The Alexander Palace Time Machine Discussion Forum

It's only a partial likeness and sorry, I don't recognize her.

Sorry I got the title wrong! Dan Willis also wrote a book on the Hapsburgs today.

Dmitri's height still amazes me. It can clearly be been in the Persia photo which I haven't seen before - he is at least a half foot taller than anyone else. In the 1912 photo at the Stockholm Olympics, he does not appear noticeably taller than the others, so likely much of his height comes from his long legs.

The grave that was excavated in 1991 did not have its remains buried until 1998, a wait of 7 years. It remains to be seen how long feet will be dragged over the remains found in 2007. As in life, these bones are not mere bones, and the second burial will probably be subject to political squabbles, too.

I agree with Virginia Rounding about Sandro's damaging quote about Nicholas. There is a detailed breakdown about why I think Sandro's quote was bogus in my chapter on Nicholas as a grand duke in "The Grand Dukes" (2010). While there were many present in Lavadia when Alexander III died, only Alexander Mikhailovich characterizes Nicholas as fretfull about his sudden elevation to power. It's true that he was sad and grieving over the loss of his father which is entirely understandable. However, he did not make his cousin prominent in his reign as the quote implies he would and in fact, Nicholas was schooled in governing, although no one thought he would come to rule as quickly as he did.

Natalya Iskander died in 1999, one year after meeting the many Romanov descendants who attended the reburial of Nicholas II in 1998.

Dan Willis wrote "The Romanovs in the 20th Century" which describes the approximately 50 Romanov collateral descendants alive today.

There is no evidence that there were any women guests at the Yousupov Palace on the night of Rasputin's murder. That was why Princess Paley's daugher was released after her arrest.

Dmitri's diaries indicated he did not care for his stepmother until after the Revolution. He was fond of her children with Piskeltors but had complex feelings about the children of his father's 2nd marriage, particularly his half brother Vladimir Paley. How could he not? He basically went without a father for much of the time after Grand Duke Paul became involved with Olga Paley.

Will had a biopsy a month or so ago. I have a nasty case of fibromyalgia. In my case, I am given to understand this is a chronic condition although I work hard to minimize my symptoms.

Thank you so much for the offers of help! I will stay in touch.

I noted in the brief bio I wrote of MA many years ago (for the Alexander Palace Time Machine) that blame must be put on Dagmar in her actions or lack thereof when it came to the marriages of her children. This was also true to an extent with her sister Alexandra, The Princess of Wales. Neither seemed to perform this most important duty of royal mothers, to find suitable mates for her children. In Dagmar's case:

Nicholas - his parents opposed his chosen mate, Alix of Hesse, and after Alexander III's death, their relationship remained chilly. this had a detrimental effect on the monarchy.
George - I'll give her a pass on him, as his illness made marriage an impossibility for him.
Xenia - her mother had nothing to do with arranging her marriage to Sandro.
Michael - she should have arranged his marriage after the death of George in 1899. His romantic history from here on out is evidence of this.
Olga - the only marriage she arranged was to someone she didn't know and had no affinity with

I am verklempt! Thank you for the compliment! A little update to our royal history friends:

Research and translations are on going while we are writing. Will is doing all of the translations and we keep coming up with new material and of course information. Of particular help to us have been Joe Furhman's Rasputin update because he has done the research in Russia on this controversial figure, Joe's translation of Nicholas and Alexandra's wartime diaries, and Margarita Nelipa's Murder of Grigorii Rasputin. All excellent materials which have helped us enormously.

We are of course in need of more materials. These are listed below. We will gladly sign releases as necessary and will of course make attributions:

1. White Crow - biography of GD Nicholas Mikhailovich
2. War Time Diaries of Nicholas and Alexandra (Fuhrman)
3. Last Diaries of Nicholas and Alexandra (to be published in 2013)

Two more things you should know: both Will and I are ill and so we have to be flexible in our timing. I had to leave my job in April and while I have some disability insurance, my claims take time as does trying to figure out how to budget our family on a reduced income which can also be irregular. IOW, please be patient with us. And if you can help us, do. Second, as it now stands, we are hoping to publish Dmitri's diaries with the book. With several caveats. the Ilyinsky family, and in particular, Prince Michael Pavlovich, have generously provided us with some of the diaries in translation. Any publication of these materials will require his permission.

That's all for now. We work on our book daily. I have a genealogy of DP that I've been working on for three years which is quite incredible on its own. Feel free to call or email me if you have questions or any material to contribute. We still are missing years of his diaries and understand them to be somewhere in France in a barn! Will's translations are fabulous and he sometimes posts materials on a group in Facebook.

Love,

Lisa

 

As Larry said, we saw Robert last at Trader Vic's in Emeryville three years ago.

Robert did not suffer fools gladly, but at the same time had a warm and generous spirit.

Jeff and I extend our sympathies to his beloved Randy, we are very sorry for your loss. Doubtless his friends will find what comfort we can from each other.

I don't like being reminded that none of us make it out of here alive! We are poorer for his absence and if there is a place where we all go in the great beyond, I am ready to see him again in the Royal History section with his lovely kitties by his side.

There were actually several "Yurovsky Notes" and some differ significantly from another. I will need to dig my info out but I believe someone's testimony mentions specifically burning the two smallest.

I did notice it. Your cable provider should have some kind of search feature that will allow you to see if it was on again.

A couple of things:

Paul Kulikovsky publishes his "Romanov News" on a group we have on Facebook. If anyone wants to join this group and needs an introduction, just message me.

I have the impression that Judge Sergeyev was a somewhat impartial investigator. It is possible that some who participated were neither Bolshevik leaning nor Tsarist lackeys.