Claimant of Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaevna - Magda Boodts

 I can't believe that dictionnaries and historicals books are wrong since 90 years.

I never heard of this man, Alexis of Anjou. What dictionaries and history books for 90 years?   Well, maybe it's just me.

For the dictionary, I just wanted to mean that everywhere, we read that the WHOLE family died in 1918.
About Alexis, it is true that he was an unknown man in spite of being a duc. He lived in Spain, spoke french, spanish, russian, english,...And lived quietly without problems until he decided to be recognised. By the way, why the king Juan Carlos decided to accept him as duc if he lied?

For the dictionary, I just wanted to mean that everywhere, we read that the WHOLE family died in 1918.
 
 

Oh ok, I thought you meant that history books wrote about Alexis for 90 years, this is why I was a little confused. Sorry.

No problem

Hi:

     I read an old post here about Magda Boodts, this woman that lived in Italy and claimed she was Olga Nicolaievna. I'm not a Magda Boodts believer , but as all people who loves all things related to the Romanovs, I would like to know infos about pretenders. Some of them are very interesting, and others are absolutely hilarious and stupid, but I like to know more, and more about them.  

     Well; I wanted to know Magda Boodts story, for she is, by far, the less famous of Romanov pretenders and I can't find any info on her. I read an old post who said that Greg King or Penny Wilson (I can't remember wich of them) had write this lady's story right here, but I'm not able to find it. I only saw a "picture" of her, who was hilarious for it seems an identi-kit!  

      Thank you!

       RealAnastasia

I've never heard of her, I would be interested in more information as well. Does anyone have a pic?  :-/

Me too Laura. This is the first I heard of her. Does anyone have any information to share?

There's not much to tell, she lived on Lake Como, few people believed in her, and she has presumably passed on by now.

Me too Laura. This is the first I heard of her. Does anyone have any information to share?

Look at the Imperial claimants thread, "claimants-list,facts,history". There´s some info on Marga Boodts. She died in 1977. Very few people took her claim seriously.

Thank you, Helen and Stepen. Actually is not that I think that Magda (or Margda, as I saw wrote in some books) Boodts was Olga Nicolaievna. I only wanted to know in which was her claim, and of course, her "story". Anna Anderson had her "story" (she changed it several times, but she had it, anyway   ), as Eugenia Smith-Smetisko had hers, and of course Heino Tammet had his own story.

  I like to know all the impostors (or not impostors) stories, for they are part of Romanov family's legend.

  
  RealAnastasia.

Thanks guys. I like to read the claimant stories too. So I appreciate the information.

                    Marga Boodts          

"A woman calling herself Grand Duchess Olga was living from the twenties in various parts of Europe and in 1939 she settled in nortern Italy under the name of Marga Boodts. she said she was rescued by a loyal officer and then taken to Vladivostok,across China and on by sea to Hamburg,Germany.She was then recognized,she claimed, by the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm,who assured her financial independence during his lifetime. Later on her fortune foundered, but she had an enduring supporter in the shape of prince Sigismund of Prussia,the Kaiser´s nephew and first cousin of the real Grand Duchess Olga. In an interview at his home in Costa Rica in 1974 Prince Sigismund confirmed that he was still convinced of "Olga´s" authenticity. He had met her and said: "We spoke of so many familiar matters that an outsider could not have known about,because they were things that had happened between us two." When we visited Mrs Boodts at her Italian home in 1975 she declined to speak about herself or past events. nothing at all emerged during the to support the notion that she was either the Grand Duchess Olga or even a Romanov."  
This is a quotation from "The file on the Tsar" by Mangold and Summers.  It seems that this woman got some support and was taken seriously by some people.  After Prince Sigismund  recognized her in 1957 he introduced her to the hereditary grand Duke of Oldenburg who was a godson of the tsar. He took a keen interest and supplied her with funds until his death in 1970.  It seems that Marga Boodts lived a very withdrawn life and avoided publicity. I haven´t seen a photo of her and it seems very little has been written about her. It would be interesting if anybody had any more information on her.  She was certainly one of the more intersting claimants.
   

p. 192 Summers and Mangold's book THE FILE ON THE TSAR.


In their notes on p. 374 they tell their source:  "Mrs Boodts claims the Kaiser asked Frau von Schevenbach, the daughter of a friend, to look after her.  This arrangement was interrupted by the war in 1939, and "Olga" was in penury after Frau von Schevenbach's death.  After prince Sigismund reconized her in 1957, he introduced her to the Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg, a godson of the tsar.  He took a keen interst and supplied Mrs. Boodts with funds until his own death in 1970."

AGRBear

According to Massie in the ROMANOVS, THE FINAL CHAPTER p. 147 he tells us that Marga Boodts lived in a villa on Lake Como in Italy.  Massie claims that she claimed she was recieving money from the Pope and the Kaiser.

AGRBear

How interesting, Bear! I didn't read this book yet, for I can't find it in my country, but it sounds really interesting. His "Nicholas and Alexandra" is excellent. As French's would said a real "chef-d'oeuvre". I don't know anything - or almost anything- about Margda, Magda or now "Marga"   Boodts, but two little details: she lived in Italy, near Como's lake and she never made official claims.

  And, thank you for the "photo's explanation"! Now I understand what happened with them.

   RealAnastasia-

In the "strange" Blair Lovell's book about Anastasia (to name it without use awful words  ) the author claims that Anna Anderson said that "Margda Boodts could have been her sister"   Later in her life, when she was senile and more excentric than ever, she also "recognized" this Dutch lady (I guess it was Alexandra de Graaf) as her "lost fifth sister".

  We may also recall that Eugenia Smith "recognized" Michael Goloniewsky, as being her "brother", the Tsarevitch Alexis..."I scratch your back; your scratch mine"  

   It would have been hilarious that AA would travel to Como to see "Olga", and would recognize her. Pretty strange she didn't do so.  

  RealAnastasia.