While at GARF for the first time, in 1994, one of the archivists brought us a whole stack of letters in English by Tsar Nicholas II.
Our excitement was short-lived.
The very first letter really was from Nicholas II, written in October 1894, to King George and Queen Olga of the Hellenes, his uncle and aunt, informing them of the death of Tsar Alexander III.
The very last letter was also from Nicholas II to Queen Olga, expressing his condolences over the assassination of King George in Thessaloniki in 1913.
ALL the other letters in the stack were from Prince Nicholas of Greece, written in English to his mother, Queen Olga, while she was visiting her relatives in Russia.
The poor archivist who first filed them many decades ago probably did not know English, and so, did not realize who the true author was.
It's understandable, since the English letters begin with the salutation "Darling Mama", and they end with the signature "Your loving Nicky".
Perhaps the archivist thought that Tsar Nicholas II was writing home to the Dowager Empress while he was visiting relatives in Greece?
Some of the letters are even written on stationery from the royal summer palace at Tatoi.
