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4786

The Imperial Family / Re: What got you interested in the Romanovs?

« on: August 31, 2005, 07:08:20 PM »

I first became aware of the Romanovs when I saw Anastasia's Album ( a kids book) in a book catalog in 1996. But I didn't read it or order it. In late 1997, The Anastasia movie came out, but I didn't see it until it was released on video Spriing, 1998. All through the winter of 1998, I became more interested in the Romanovs because I had made the connection between the movie and the book I saw two years before that. The romanovs were much in the news at the time due to the remains, and that made me further aware of them.

Once the Anastasia video was out I watched it again and again. I wanted to know the differences between the real Anastasia and the fiictional one, so I read James Blair Lovell's the Lost Princess in June, 1998. That was the first Romanov book I read, but it was a little confusing since had more to do with Anna Anderson than the real Romanovs. I was 11 almost 12 at the time.From that time on, I was hooked. I read Nicholas and Alexandra in Spring, 1999. Interestingly enough, when we got a computer and I first learned how to use one in Autumn, 1999, one of the first websites that I discovered and learned how to surf was The Alexander Palace. This site fueled my passion for the Romanovs, so I read even more books about them in Autumn, 1999. This website was the first one I learned how to surf, and I love it as much now as I did then. By now, I am 19 and have read most of the books in English about the Romanovs. There are only a few I haven't read (ones can't get my hands on from libraries). Now and then, I love the Romanovs ( especially OTMA).

4787

Having Fun! / Re: Website Quiz-which GDss are you like?

« on: August 31, 2005, 06:41:43 PM »

I got Olga, which I think is accurate because I have always thought my personality was most like her. I am serious, and love to read and write. I can be moody sometimes too although not bad tempered... my sister is the one for that!

4788

Having Fun! / Re: if otma around to day who would be your sister

« on: August 31, 2005, 06:31:25 PM »

I would  like Grand Duchess Olga to be my sister, because I think we have a lot in common. I would want her to be my older sister which is interesting, because in my family I am the oldest. I have a younger brother and sister. I get along with my brother but not with my sister.

4789

Having Fun! / Re: what romanov would u have liked to have known?

« on: August 31, 2005, 06:13:54 PM »

I would like to have known Grand Duchess Marie. She was so sweet, good natured and uncomplicated. I  think she would have been easy to get along with. She was the Princess Diana of her era, if you think about it. She defintely would have been magnectic  and fascinated the world had she lived. I am 19 now, the age at which she died. She died almost a month after her 19th birthday, and it has been a month since mine. It is sad to think that that was all she knew of life... someone who had so much to contribute to the world.

4790

Having Fun! / Re: Who's your Favorite Romanov???

« on: August 31, 2005, 06:01:20 PM »

My favorite Romanov is Grand Duchess Marie, third daughter of Nicholas II.  She had the nicest personality, and was probably the easiest to get along, with of the four sisters. She was uncomplicated,and seems like she was a nice person who one would like to know. She probably woudn't have had a dramatic life if she had lived, unlike Olga or Tatiana. She always said that marriage and motherhood is what she wanted most. It is unfortunate that she never got much of a chance to make the world aware of her, unlike the Czar's other children. In their lifetimes, Olga and Tatiana were known as the eldest daughters of the Czar, who got some attention before World War I  shrouded them in. Tsarvitch Alexei was well known  because he was the heir. Anastasia had a personality that had a memorable effect on her contemporaries and on history.

But Grand Duchess Marie was often overlooked, being the Czar's third daughter, and not having a personality that made you notice her. But from accounts of her, it seems she was the one who would have been the best to know.Also, she was probably the most beautiful of the sisters, at least according to modern standards of beauty. She a lovely face, and those wide open eyes that speak across the years. Tatiana was an exoctic beauty, but Marie had that Princess Diana kind of beauty, that just grabs the camera. I have always thought  her face resembled Tsarina Alexandra, and the English side of the Family. Her coloring and build was more like the Russian side. Grand Duchess Marie was, by all acounts, the nicest of the sisters-an angel.

4791

Anastasia Nicholaievna / Re: A thick waist?

« on: August 31, 2005, 10:50:14 AM »

Thank you for pointing out what you pointed out. Your theory about why Anastasia gained so much weight in captivity, especially, (allthough she had been heavy before) is quite valid to explain her weight gain at that point. Marie was indeed, quite thin in early childhood, and gained weight in adolscence. I missed that. But, I would argue that by 1916 through captivity, she was thinner that she was in say, the 1914 formal photos. She was not that much thinner, though. Alexandra's letters refer to this, and this is quoted in most Romanov biographies, that Marie had lost some of her weight, whereas Anastasia had gained weight.

4792

Having Fun! / Re: which romanov do u look like?

« on: August 29, 2005, 09:55:47 PM »

I don't think I look like any of the Romanovs. When I was younger I probably most resembled Marie. That was when I was 14 or so. I had long brown hair and a face a bit rounder than today. I have brown eyes, and meduim length hair now which I am trying to grow back. I am a bit thinner now, and a never had a very big frame, but I still think my eyes, lips, maybe face, and defintely hair resemble Marie's still. To give an idea of what I looke like, I look somewhat like Julia Roberts ( or so I have been told). My brother resembled Alexei very strongly when he was younger with the same haircut, blue eyes, brown hair. But now he has matured beyond the age Alexei would have been (he's17), and he doesn't anymore. But maybe if Alexei had lived, my brother might still resemble him. My sister resembles Marie more now. She even has a big boned frame, as well as brown hair, blue eyes. When she was younger she really didn't resemble any of the Romanovs. Now, I think I don't either. But still, my facial features most resemble Marie. I am 19 now, but when we were younger me and my siblings would spend hours trying to see who resembled which of OTMA and Alexei. Me and my brother were, and still are, interested in the Romanovs, and my sister played along although she has no interest in the Romanovs today, unfortunatly. Because of that, I found this topic interesting. I wish I could post a photo so someone could give me their opinion about which Romanov I most resemble today, but I don't know how, so this is just my opinion. Anybody else's comments welcome.  

