Messages

76

The Final Chapter / Re: Why does the Russian Orthodox Church chooses not to believe....

« on: November 12, 2013, 12:13:35 AM »

It's a shame that this still hasn't been satisfactorily resolved. 7 years will be Fall 2014. If the two missing ones still have not been buried by then, it will be concerning. at least to me.

77

The Final Chapter / Re: Why Wasn't Olga Chosen to go to Ekaterinburg?

« on: November 11, 2013, 10:50:55 PM »

The key to figuring out how everything was decided is that Alexei was unable to travel and would have to stay behind. In his parents' minds, he was still the most precious of all of their children and since Alexandra decided she must accompany her husband and not stay to care for her son, the choices regarding where the girls would end up fell to the four of them.

It was known that Alexei could misbehave and the two family members he would always mind were Olga and the Tsar. Therefore, Olga had to stay behind to care for her brother. Because their son was staying behind, there would need to be a household, and Tatiana was likely managing matters at the Governors House already so it made sense to leave her in place for the remainder of their stay.

This left the Younger Two. I think that Alexandra considered both girls to be "her legs", so clearly, at least one of the younger two had to accompany their often ill mother. Maria was loving and hard working. Anastasia at this time had taken over the bookkeeping of the household and was also "the morale officer". I think it was decided to have Anastasia stay behind because of her rapport with her brother and being able to keep his spirits up. That probably tipped the scale towards Maria going with her parents.

I am reasonably certain that none of the Emperor's children ever wanted to be separated from him, so in a sense, Voikov is correct.

All of this, by the way, is just my analysis. We really don't know what happened in making this decision.

78

The Final Chapter / Re: The Box

« on: November 11, 2013, 10:09:34 PM »

As far as I know, there is a box of Imperial remains buried in a wall in the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Job. I understand that the church has conditions, which have yet to be met, before the box will be released for burial.

79

Russian Noble Families / Re: Identification Russian Nobles

« on: April 06, 2013, 03:00:34 PM »

It's only a partial likeness and sorry, I don't recognize her.

80

Imperial Succession and the Throne / Re: What are descendants of the House of Romanov doing today?

« on: April 01, 2013, 08:36:33 PM »

Sorry I got the title wrong! Dan Willis also wrote a book on the Hapsburgs today.

81

The Imperial Family / Re: Grand Duke Dmitriy Pavlovitch, his wife Audrey Emery, and descendants

« on: April 01, 2013, 08:33:52 PM »

Dmitri's height still amazes me. It can clearly be been in the Persia photo which I haven't seen before - he is at least a half foot taller than anyone else. In the 1912 photo at the Stockholm Olympics, he does not appear noticeably taller than the others, so likely much of his height comes from his long legs.

82

The Final Chapter / Re: The Remains Identified as Alexei and Maria. Story Closed.

« on: April 01, 2013, 12:03:07 AM »

The grave that was excavated in 1991 did not have its remains buried until 1998, a wait of 7 years. It remains to be seen how long feet will be dragged over the remains found in 2007. As in life, these bones are not mere bones, and the second burial will probably be subject to political squabbles, too.

83

Nicholas II / Re: Nicholas II was Unprepared to Rule. Why?

« on: March 31, 2013, 11:56:37 PM »

I agree with Virginia Rounding about Sandro's damaging quote about Nicholas. There is a detailed breakdown about why I think Sandro's quote was bogus in my chapter on Nicholas as a grand duke in "The Grand Dukes" (2010). While there were many present in Lavadia when Alexander III died, only Alexander Mikhailovich characterizes Nicholas as fretfull about his sudden elevation to power. It's true that he was sad and grieving over the loss of his father which is entirely understandable. However, he did not make his cousin prominent in his reign as the quote implies he would and in fact, Nicholas was schooled in governing, although no one thought he would come to rule as quickly as he did.

84

The Russian Revolution / Re: Aristocrats living in the Soviet Union

« on: March 31, 2013, 11:19:24 PM »

Natalya Iskander died in 1999, one year after meeting the many Romanov descendants who attended the reburial of Nicholas II in 1998.

85

Imperial Succession and the Throne / Re: What are descendants of the House of Romanov doing today?

« on: March 31, 2013, 10:58:52 PM »

Dan Willis wrote "The Romanovs in the 20th Century" which describes the approximately 50 Romanov collateral descendants alive today.

