It is very likely and possible that FS ditched her old identity and swore never to take it back. What terrible things had happened in her personal life, the fiancee, the baby, the explosion, other things, we will never know. But she buried them, and never mentioned them again. I believe when she jumped in the canal that night she wanted to end her existence very badly, and it is sad we can never know the whole true story of her life. She would not give her name at the asylum, so we may assume that she didn't want anyone to find her, including family. So imagine her luck when someone came up with those magazines, telling her she looked like a Grand Duchess! If she was going to take on a new identity, a new life, this was a good one!
Great point!
A lost lonely sad but clever (although deeply troubled) young girl might do quite well to become the magical survivor - one of the beloved daughters of the deposed Tsar Nicholas - his wild and quixotic child... one known but not
really known to the public...The joker, the waif, the tomboy princess (Grand Duchess)!
If I were in the same situation
I would have been tempted by such an 'opportunity'.
rs
