Author Topic: A couple bringing a sable to the palace?  (Read 3898 times)

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Offline clockworkgirl21

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A couple bringing a sable to the palace?
« on: October 06, 2007, 07:04:43 PM »
I read this in Massie's book. An elderly couple caught a sable in Siberia, and traveled to the Alexander Palace in order to give it as a present to OTMAA. Nicholas walked into the playroom to find the girls playing with it. He wouldn't let them keep it, and they started crying.

Any truth to this? It was impossible to get into the palace without guards all over you, and probably even more so if you have an animal. And a wild sable wouldn't ever let a bunch of kids play with it without biting.  :-\

Offline Sarushka

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Re: A couple bringing a sable to the palace?
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2007, 08:36:05 AM »
That story comes from Mosolov's memoirs, At the Court of the Last Tsar. You can read them in full here. (The part about the sable is in Chapter 1, section 3, "The Children.")

Short version:
The sable was tame, and the couple had been checked out by the palace guards. Alexandra was in the room with the children while OTMAA played, and the tsar was informed of the whole thing before he went up to the playroom.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2007, 08:39:38 AM by Sarushka »