86

The Imperial Family / Re: The Paleys

« on: December 23, 2012, 01:54:40 PM »

There is no evidence that there were any women guests at the Yousupov Palace on the night of Rasputin's murder. That was why Princess Paley's daugher was released after her arrest.

Dmitri's diaries indicated he did not care for his stepmother until after the Revolution. He was fond of her children with Piskeltors but had complex feelings about the children of his father's 2nd marriage, particularly his half brother Vladimir Paley. How could he not? He basically went without a father for much of the time after Grand Duke Paul became involved with Olga Paley.

87

The Imperial Family / Re: Grand Duke Dmitriy Pavlovitch, his wife Audrey Emery, and descendants

« on: December 12, 2012, 11:58:18 PM »

Will had a biopsy a month or so ago. I have a nasty case of fibromyalgia. In my case, I am given to understand this is a chronic condition although I work hard to minimize my symptoms.

Thank you so much for the offers of help! I will stay in touch.

88

The Imperial Family / Re: Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovitch, his family and life, Part II

« on: December 12, 2012, 06:25:06 PM »

I noted in the brief bio I wrote of MA many years ago (for the Alexander Palace Time Machine) that blame must be put on Dagmar in her actions or lack thereof when it came to the marriages of her children. This was also true to an extent with her sister Alexandra, The Princess of Wales. Neither seemed to perform this most important duty of royal mothers, to find suitable mates for her children. In Dagmar's case:

Nicholas - his parents opposed his chosen mate, Alix of Hesse, and after Alexander III's death, their relationship remained chilly. this had a detrimental effect on the monarchy.
George - I'll give her a pass on him, as his illness made marriage an impossibility for him.
Xenia - her mother had nothing to do with arranging her marriage to Sandro.
Michael - she should have arranged his marriage after the death of George in 1899. His romantic history from here on out is evidence of this.
Olga - the only marriage she arranged was to someone she didn't know and had no affinity with

89

The Imperial Family / Re: Grand Duke Dmitriy Pavlovitch, his wife Audrey Emery, and descendants

« on: December 12, 2012, 02:14:08 PM »

I am verklempt! Thank you for the compliment! A little update to our royal history friends:

Research and translations are on going while we are writing. Will is doing all of the translations and we keep coming up with new material and of course information. Of particular help to us have been Joe Furhman's Rasputin update because he has done the research in Russia on this controversial figure, Joe's translation of Nicholas and Alexandra's wartime diaries, and Margarita Nelipa's Murder of Grigorii Rasputin. All excellent materials which have helped us enormously.

We are of course in need of more materials. These are listed below. We will gladly sign releases as necessary and will of course make attributions:

1. White Crow - biography of GD Nicholas Mikhailovich
2. War Time Diaries of Nicholas and Alexandra (Fuhrman)
3. Last Diaries of Nicholas and Alexandra (to be published in 2013)

Two more things you should know: both Will and I are ill and so we have to be flexible in our timing. I had to leave my job in April and while I have some disability insurance, my claims take time as does trying to figure out how to budget our family on a reduced income which can also be irregular. IOW, please be patient with us. And if you can help us, do. Second, as it now stands, we are hoping to publish Dmitri's diaries with the book. With several caveats. the Ilyinsky family, and in particular, Prince Michael Pavlovich, have generously provided us with some of the diaries in translation. Any publication of these materials will require his permission.

That's all for now. We work on our book daily. I have a genealogy of DP that I've been working on for three years which is quite incredible on its own. Feel free to call or email me if you have questions or any material to contribute. We still are missing years of his diaries and understand them to be somewhere in France in a barn! Will's translations are fabulous and he sometimes posts materials on a group in Facebook.

Love,

Lisa

90

Forum Announcements / Re: +Robert (Bobby) Hall

« on: December 12, 2012, 01:41:39 PM »

 

As Larry said, we saw Robert last at Trader Vic's in Emeryville three years ago.

Robert did not suffer fools gladly, but at the same time had a warm and generous spirit.

Jeff and I extend our sympathies to his beloved Randy, we are very sorry for your loss. Doubtless his friends will find what comfort we can from each other.

I don't like being reminded that none of us make it out of here alive! We are poorer for his absence and if there is a place where we all go in the great beyond, I am ready to see him again in the Royal History section with his lovely kitties by his side.