christening of Alexei 1904

[Teddy]

Of the Wedding of Nicholas and Alexandra there are no pictures taken, but were there pictures taken of the Christening of Alexei in 1904?

Or was that also against the rules of the Ortohodox church?

And who have pictures of the guest who attended the service? I know KR, and his daughter Tatiana went, also Maria Pavlovna jr., Irina, Marina, Elena, Johan, Gavril, Ella, Sandro etc, etc.

[olga]

Wouldn't it have been too solemn an occasion to be photographed?

[Angie_H]

There were no photographs but alot of drawings made of them

Tatiana's Baptism

[Maria_Pavlovna]

I'm not really sure, but if i'm wrong sorry.

I read in the book "Nicholas and Alexandra" by Robert K.Massie ...that the parents of  the Child are not allowed to be there? or something? i'm not Russian Orthodox, so i'm not sure. :-/

[Lanie]

The parents weren't there, no.  The drawing is from a French magazine (I've seen it on ebay!), definitely just a fanciful drawing.

[Maria_Pavlovna]

Besides that, I went to the Nicholas and Alexandra show in newark twice. it was really cool!!!

I wasn't allowed to take pictures,but i got the book on the exbit.



It pretter in person,...injoy.

[LisaDavidson]

I believe there is a photo of the carriage taking Alexei to his christening in "Under Three Tsars" ?

[Teddy]

Are there no pictures of the Russian Ladies in Court Dress on this occasion?

[anna]

Yes, according to Romanov tradition, the parents were not "allowed" to be at the ceremony. I seem to remember one memoir saying that the heir was brought in on a cushion tied round the neck of one of the maid of honours who was rather old, and that Nicholas and Alexandra were especially anxious that she should not drop him.

Yes, the heir was brought in to the font by the Robes Mistress Princess Galitzine, the cushion was secured to her shoulder with a broad gold band and to prevent her from slipping on the waxed floor, she wore rubber shoes. The Grand Marshal of the court held the mantle of the heir.
I've read somewhere that every soldier in the Russian army, was decleared to be Alexei's godparent.

Anna

[Madal]

Do yo know who were Alexei's godparents???
And OTMA's???

[Teddy]

I know that Kaiser Wilhelm was I Godparent. There is even a letter of the Kaiser tot Nicky, to express his thanks and special wishes for the Heir.

And also for the Heir, the Dowager Empress and the Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovitsj.

[DanielB]

Teddy is right. In his diary, the Emperor wrote that his son’s principal godmother was Empress Maria Feodorovna and principal godfather was Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovich. Alexis also had a number of other godfathers, including these foreign relatives: his great-grandfather King Christian IX of Denmark, King Edward VII of Great-Britain, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. None of them were actually present though and the following stood in for them: Prince Christian of Denmark (Maria Feodorovna’s nephew), Prince Louis of Battenberg and Prince Henry of Prussia. As Russia was at War with Japan, Nicholas II also named all the soldiers and officers of the Russian Army and Navy as honorary godfathers.

It was the first time young Olga and Tatiana, along with their cousin Irina Alexandrovna,  were present at an official ceremony. For the occasion they wore a small Court dress and kokoshnik.

[Georgiy]

You are not supposed to take photos inside an Orthodox Church without the blessing of the Priest. These days cameras and flashbulbs don't make much if any noise, but in the old days, the flash made an explosion - very distracting in a religious ceremony (as are camera flashes going off these days but at least they aren't noisy.) Maybe it was a Romanov tradition for the parents not to be present. Or it could be that they were baptised within 40 days of birth, in which case, the mother can not go inside the Church. Anyway, during Baptism, it is the Godparents who hold the baby - before the actual immersion in water the Godfather, after the immersion the Godmother. The Godparents have a great spiritual responsibility, and the spiritual relationship extends through (I think) about seven generations, meaning that getting married to someone to whom you are spiritually related to is as big a "no -no" as marrying a close relative.

[Lanie]

I think Irene of Prussia (Alix's sister) was one of Anastasia's godparents.  Olga Nikolaevna I've read was also among her little brother's godmothers!  

[Pravoslavnaya]

In 'Romanov Autumn' by Charlotte Zeepvat one reads a few anecdotes about the baptism of the Tsarevich-Martyr that perhaps may serve as verbal pictures.  I believe it was Oleg Konstantinovich that filled in a lot of the detail, how pretty the little girls looked in their child-sized court dresses and how the young boys liked wearing their little uniforms (I believe if I have remembered this right that this was the first official appearance of many of these children just as it certainly was for Alexei Nikolaevich!).  Oleg Konstantinovich got to sit with the baby Heir a while.    Ms. Zeepvat quotes the boy's diary about Alexei: 'He's very sweet; the whole time he played with his fingers.'

It is Miss Eager, the Grand Duchesses' governess, that recorded in her memoirs, also quoted by Ms. Zeepvat, that St. John of Kronstadt himself - by then a reknowned priest and confessor well loved and revered by many - gave the sermon at the Tsarevich's baptism.  (He reposed four years later.)   The nurse related that at one point during the sacrament the baby boy looked as if he, too,  were saintly.  When the priest applied the holy oil to Alexei for the first time, the child raised his little hand as if to give a blessing.  A good omen for the future, she thought!

(May I say that I highly recommend Ms. Zeepvat's wonderful book to all who have not read it already.  She writes with great tact and insight even about the touchier areas concerning the extended Imperial Family.)