The only ones of the Vladimirovichi branch that I saw as good were Boris and Andrei, despite their lewd ways with the ladies they were good deep down inside and didn't seem to be overzealous and ambitious in gaining a throne like their father, mother, and eldest brother and were not overly pompous like their sister and mother. But yes Elena was very beautiful and produced such beautiful daughters. Nevertheless GD Vladimir unexpectedly close to become Emperor in 1888 when Alexander III with his wife and all of their children were involved in a train accident at Borki. Vladimir and his wife were at the time in Paris and did not bother to come back to Russia. This annoyed Alexander III who commented that if he would have died with his children, Vladimir would have ruched to return to Russia to become Emperor GD Vladimir I have a distaste for, according to Perry & Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs , p.63- 67 At Alexander III's death in 1894 there were unfounded rumors that the army intended to proclaim Grand Duke Vladimir emperor in place of his nephew Nicholas II. over which Vladimir tried to have an influence, particularly at the beginning of Nicholas II’s reign. The Vladimirovichi were greedy, power hungry, and deceptive people with the exception of Boris, Elena, and Andrei. These people were bad branches and rotten to the core to begin with. Vladimir always believed he'd be a better tsar, not with that hot temper he had. Its a shame they weren't elected monarchs in Bulgaria, Georgia, or something of the sort, maybe if that happened that would have saved the Alexandrovichi's some grief.
