A true Sunbeam. Just as much a life in progress as those of his sisters until 7/17/18. We tend to forget this because in the aftermath of the murders this handsome boy's beautiful sisters get the lion's share of the press - the way he once did in life by virtue of being 'the Heir! the Heir!'
A couple of things weigh in here to me:
1. Nicholas II brought the lad to Stavka knowing it would be good for him, as a chance to do manly things and as a preparation for the future. Alexandra had a tough time letting Alexei go, but realized that her husband wanted to make sure their son was better prepared to be Tsar one day than he himself had been, as the gist of her explanation to Pierre Gilliard went. (See Massie, N+A, page 298.)
2. As Mr. Atchison has pointed out on this website, Alexei Nikolaevich's rooms were being remodeled -- to me a bit of practicality as much as an expression of faith that the boy would make it to seventeen and beyond. His parents obviously realized that he wasn't a small child any more.
3. Alexei's uniforms 'gave room for growth'
4. The boy's career was set in stone -- he would be Tsar if he lived that long, and the most important thing was his education. Marriage speculations might come later -- when he himself could moot that kind of thing. But as long as it looked like he was bound for the throne, he was ten.... eleven... twelve. A boy that age doesn't make for romantic copy like his sisters have gotten -- but surely history is left with the makings of a Knight in Shining Armor or a Prince Charming some day, as well as with a brave young prince who some consider a saint.
