Messages

61

Olga Nicholaievna / Re: Tsarina Olga!?!?

« on: October 27, 2009, 09:43:46 PM »

Nicholas did make a lot of mistakes in his reign. But he too was struggling with a archaic system of tsarism in Russia, and mistakes that been made before his time. In his case, he believed in autocracry and never wavered really, although there was a Duma after 1905. He never considered another point of view. I really wouldn't call him Nicholas the Bloody though. Olga may have considered another point of view, or may have had to, considering the rapidly changing times had she come to the throne.

62

The Imperial Family / Re: The Imperial children "sad,sheltered" life?

« on: October 27, 2009, 09:38:11 PM »

Well, I think many royal children of that era and even of today could be said to be living in a goldfish bowl growing up, and indeed in adult life too. In that era, especially in Russia where there was a fear of assination on the part of the IF, growing up as royalty meant a lot of restrictions.

63

The Hesse-Darmstadts (Hesse and by Rhine) / Re: Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig & Grand Duchess Victoria Melita

« on: October 27, 2009, 09:23:55 PM »

I don't think it's true that VM wrecked both of her marriages. In my opinion, she and Ernest were both young and just not a good match. It was an arranged marriage that didn't work out. VM was obviously not as laid back as Ernest's second wife, but I wouldn't say it's true she wrecked the marriage by herself either. As for Kyril, and his marriage to VM, we don't know what happened to make it sour towards the end. We know more about why the marriage of Ernest and VM went sour.

64

Alexandra Feodorovna / Re: Alexandra - Slandered and Hated

« on: October 23, 2009, 03:42:36 PM »

I sometimes think the title of this thread should be changed to Alexandra: Controversial and Debated. For someone who has been dead for almost a century, she can still give rise to great debate. Alexandra in my view was a very rigid person who believed what she believed and that was it. She didn't listen to others, but she didn't have good judgment, and she could have had a better attitude towards life. In the end though, we will never know her, so opinions are just that.

65

Tsarevich Alexei Nicholaievich / Re: Alexei's wife?

« on: October 11, 2009, 02:00:21 PM »

I was rereading this thread and it's interesting, I agree. I was reading again the suggestion that Alexei may have wed one of the daughters of Elena of Greece ( originally Elena of Russia, Miechen's daughter), like Elizabeth of Greece. That would have been interesting as it would have combined Miechen's line with the main Imperial Russian line. How well did he know Elizabeth of Greece and her sisters exactly?

66

News Links / Re: Queen Victoria carried severe haemophilia ’Christmas disease’ gene

« on: October 11, 2009, 01:59:07 AM »

I agree with that Ally. I thought of that too. I don't recall the specifics of the whose remains was it, Marie or Anastasia debate, I'd have to go read about it again, but what you say may well be true. Marie may have been the carrier.

67

Tsarevich Alexei Nicholaievich / Re: Alexei's wife?

« on: October 11, 2009, 01:27:08 AM »

I agree that Alexei obviously wasn't interested in girls in his lifetime. But he might have lived as long as 30 as Prince Leopold did, or as long as his cousin Waldemar, Irene of Prussia's son who lived to be 56. He may also have had children, like Leopold. Certainly he would have married. Alexei had he not died at age 14 from murder could have lived to age 56, for all we know. He wasn't doomed. As for speculation in history, as one quote goes "When the past dies there is mourning, but when the future dies, our imaginations are compelled to carry it on." It's natural to wonder who Alexei may have married had he lived.

68

Tatiana Nicholaievna / Re: Tatiana Nicholaievna - Maria Alexandrovna

« on: October 08, 2009, 09:37:58 AM »

Interesting comparison, Sara- I agree with you. I would also add that Irina, Tatiana's first cousin and Xenia's daughter, shared these looks, in my opinion.

69

Alexandra Feodorovna / Re: Was Alix of Hesse disliked by British royals?

« on: October 07, 2009, 12:58:30 PM »

I'd also be interested in those quotes from those books, Teddy. I had never read Marie G's book before but I just ordered it from interlibrary loan since you mentioned it. I've never read the Nicholas of Greece book either.

70

Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: The Jewel Album of Tsar Nicholas II, by von Solodkoff

« on: September 30, 2009, 07:23:30 PM »

I recently got to read this book through interlibrary loan, too bad it's so expensive though. It's a nice book, the most interesting thing about it is seeing Nicholas's hand drawn depictions of jewelry he receieved and then seeing who gave him what. Alexandra gave him a lot of heart jewelry, not surprisingly, and it's interesting to see it. You feel like you know the Romanovs better after reading this book. That's what I liked most about it. It's unfortunate this jewelry has not survived.

71

Alexandra Feodorovna / Re: Alexandra - Slandered and Hated

« on: September 30, 2009, 07:09:06 PM »

One thing I have always considered in Marie Antoinette's favor when evaluating her and Alexandra, is that MA did show signs of maturity later in her life and did grow up. Alexandra's personality was simply fixed, as she was 22 when she married Nicholas and became Empress consort. Her mistakes were in her early 20s and after, whereas MA came to the French court to marry Louis in an arranged marriage at age 14. Many of her mistakes where made as uneducated teenager, struggling to have an heir, who was trying to make the best of an arranged marriage and unfamiliar country where she didn't choose to be, and where she wasn't popular. Alexandra on the other hand was far older and was in a supportive marriage with someone she loved, in a country where she wanted to be, although she too struggled to have an heir- but at least she was known to be fertile, and had children, albeit daughters. MA didn't have any children at all for some years.

