On 1 November 1894, Alexander III died at Maley Palace, Livadia, aged forty-nine, leaving twenty-six-year-old Nicholas as tsar of Russia. The following day, Alix, who had arrived at Livadia several days earlier in order to receive the dying tsar's blessing, was received into the Russian Orthodox Church as Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna. Alix had apparently expressed her wish to take the name Catherine, but decided to take the name Alexandra on Nicholas's request.King, Greg Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp Power and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II (Wiley & Sons, 2006), pg. 329
