In the little duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt in Germany, not far away from Russia, on June 6, 1872, a healthy baby girl with dark shining eyes, the sixth child of Grand Duke Ludwig and Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt was born. Her tiny head was topped with a curl of reddish-gold hair, and she possessed small, finely formed features. She was christened on the day of her parents’ wedding anniversary and given the Germanized name of her mother, plus the names of her four English aunts. Her Ducal Highness the Princess Alix Victoria Helena Louise Beatrice von Hesse-Darmstadt and By Rhine was the newest addition to Hesse-Darmstadt ducal family. Baby Alix's long string of names came from the females in her family. Alix(pronounced Ah-leec) was the Germanized version of her mother's name: "Alix we chose for my name, as they murder it so here, they pronounced it, 'Alicea'." The remaining four names were after her aunts, the sisters of her mother, former princesses of Great Britain. Alix grew up with plenty of siblings: Victoria, "Vicky" (1863-1950), Elizabeth "Ella" (1864-1918), Irené (1866-1953), Ernest-Ludwig, "Ernie" (1868-1937), Friedrich, "Frittie" (1870-1873) and May (1874-1878). Alix was a beautiful little girl, always with a smile on her face and a dimple in her cheek. She was called "Sunny" and "Dear Alicky" by her family, and her mother often wrote to Queen Victoria, saying: “Baby in pink was immensely adored by all.” or “She is like Ernie, with always a smile and a dimple on her cheek!” But little Alix's early years were clouded with grief. A couple of weeks after Alix's birth, two-year-old Frittie was playing when he cut his ear. By the end of the first night, poor Frittie's hair was matted with blood. The bleeding lasted for four days, and thus confirmed Frittie as a hemophiliac, the second of Queen Victoria's decedents to be deemed so, following her youngest son, Prince Leopold. Despite the pain involved, little Frittie pulled through and lived.
The spring of 1873 had been a calm one. Frittie had healed sufficiently enough for the family to take a much needed vacation to the seaside. Alice watched as Ernie and Frittie played in the waves, and built sandcastles together. The following month, May, Alice hoped, would prove to be a good one for the family. Alix was nearly a year old, growing into a nice, healthy baby. Ernie and Frittie, too, were growing nicely, and Victoria, Ella, and Irené were steadily growing into beautiful young teenagers, thus promising to be become beautiful young women. On May 28, 1873, Ernie remembered for the rest of his life how Frittie had presented him with a bunch of lilies-of-the-valley that the younger boy had picked. That day was probably the last truly unblemished in the family's life.
 The next morning, while Alice was in her sitting room, Ernie, five, and Frittie, not quite three, rushed in. It is unknown what happened next. It is thought that Ernie had gone into the next room, and Frittie, wanting to keep an eye on his brother, climbed into a chair by the window. It is unknown if Frittie leaned out too far, or just lost his balance, but the chair tipped under his weight, and the small boy fell forty feet from the window, onto the stone path below. Although Frittie regained consciousness, he never spoke a word. The boy died from bleeding on the brain before the afternoon was over, the first hemophilia-related death to occur in any of the hemophiliac descendants of Queen Victoria.
A year after Frittie's death, in 1874, another child, was born, a girl named May. For a time, the family tried to focus on the new addition. Ernie, Alix and May spent much time together, and were known as "The Little Ones", while Victoria, Ella, and Irené were "The Big Ones", nicknames that Alix would use one her own daughters. Frittie, however, was not forgotten. Every year until 1878, the children and their parents went to the mausoleum where Frittie's body lay, to remember him.
The year of 1878 seemed to be a promising year for the family. The three elder girls were growing up fast, and Victoria, at fifteen, was fast approaching adulthood, meaning her parents began to look around Europe for a list of eligible young royal men to wed their daughter. In November, however, the joy was brought to a temporary halt. An epidemic of diphtheria overtook the court and royal family of Hesse-Darmstadt. With the exception of Alice and Ella, the whole family fell sick. Alice assisted the doctors in nursing her family back to health, but four year old May died on November 16, 1878. Alice tried to keep it a secret from her children, but ten-year-old Ernie, a very compassionate and loving child, kept asking to see his sister. Much to his mother's anguish, he sent his sister all sorts of presents and treats. Finally, when Alice could not stand it any longer, she told Ernie that May had died. Ernie was inconsolable. He wept for his poor sister miserably, and Alice, in an effort to comfort him, leaned down, and received from him what Disraeli, the British prime minister later described as the “kiss of death“. Alice caught the disease a week later, and while the rest of the family recovered, Alice took a turn for the worse and died on December 14, 1878, the seventeenth anniversary of her father's death. “May…Dear Papa!“ were the last words she spoke before her death. On the day of her funeral, the five remaining children peered from the rain-soaked window as the carriage carrying their mother's body journeyed to the burial ground. The streets of Darmstadt were packed with people dressed in black, and paying their last respects to their princess.
 After the deaths of her mother and sister, Alix became shy and withdrawn. She was able to be upset very easily, soon after would always wear a frown on her face. It was rare to see her smile. Her grandmother, Queen Victoria, was worried that their mother's death was having a negative effect on the children. She sent for them to live with her in England for awhile. There, she carried for them, and paid special attention to the youngest two, Ernie and Alix, who seemed most traumatized. “Gangan” treated the children well, and doted on Ernie and Alix as her little pets. She enjoyed giving Alix cookies and sponge cakes, and seeing the delighted smile on the child's face.
In 1883, Ella accepted the proposal of Grand Duke Sergey of Russia, a younger brother of Tsar Aleksandr III. In March of 1884, Ella traveled to St. Petersburg with her father, Alix, and Ernie for the wedding. While there, Alix met, for the first time, Tsarevitch Nicholas, and as they say, the rest is history.