Nicholas II - Early Crushes - plus Mathilde and Alix

[Lorenzo_Cavalli]

a) Am I right that they first met at a ballet school, not at the Marinsky?
b) Did Alexander III. actually favour or even arrange this relationship so that his son could gain sexual experience? In the books I have read he is also described as a person with a rather strict moral concept in contrast to his father. So this does not really match.
c) Is it true that it was Mathilda who seduced Nicholas (and not the other way round)?
d) Was it before or after Nicky's betrothal that he parted with Mathilda?

[3710]

Dear Lorenzo,
I would suggest you read Mathilde's memories ' Dancing in St.Petersburg' to find out how she herself presented it all (or preffered to remember many many years ago). It is a great book to read.
PS Nicolas? seducing? anyone? Very out of character!
And thanks for mentioning MK-she was a great personality, amasing no one asked about her before.
Regards
Galina

[BobAtchison]

Nicholas has written that their relationship was 'platonic' love.

No Tsarevich or Tsar could be sexually involved with a unmarried or married woman before he had produced an heir for obvious reasons.

That said I don't think anybody knows what happened between them for sure.

Bob

[Katharina]

I'd love to read "Dancing in Petersburg" but I was told that it is out of print.
None of the libraries nearby have it either. I guess I have to wait for a new edition or does anyone know
where to get it?

[Almedingen]

Katharina:
The book can be found at two places:

http://abe.com/
Search under:
Author:  Mathilda Kschessinska
Title:  Dancing in St. Petersburg

Royalty Digest has reprints of the book
http://www.picrare.com/Royalty_Digest/RDBookForSale/RDReprints2.htm

[3710]

Bob, are you sure? I mean about ''not getting involved''? They were humans after all. Any child born would have have  no rights whatsoever, anyway.
Galina

[Nick_Nicholson]

Also, Hatchard's bookstore in London did a reprint of "Dancing in Petersburg", and her other book "Theater STreet" -- it may be had for about 25 pounds I believe.

Nick

[BobAtchison]

Galina:

To have an offspring - or even the possibility of one -  before there was an heir to the throne could be dangerous for any Royal - regardless of their rights to the throne.  I am sure Nicholas was told 'the facts of life' for a prince.

He did confess something to Alexandra prior to their wedding so there could have been something.  I just don't know.

Bob

[Sarai_Porretta]

These are a couple of references that I found to "little K" in books that I have. I hope they help.

This what the book Nicholas & Alexandra: The Last Imperial Family of Tsarist Russia (the N&A exhibition catalog book) says on the matter, for you to judge for yourself (pgs. 270-71):

"Nicholas met Matilda Kshessinskaya in March 1890 at the graduation day of the Imperial Ballet School. The love affair with 'Malechka' reached its culmination in the winter of 1892-3. The tsarevich would often visit the lively, enchanting little ballerina at home, sometimes staying the night. The affair was broken off by Nicholas a few months before his engagement."

Nicholas's diary, 1 April 1892: "I've noticed something very strange within myself: I never thought that two identical feelings, two loves could co-exist within the heart. I have loved Alix H for three years already and constantly cherish the hope that, God willing, one day I will marry her! The following winter I fell madly in love with Olga D[olgorukaya], though now that has passed! And since the summer camp of 1890 I have been passionately in love (platonically) with little K[shessinskaya]."

25 January 1893: "In the evening I dashed off to see my M.K. [Matilda Kshessinskaya], and spent a wonderful evening with her. I am completely under her spell - the pen is trembling in my hand!"

The Romanovs: Love, Power, and Tragedy has this to say about the topic on pg. 36:

"Nikolai met her in the spring of 1890, when the Imperial family graced the graduation performance of the theatrical school with their presence. The best dancer in the graduation class was seventeen year old Mathilde." Nicholas later declared in his diary, "I positively like Kschessinska." The book goes on to say that "They did not see much of each other at first, and close relations between them would inflame after his return from his cruise. The romance though, did not prove a lasting one. She was consoled by Nikolai's cousin Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovitch and later she lived with another of his cousins Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovitch, they had a son in 1902 and married in Cannes in 1921. "

[3710]

Nick, little correction: ''Theatre Street'' was written by Tamara Karsavina, not Kshessinskaia.
Galina

[Nick_Nicholson]

Galina,

You are absolutely right, and thanks for the correction.  I get my dancers confused.

Nick

[3710]

Bob, but Alexander I had an illegitimate daughter with Naryshkina (well, ye, he had  3 healthy brothers), but it was not seen as any sort of threat for the State, just his own private affair. Alexander II was seriously in love and considering marriage with a lady in waiting (Mesherskaia? Later Demidova-San Donato,not clear how platonic it was) before he was married to Minnie. His brother Alexis had a child (might be more then one) to mention just a few.
So they did have some love life, after all.
Please, please, please, let Nicolas have a mistress (why did he bother buying a mansion for her otherwise?)
Galina

[Jackswife]

 Just my opinion here, but I'm guessing Nicholas was well-aware of his role as heir, and that he would be pressured to make a "suitable" marriage. He'd already, it seemed to me, made it clear to Mathilde that he was very interested in Alix, and thus he, like royal heirs before and since, was enjoying whatever time he had with MK to the limit. I believe he did have great great affection for her, but both of them knew it would never be anything beyond a temporary affair.

[Sarai_Porretta]

Galina,
From what I have read, I think there was a definite possibility that Nicholas and Mathilde were lovers during the timeperiod specified above, before his marriage. This I infer from references to him spending the night at her place and other things I have read, the specifics of which I don't recall at the moment. Of course, this is just my opinion. Perhaps it was just a platonic and innocent relationship, but in our times we tend to view these things more cynically - when a man and a woman who are attracted to each other spend the night alone together, we think something is bound to happen. But one thing is for sure in my mind, and that is that once Nicholas married Alix he was completely faithful to his wife and had no mistresses.

[valmont]

I find  this difficult to beleive, but not impossible. I mean, HE WAS THE EMPEROR.  There was no more powerfull man than him. I am sure more than one women  was willing to "throw herself" at him, especially the gold diggers.
St. Petersburg high society was  considered  decadent and inmoral, that is why Alix secluded herself and  her family in Tsarko Selo.  I am not saying that N did have  an affair ( I obviously cannot support  a theory like that). but I am sure he must had women making passes at him by the dozen.