Nicholas' relationship with sibblings

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

Do you know how was his relationship with his brothers and sister, when they were children and olders?
Altough I think that he wasn't so close to the only brother that survived, he had to left Russia for
his marriage. And his other brothers died young. And about Xenia?

[Douglas]

I would say N was close to his sister Olga but rather distant with his brothers because of their unorthodox marriages.  Not sure about his sister Xenia.

[Ally Kumari]

I think he had a close relationship with Xenia too, definitely in the early years. She also acted as one of the "middleman" between him and Alix. Later In the early years of his marriage Alix was very close to Xenia.

[RomanovsFan4Ever]

I read somewhere (probably here in the forum) that in young age he was close to Grand Duke George Alexandrovich.
Nicholas admired the sense of humor of his youngest brother.

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

Do you know something about his relationship with them when they were children?
And thank you very much for your replies ;-)

[Grand Duchess Jennifer]

I read somewhere (probably here in the forum) that in young age he was close to Grand Duke George Alexandrovich.
Nicholas admired the sense of humor of his youngest brother.

"Throughout their childhood Nicholas admired George's sparkling humor, and whenever his brother cracked a joke, the Tsarevich carefully wrote it down on a slip of paper and filed it away in a box. Years later when Nicholas as Tsar was heard laughing alone in his study, he would be found rereading his collection of George's jokes," from Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie.

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

Thanks for the information... Do you know something about his relationship with sisters as girls?
Do you know what was the reaction to the death of his brother GD  George??

[RomanovsFan4Ever]

Do you know what was the reaction to the death of his brother GD  George??

The death of Grand Duke George was a terrible shock for Nicholas, from what I read he reacted very bed, and the reaction of Empress Marie Feodorovna was very bad too, she never fully recovered by that shock.

[RomanovsFan4Ever]

Ops!...I have noticed some errors in my previous post, sorry...English is not my native language.

"Throughout their childhood Nicholas admired George's sparkling humor, and whenever his brother cracked a joke, the Tsarevich carefully wrote it down on a slip of paper and filed it away in a box. Years later when Nicholas as Tsar was heard laughing alone in his study, he would be found rereading his collection of George's jokes," from Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie.

Thank you for the quote from Nicholas and Alexandra.

Just for curiosity, I wonder if that collection of Grand Duke George's jokes still exist...

[Ally Kumari]

Do you know what was the reaction to the death of his brother GD  George??

The death of Grand Duke George was a terrible shock for Nicholas, from what I read he reacted very bed, and the reaction of Empress Marie Feodorovna was very bad too, she never fully recovered by that shock.

Is it true she fainted at the funeral and Nicholas with Misha had to carry her out? I´ve read it somewhere and don´t know what to think about it.

[RomanovsFan4Ever]

Is it true she fainted at the funeral and Nicholas with Misha had to carry her out? I´ve read it somewhere and don´t know what to think about it.

This is the only description of Empress Marie during the funeral that I found:

On August 14, 1899, he was laid to rest in the St.Peter and Paul Cathedral in St.Petersburg, not far from his late father, Alexander III. During the service, his mother stood without tears, only deep suffering was imprinted on her face. When the coffin was put down into the tomb, Maria Feodorovna stood next to Xenia, holding her arm-in-arm and suddenly, looking at her daughter with widely open, unseeing eyes, she loudly said, "Let's go home. Let's go home, I cannot stand it anymore!" and she rushed out. When a board was laid down for leaving the tomb, she went away so quickly that it was difficult for others to keep pace with her. Nobody even had enough time to throw flowers on to the tomb. In the carriage she sobbed for a long time, pressing to her breast Georgy's hat that she took off the coffin's cover.

It's from Wikipedia, but actually I don't know if this is reliable or not, maybe she was forced to leave the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral exactly because she fainted?...

[Grand Duchess Jennifer]

Is it true she fainted at the funeral and Nicholas with Misha had to carry her out? I´ve read it somewhere and don´t know what to think about it.

If you have A Lifelong Passion, you'll find a diary entry (or a letter) from Xenia. I wish I could post it but I'm not at home right now...

[Ally Kumari]

No, Lifelong passion is yet on my wishlist.... perhaps somebody else can give us the quote?

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

Thank you very much for the information below ;-) you answered more that I asked, very interesting
your notes ;-)
Poor Marie Feodorovna, she had to suffer the pain of lost two of her sons, and also after the Russian
Revolution to lost Nicholas, but of course that she didn't accept it, she would suffer more.

[Grand Duchess Jennifer]

perhaps somebody else can give us the quote?

Well, I'm at home now, so I can post it.

Xenia, Diary - 14 July - Peterhof
  A nightmare - the day of the funeral of our dear, wonderful Georgy. The service began at 11 o'clock. Mama did not sit down once, but stood there quite composed, without crying, but with an expression of profound suffering on her face. When they started to lower the coffin into the tomb, Mama, who had been holding me tightly by the hand, suddenly staggered, collapsed onto me (with wide open eyes, yet seeing nothing) and said loudly - 'Home, let's go home, I can't stand any more' and then tore herself away from me!
  Nicky took hold of her from one side, but she kept pushing forward, trying at all costs to get past the tomb to go out, but it wasn't possible just then, as the tomb was open and there was no way past. Sandro was standing there, and supported Mama.
  After a short while they brought a plank for us to walk over. Mama walked so quickly we could hardly keep up with her! It was such a nightmare, it will remain with me forever!
  I had a terrible fright (as did all those present).I kept thinking she was going to faint, but thank God, it didn't happen. None of us even had time to throw flowers into the grave of our Georjik!
  In the carriage, Mama cried terribly, and kept pressing her chest to Georgy's hat, which she had snatched from the top of the coffin! It was terribly hard and painful for us to watch, while being unable to do anything to alleviate her suffering!
  We drove straight to the landing stage, boarded the Alexandria, and went immediately to Peterhof. Nicky, Olga and I rode with Mama in the carriage and on the yacht. Once on the yacht, Mama started to regain herself and became calmer. I sat next to her the whole time, while the others had lunch below, they also brought us something, but Mama was unable to eat. The tears were beneficial to her, and little by little her nerves subsided.

I bolded the things about Maria Fyodorovna. From what I can see, Maria Fyodorovna did not faint. Of course, there could be more of the letter, because at the beginning of A Lifelong Passion, it said that parts of some letters were cut out. But this doesn't really tell us about Nicky's feelings, does it? Anyways, I suppose this a little bit off-topic.