72

The Yussupovs / Re: Felix Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitriy Pavlovitch

« on: September 08, 2009, 09:59:26 PM »

I do have this book and looked through it briefly. In the index it mentions Dmitri visiting/ possibly visiting Alexandra twice before he murder of Rasputin- no other references to Alexandra and Dmitri until after the murder of Rasputin. On p. 463 she writes to Nicholas in April 1916 that Dmitri may show up to visit her, if it doesn't bore him. She says nothing else with regards to Dmitri. Then on p. 471, in August 1916, she writes to Nicholas that Dmitri has visited her, and that his heart is not good like hers, but that it is just the begining of his having this problem, and that it can be cured, if he takes a cure. I couldn't find any other references, although I can look more thoroughly- I checked under Dmitri's entry in the index, and Alexandra's, and Olga's. Felix Yusupov also is quoted from his memoirs on p.471 about the relations between Nicholas and Alexandra and Dmitri prior to the murder of Rasputin. He says that they looked on Dmitri as son, but says nothing about a possible marriage between Olga and Dmitri. What's interesting is page 381, where it quotes from Yusupov's memoirs, saying that both he and Dmitri wanted to marry Irina, but that Irina only wanted to marry Felix, at least that's what Felix says she said after he ( Felix) told Irina that Dmitri had wanted to marry her too. To quote Felix, " Dmitri bowed before a desicion which he realised was final, but our friendship was to suffer and our relations were never the same afterwards." One has to take Felix with a grain of salt though.

Alexandra does mention in this book, p. 453 that she doesn't want Olga marrying Boris, GD Vladimir A and Miechen's son, who was a well known playboy type. She writes to Nicholas that although the ever ambitious Miechen pushed this marriage, she, Alexandra did not think that Olga would ever agree to this marriage, and that she, Alexandra agreed with Olga's inclinations there. Maybe you were thinking of that, but she was writing of Boris, not Dmitri. I do recall a quote/ or something like you remember Sasha18, but it might not come from this book. Maybe the Complete Wartime Correspondence mentions this- I will check it.

73

Alexandra Feodorovna / Re: Was Alix of Hesse disliked by British royals?

« on: September 08, 2009, 09:14:52 PM »

Balmoral was cold, physically uncomfortable, and it was hard to get there for ordinary visitors/ goverment ministers, it was very remote. It's true Nicholas II did not like it. If you go to google books ( or if you own a copy of this book) on p.456 of Christopher Hibbert's Queen Victoria: A Personal History, it mentions Nicholas II's opinion of Balmoral with regards to his visit in 1896. He compared it to Siberia, and had much the same opinion of it as others had, and he had a toothache at that time- Hibbert is quoting some document, but I don't have the book in front of me right now to see where Hibbert sources this section too- but I will check very soon. It might give an idea of the sources used by David Duff, for example. It doesn't say anything about Alexandra being haughty as far as I recall though I will check again. Also, for general background on goverment minister's/ other visitors opinions of Balmoral see the google books result for Helen Rappaport's Queen Victoria, a Biographical Companion (or if you own this book check it), on p. 55, it covers Balmoral. Lord Salisbury, a goverment minister, also compared Balmoral to Siberia, and the book says most of the British Royal family actively disliked going there, although they felt a connection to it, as well. But many goverment ministers/ visitors disliked it, so Nicholas wasn't alone. Queen Victoria loved fresh very cold air and left the windows open, and it was already cold.

74

Alexandra Feodorovna / Re: Was Alix of Hesse disliked by British royals?

« on: September 08, 2009, 06:33:28 PM »

I thought the 1896 visit was when she got precedence, but it seems not. I'm not sure if they ever visited Queen Victoria again, I will have to check. I know I have read either in a biography of Alexandra, or a book about the IF that Queen Victoria did feel she was haughty in 1896. Maybe that book got it wrong. Perhaps that was in Carolly Erickson's biography, which is known to be inaccurate in some regards.

David Duff in Hessian Tapestry recites it, too -- "It was soon noted that the new 'Alicky' and 'Nicky,' the Emperor and Empress of All the Russias, were very different to the young lovers who had frolicked at Windsor and Osborne but two years before.  'Alicky' was a haughty woman dressed in white serge.  She no longer smiled.  'Nicky vacillated and was impossible to pin down.  In fact he was not enjoying Balmoral at all." (249)

However, he does not mention who had this impression of Alix and Nicholas.  It might not have been Queen Victoria.  Yet it had to be someone in her circle of family or retinue, or no one would have known how Nicholas felt about Balmoral.

There were a lot of goverment ministers who didn't care for Balmoral as I recall, and I believe a lot of foreign royals shared that opinion. That's something to keep in mind.

75

Maria Nicholaievna / Re: What was Maria known for?

« on: September 07, 2009, 09:02:41 PM »

"What had happened", what Yurovsky refers to is the debated incident with Marie and the guard in Ekatrinburg- it's described in Helen Rappaport's recent book about the Romanovs. Thanks for the additional info Sarushka, it's interesting that version is more vague.