Photos of Felix and Irina together/with family/friends

It's alright, you are not sounding shallow, just suprised as everyone else that would have aged so badly. I think the same thing about Empress Alexandra. She didn't age well at all, but then again with everything that was going on it's fairly expected that she would have lost her looks so fast.

Felix and Irina didn't age very well, and while I'm sure the Revolution and effects of having to lose everything they had would have been stressful but still looking at pictures of them in old age and not so old age versus their engagement pictures, you wouldn't think they were the same people.

And I think I know what picture you are talking about, and I'm pretty sure I have it on my laptop which is currently back at home. I'll look it up when I get back. I think Felix was wearing sunglasses? If not there's another one picture that could be it.

Oh I know exactly which one you want, but I don't have it It's in the book "The Man Who Killed Rasputin" and it shows them walking hand in hand after another lawsuit over a TV program in 1965. I think they lost this one. They both look HORRIBLE! When you compare it to their engagement photo, it's frightening what time and a hard life can do to people. Everyone gets old, but they looked extremely haggard.

Yes, that one sounds right. I knew it had something to do with some lawsuit... They looked quite awful... It's so much worse, isn't t, when good looking young people turn into horrible looking old people than "so-so" looking young people becoming old and horrible looking...

Sorry to sound so shallow  .

No I agree! My Mom used to always comment on people she had grown up with as they got older, and she said that the ones who were ugly, or below average looking, usually aged better or actually looked 'better old' because old people are expected to be less attractive, so they made fine elderly folk but had been homely young ones. Some of the best looking people had aged the worst!

It's alright, you are not sounding shallow, just suprised as everyone else that would have aged so badly. I think the same thing about Empress Alexandra. She didn't age well at all, but then again with everything that was going on it's fairly expected that she would have lost her looks so fast.

Felix and Irina didn't age very well, and while I'm sure the Revolution and effects of having to lose everything they had would have been stressful but still looking at pictures of them in old age and not so old age versus their engagement pictures, you wouldn't think they were the same people.

I do think their hard times took a toll on them all. You can see Alexandra change drastically and knowing what was going on in her life, it's no surprise. Stress can drag you down, deteriorate you, and kill you.

And I think I know what picture you are talking about, and I'm pretty sure I have it on my laptop which is currently back at home. I'll look it up when I get back. I think Felix was wearing sunglasses? If not there's another one picture that could be it.

Please post them both!

OOPS!  This is the correct picture.

Some of looking haggard and skeleton-like in old age comes from being so thin in youth.

As the body ages we lose the "fat layer" on our bones.  Just look at the hands of an old woman (or man) compared to a young person.  As we grow that "fat layer" goes away and the bones and veins begin to show vividly.

Also, our skin loses its elasticity and so that hated hanging skin occurs all over the body.

But also, contrarily, someone who has too much body fat, especially around the waist will look older than actual age.  I just saw a show on this and the woman was 45.  People said she looked at least 60!

The Duchess of Windsor was another example of "skeleton-like" aging.  But then she was famous for saying, "One can never be too rich or too thin."

My grandmother used to say that a little "extra" (not a lot) of fat layer kept some women looking younger than their thin counterparts.  I think she was right because my mom is now 85 and everyone takes her for mid 60s.  (I sincerely hope that I inherited her genes.)  ;-)

Some women as they age can be called "handsome".   I don't think that any of the Romanov ladies (except maybe Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna) inherited that.  But then as some of you have noted, someone who was not beautiful in her youth can age well.  Olga was no "beauty" in her youth (she looked too much like her father), but I believe she was a "handsome" woman in her later years.

I find Olga Alexandrovna not handsome at all through out her life. None of the Romanov Ladies aged well past 50-60. But Olga had a good soul, down to earth lady whom followed her heart without a wicked scandal.  unlike that of many of her cousins.


And I don't get it, Felix Felixovich wasn't handsome either and everybody calls him handsome (just because some guy is rich doesn't mean they are the handsomest man alive, like that of Paris Hiltion - creepy skinny with an ugly nose!), he was creepy female looking, that remains me of Michael Jackson. 

To me, Felix was not so much "handsome" but "beautiful" or elegant.  He had very fine, soft and at the same time chiseled features.  He would appeal to both men and women in his time. The man had style and grace and the ability to charm.  (Even though I hate his sense of humor and his ideas of what was funny and what was not.)

We today are used to the two days old growth on the faces of our movie stars and models.  We look for a man who is both "outdoor" and "indoor'.  He is shown as being intelligent, passionate, caring and courteous, but at the same time rugged enough to go for a hike or climb a mountain and if he gets hurt, he won't moan and run for the first aid kit.

Patrick Dempsey comes to mind.

Now remembering that I am no longer (cough) so young, I would always go to a movie with Sean Connery in it.  I don't think he ever made a "bad movie", except maybe for his James Bond days and just maybe Darby O'Gill and the Little People  ;-)   ;-)

I also like Will Smith and usually will go to his moves just because he is in them.  Then there is Tommy Lee Jones and Harrison Ford.  Together or separately.

But I digress. (and I am going way off topic).

Felix was an "aristocrat's aristocrat".  Michael Jackson is creepy, but he has done that to himself.  All that surgery. 

Felix was attractive enough to have Irina Alexandrovna marry him.  And she was supposed to be a beauty in her time.

Felix and Irina, 1914 :



Felix, Irina with others, 1916 :

Personally, I  never saw Irina at the same time pose for other official portraits in court or evening dress different. What is surprising when you think that, by her marriage with the Prince Youssoupov, she was one of the richest women in Russia.

Quite right KarlandZita but Felix and Irina married in february 1914 and the war had started by the time they returned from their honeymoon,in fact they tried to rush home in august but were detained in Germany by order of the Kaiser.Irina was not at court,as it were,and I don't think many official court portraits were taken after the beginning of the war.Correct me if I am wrong but I beleave the Tsar cut back on a lot of expenses at that time.Also Irina by her demure nature was probably happy to live quite privately rather than be a public figure.

What stunning photos of Irina! Especially, the one of her with Sandro as a baby. Thank you so much for posting them, Alexandre.