjoyed a happy childhood and were doted on by their elder siblings and mother, who adored her two younger daughters. In November 1878, diphtheria swept through the Grand Ducal House of Hesse. Alix, her three sisters, her brother Ernst ( Ernie ) and her father fell ill. Alix's mother Alice tended to the children herself, rather than abandon them to the doctors. Alice herself soon fell ill and died on 14th December 1878. Alix, Victoria, Irene and Ernst survived th...