I find it odd that when I say that Olga and Tatiana were old enough to know their own minds in some of my postings, I am told that they were innocent and immature.
Then when I say that in this case, they were following their mother's lead and that they probably didn't have any input or options, I am told that they WERE mature women who wanted to do what was best and were not being pushed about by their mother.
lol! True!....most likely they were both
IMHO - They were young women not children. But they were treated like children. Alexandra did not understand that they had different needs and motivations than she did and she acted like they were extensions of herself and therefore would do what she would do without question.
Indeed...I think because AF lost her mother so early...before she could separate herself etc. and we can't give what we did not get. She was their Sovereign too, besides thier mother...I just can't imagine trying to say no to such a person in that position : mother and sovereign! You make great points...but oddly their nurse friend, Valentina Ivanovna Chebotareva ,called the girls " children" in her diary. I think they could be both mature and child like by turns . In their social interactions that VIC witnessed at the start of their nursing career, they did seem child like since they had no interacting experiences that went beyond royal protocol. TN grabbed VIC's hand when faced with a group of nurses, because she didn't know quite how to interact and she very much liked knowing what to do. The hospital looms so large in thier story...a chance at an adult life for those denied adulthood . But thier royal positions kept them to childlike roles at this time ...whatever leavle thier personal development.This balancing act would be difficult , particularly as the war was shredding the old ways all around them
I am sure that Alexandra made the decision to go into nursing training and simply assumed that Olga and Tatiana would go with her without question. It might be that the young women thought it was a great idea, until they actually got into the hospital. Until then "nursing" by royals meant visiting hospitals and reading and writing letters for the wounded and contacting their families for them.
Exactly
Until WWI no women of royal blood had actually entered the operating theater or assisted in surgery.
Well not in Russia. But Princess Andrew of Greece( Prince Philip's mother ) another Princess Alice descendant, did heroic nursing at a front line hospital in 1912 during one of Greece's wars and did everything that entails ...lord knows she must of seen.... And interestingly she was given arsenic injections like Olga was for " low spirits." ...however seeing what they saw, I would say low spirits is a normal reaction!
Had they admitted failure, I believe that Alexandra would have lectured them on duty and obligation instead of being sympathetic and realizing that they might be another way for her daughters to help.
That's why an illness would be the only way out, and Olga would understand that, I believe. Alix was enough of a Victorian to accept that as really the only reason to not do one 's " duty" ...and it's funny because I don't believe she was one much for duty during the brief time before her marriage when when she was the main lady at Ernie's court lol! Her sister Victoria, still over saw their mother's intuions from afar and with a young family....and while Ducky was married to Ernie too! ...another love of Princess Alice's was embroidery...and we we see Alix really pass that on to her daughters . They began knitting at 2!
Anyone interesting in AF really should read about Princess Alice.
