Pavlovna. She was Emperor Paul I of Russia's great-great-granddaughter, and she wished to emphasize her exalted ancestry with the patronymic "Pavlovna." Religion For three years, Marie and Vladimir could not marry, because Marie refused to convert from Lutheranism to the Russian Orthodox Church. Vladimir's mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna was disappointed by Marie's refusal to convert: She herself had converted from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy, and she thought that the Russian Orthodox church was “quite good enough for any daughter-in-law of hers.” She told Vladimir that she hoped that Marie would "become Russian in body and in soul," indicating her hope that Marie would convert. Emperor Alexander II finally agreed to let Vladimir marry Marie without insisting on her conversion to Orthodoxy. Every bride of a Russian Grand Duke needed to convert to Russian Orthodoxy before Marie, so Marie's decision was shocking and unprecedented. Lord Augustus Loftus noted that, "It is a matter of surprise here for a Foreign Princess married to a Grand Duke to retain her own religion but it is a process to which they will have to accustom themselves or they will find no wives for the Russian Grand Dukes. I think it is a healthy practice and it will do them good." In a letter to Hamilton Fish, Eugene Schuyler wrote “The Grand Duchess will retain the Lutheran religion. This is worthy of note, as hitherto the Russian laws have required the wives of all grand dukes to adopt the orthodox Russian faith.” Marie set the precedent for brides who did not have to convert to Russian Orthodoxy to marry Russian Grand Dukes. At the time of Marie's marriage, Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine wrote to her mother, Queen Victoria, "My mother-in-law tells me that since Miechen has been allowed to retain her religion, this right will of course be conceded to all Princesses in the future.” Many years later, Alice's daughter Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine would use Marie's precedent to retain her Lutheran faith and marry Marie's brother-in-law, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia. Marie was furious when her sister-in-law Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia converted to Russian Orthodoxy after her marriage. Grand Duchess Elizabeth predicted Marie's response, and she asked her father Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine: "Please do not yet tell anybody at Darmstadt until I write again when Miechen [Marie] knows."