Based on what I've read, Elisabeth 'Ella' of Hesse, the Grand Duchess Sergei was a dazzling beauty, decked out in jewels (in her pre-widow days). They say she and Queen Marie of Romania (and perhaps Queen Victoria Eugenie 'Ena' of Spain) were Queen Victoria's most attractive granddaughters. Ella's sister, Empress Alexandra was also a beauty but somehow her shy, introvert personality never gave her that commanding presence that her sister, mother-in-law, cousins, and aunt (Alexandra of Denmark) seemed to have...even decked out in imperial regalia.