Olga Anecdotes

The portion of Tatiana's letter that's translated in LPT doesn't say anything about the photo being nude, or cut from a newspaper.

As for the appropriateness of nudity at the time, remember that the grand duchesses' own photo albums contained photos of their father & brother swimming in the buff, and Olga's diary mentions going skinny-dipping. I don't think nudity was such a big taboo with the IF as it is nowadays.

Also, Aleksey mentioning in a letter to Nicholas that he wanted his sisters to watch him do swimming tricks in the deep bath tub. And Maria and Anastasia bathing together.

Thanks for the clarification about newspaper...an important point. Of course they were used to seeing others nude while swimming and even took photos of such activities ...but imo printed matter given by the officers would be quite diffrent.  Besides where would the officers get such an art print? In the usual media the statue would be printed with a fig leaf if at all ...and there for rather pointless ....unless in 1911 David with a fig leaf was considered racy enough to be used in such a joke.  We can't know of course , but would TN expect her aunt  think of the statue when  she  wrote " David? " ...or a family member in the news. 

From the extended " Six years at the Russian Court"  by Margaretta Eagar

One day she (Olga) was looking out of the window and  a quantity of snow fell past it, and rather startled her. I told her that the men were clearing snow from the roof, so she immediately asked" What's a roof?" I explained and she said with great scorn" the roof !I should call it the lid lol!!

She was a genius ^^

She was a genius ^^

In her way, indeed....Olga's thinking was extraordinary and vigorous. Miss Eagar also reports Olga woke her up past midnight one time and wanted to know how water could travel  upstairs and come into the bathroom?

You have to love such inquiring and her urgency. Olga could not wait till morning to know! lol!

Haha, what is the origin of the word roof anyways?

[ Old English hrōf "roof, ceiling, top" < Germanic]
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

^ Well, shrewd as she might have been, little Olga couldn't have been expected to know that! "Lid" is a sensible name! lol

Waking up in the middle of the night with a question/statement reminds me of one time when I was a 6-year-old aspiring poet and I woke up my mother in the middle of the night to make her write down a poem that had popped into my head. (It was a very silly thing about some toast or something--nothing brilliant!)

Olga's thinking was extraordinary and vigorous

You have to love such inquiring and her urgency.

Agreed! Her perceptive, witty remarks never fail to make me smile!

Olga could not wait till morning to know! lol!

Of course she didn't want & couldn't! I'm sure that the water running in pipes awaken her, so she had to have an answer immediately!
Little Ol'ga is really funny; i'm going to read Miss Eager's book as well, it seeems it will be funny!!

This is the Gilbert edition that has extra short articles she wrote after the book.  Eager's stories about the girls  were very popular in the British magazines. So much so,  one editor said they were stopping them to make room for other Princesses !( I guess British ones! ) ...but OTMA mania has been around for over 100 years  it seems...from the start

 Sunny: I'm surprised you haven't read M. Eagar's book. You're really going to like it.

blessOTMA:  I'm not aware of the Gilbert edition you mention, only the original Six Years At The Russian Court which I read some time ago and consider one of the very best for original OTMA material.  I'd love to read anything else she may have written about the children. I presume the water flowing upstairs anecdote comes from some later Eagar writing. Could you identify that, either here or by pm. Much appreciated.

Sunny: I'm surprised you haven't read M. Eagar's book. You're really going to like it.

blessOTMA:  I'm not aware of the Gilbert edition you mention, only the original Six Years At The Russian Court which I read some time ago and consider one of the very best for original OTMA material. 

I couldn't agree more.

I'd love to read anything else she may have written about the children. I presume the water flowing upstairs anecdote comes from some later Eagar writing. Could you identify that, either here or by pm. Much appreciated.

That is correct. M. Eagar wrote or was interviewed a few r short articles for  UK magazines...which stopped around 1910 I believe Thses   are included in the recent  Gilbert Books edition.This edition also has an introduction by Charlotte Zeepvat that goes into Eagar'a later life. She had to be dismissed because England supported Japan in the 1904 war. AF didn't want to let her go, but finally bowed to the general court's demand....Eagar's very much felt the loss of the children...that part is actually heartbreaking

here is another Which I will tap out with my one typing finger for my follow AP members! lol

One day when they were playing rather noisily  and old Mrs Orchard, who had brought up the Tsaritsa, came into the room . She began to rebuke me for letting them romp, and declared that their mother had never made a noise in all her life . And I said "We have all heard so often that the Tsaritsa was a perfect angel when she was a child, but she has given me human children to look after "Olga was listening and rushed across the room , threw her arms round me and exclaimed earnestly, "I  won't be a human child, I'll be an angel child too" She was greatly comforted when I told her I preferred has she was

Classic Olga  lol!

One day when they were playing rather noisily  and old Mrs Orchard, who had brought up the Tsaritsa, came into the room . She began to rebuke me for letting them romp, and declared that their mother had never made a noise in all her life . And I said "We have all heard so often that the Tsaritsa was a perfect angel when she was a child, but she has given me human children to look after "Olga was listening and rushed across the room , threw her arms round me and exclaimed earnestly, "I  won't be a human child, I'll be an angel child too" She was greatly comforted when I told her I preferred has she was

Classic Olga  lol!

Thanks Annie for this excerpt!
Sweetie Olga *___* and Miss Eager's answer was indeed very smart! I had no doubt Alix was a boring child, LOL  It's not being angels of humans, but being happy or sad children.
OTMA, thanks God, were happy and normally lively children. Alix was a sad child, and she was also brought up in a much severer way.

This is the Gilbert edition that has extra short articles she wrote after the book.  Eager's stories about the girls  were very popular in the British magazines. So much so,  one editor said they were stopping them to make room for other Princesses !( I guess British ones! )

I have a copy of Eagar's article from Girl's Own Paper and Women's Magazine in 1909 ("Further Glimpses of the Tsaritsa's Little Girls") and also a chapter I believe she wrote on Alexandra from Royal Romances of Today. Does the new Gilbert edition of Six Years at the Russian Court include these and/or others?

I have a copy of Eagar's article from Girl's Own Paper and Women's Magazine in 1909 ("Further Glimpses of the Tsaritsa's Little Girls") and also a chapter I believe she wrote on Alexandra from Royal Romances of Today.

Sarah, can you advice me where i can find them please?

I have a copy of Eagar's article from Girl's Own Paper and Women's Magazine in 1909 ("Further Glimpses of the Tsaritsa's Little Girls") and also a chapter I believe she wrote on Alexandra from Royal Romances of Today. Does the new Gilbert edition of Six Years at the Russian Court include these and/or others?

Further glimpses is there as well as an article called"  More about the Little Grand Duchesses of Russia " . I don't believe it has the article about  Alexandra ....but you know how things appear in such books and then seem to disappear when trying to find them. Zeepvat 's introduction is well researched. What I also find interesting is how old OTMA mania is. It was there from their first appearance to the reading public.  They could have no finer introduction to the  public eye than M. Eagar, who loved them so much