4793

Anastasia Nicholaievna / Re: About that hair-style....

« on: August 29, 2005, 09:15:18 PM »

Reply to Real Anastasia. I don't know a lot about Anastasia and bangs, but I agree that she probably did have a scar, and bangs would have been a good way of covering that up. When I first started reading this message board, I thought of the same passage in the Laura Ingalls Wilder book you refer to, and am glad you made people aware of that passage. I am interested in both the romanovs and Laura Ingalls Wilder. The passage comes from one of Laura's later books, I think Little Town on the Prairie. It happened in 1880s, so it wasn't that far from Anastasia's era. Your post was very illuminating. I just wish I remembered more details of the Laura Ingalls wilder Part.
Anybody else's opinion welcome.  

4794

Anastasia Nicholaievna / Re: A thick waist

« on: August 29, 2005, 08:56:24 PM »

Anastasia was quite thin and short as a child, as pictures show. She was still quite short when she died, and probably would have been her whole life. Thus, she was shorter than the rest of the family except perhaps Alexei. As for being heavy, she wasn't as a young child. By 1916, pictures show she had gained some weight. This was still true in 1918. So, yes, she was chubbier than she had been before. But the weight gain suited her up to a point. It filled out her features. In one of her last photographs, that I have seen, she does in summer, 1918 look to be what we would consider plump and a little too heavy. Being short, and perhaps big boned, weight gain would have looked worse on her than her sisters. Marie was heavy as a child, and slimmed down in 1916-18 so her weight was baby fat, and she was of average height. Anastasia was maybe just going through a phase and maybe not. Whether she would have been heavy the rest of her life is conjecture.She was the least pretty of the sisters, true, but she had personality. Why she was heavy probably had to do with her body type and age, and not food or exercise. The romanov girls had roughly the same amount of exercise in captivity, and were not served a whole lot of food, and Tatiana was very thin at this point. So it would have been difficult for Anastasia to have eaten unheathily, and considering the other girls skinny frames and that they got around the same amount of food and exercise, Anatasia's weight in captivity probably had the most do with body type and age.  

4795

Maria Nicholaievna / Re: GDss Marie and Louis "Dickie" Mountbatten

« on: August 29, 2005, 08:26:10 PM »

When I was first getting into the romanovs, and I found out about Louis of Mountbatten and Marie, about them being cousins, and the fact that Lord Louis always had an enduring love for Marie, I was surprised. He lived a much longer life than she, although he also died tragically. Both of them were murdered; he after a long and sucessful life, and she at only 19, not given the chance to accomplish much. Marie seems to belong to a different era; it is hard to imagine her alive in the later 20th century, dealing with the modern era. But if she had lived, perhaps she and Lord Louis would have married. They had an affinity for one another. It would have been interesting to see if it developed into anything more. Lord Louis had a long but complicated marriage with Edwina Ashley. Edwina was a complex, strong woman, quite unlike the simple, easygoing Marie. They were very different women, but since Lord Louis was rather complex himself, and lived a life that had much drama, perhaps he would have been happier with Marie, because she would not have been as volatile. His life might have been more peaceful. After World War I the first there were not so many restrictions hemming in Royal marriages. Also, in practice, if not in theory, female Romanovs were freerer to marry as they wanted since their children would not be Romanovs of russia, carrying on the blood. Had they wished, Grand Duchess Marie and Lord Louis (who was born a prince, but had to change his title when it seemed too German during World War I), would probably have been allowed to marry. He was Royal, just not as much as the Romanovs. Tsarvich Alexei, for instance would have had to marry nothing but a perfectly royal Princess. But Marie, as the third daughter of the Czar, might have been allowed to marry Lord Louis. The rules would have been applied harder had it been a Grand Duke, not a Grand Duchess. But then again,there were rules , and Marie would have had to observe them. It would probably have been her fathers choice. It is one of the might have beens, though. Tragedy intervened and Grand Duchess Marie was denied the long, productive life she deserved. Sorry I got too lengthy here.

4796

Having Fun! / Re: Does Maria resemble...?

« on: August 29, 2005, 07:41:48 PM »

I think Drew Barrymore does resemble Marie. I had never thought that, but as it is pointed out to me,  I  agree. As for the other grand duchessess maybe Keira Knightly for Tatiana-they both have an exoctic, sexy look to them.  For Anastasia, maybe one of the Olson twins-probably Mary Kate. Anastasia's face resembled theirs, and she was quite short, too.  Angelina Jolie, if she were younger, could also have been Tatiana. Both are exoctic beauties. Olga is harder.. I'm trying to think... but I can't come up with anybody. Except Anna Kournikova, the tennis star. But she isn't an actresss, although physically, she resembles Olga. And she has that ''Russian''quality.This is my take, but it would interesting to hear some different opinions.