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[miki_nastya]

does anybody know what was the reaction of other royals at hearing about the Romanov's death?
maybe a few quotes...

[historyfan]

As quoted in "Born to Rule" by Julia P. Gelardi, pg 287, Queen Marie of Romania said this:

"So they had really done it!  I had always been afraid it would end thus, but had hoped against hope that in some way they could have been saved."

According to the notes, that was taken from her autobiography "My Life", vol. III.

[Ekaterina-Nikolaevna]

The Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna refused to believe it. She thought it was just a cover-up for the family's escape, and believed this up to her death ten years after the murder of the IF.

[Sunny]

I have always thought: how can one really thinks a certain person has lived and escaped if doesn't receive anything more from him=
I mean: how coudl Maria Fedorovna persisting believe Nicholas and family were alive &escaped, since she has never received a word from them? Im sure that, if they has managed to escape, they would have found a way to wirte. Or am i too romantic?
I'm not blaming Maria Fedorovna, at all; she was an old woman, the truth would have killed her. I'm just a bit amazed that this reaction influenced those who where near her. She was justified, but the others? i'm not blaming the others, neither, just stating that it seems strange they never thought it was unreliable...

[historyfan]

It was a horrible thing, beyond imagination.  I can't imagine how I'd feel if something happened to my son and FIVE of my grandchildren (and my daughter-in-law, even if I didn't particularly like her!)

I feel the same way about GD Xenia and Olga.  How would I feel in their position? 

[aleksandr pavlovich]

   Re Reply # 3:  The mental phase into which she withdrew (willingly or unwillingly)  is called "denial," and ostensibly that could work well... but beyond that......
   And yes, in my opinion, you are certainly allowing yourself to being blind-sided by your romanticized views/interpertations.  Far more clarity is needed to "see behind the screen", of the times.  The old woman had the good sense to realize that if she declared the Emperor dead during her lifetime, then it would be fully expected of her to name/support/affirm the NEXT RULER, and she apparently had decided to avoid that trap, which she did. Who was going to overide her?  She was the former EMPRESS! I would not waste much time time in suppositions during that period of time.  She was a stronger person than was once viewed. (Personally, I have always had the feeling that she intuitively KNEW.)  Regards,  AP.

[Sunny]

You're right, Aleksandr Pavlovich, and thanks: i had never thought about the political implications of this!

[Ekaterina-Nikolaevna]

I have always thought: how can one really thinks a certain person has lived and escaped if doesn't receive anything more from him=
I mean: how coudl Maria Fedorovna persisting believe Nicholas and family were alive &escaped, since she has never received a word from them? Im sure that, if they has managed to escape, they would have found a way to wirte. Or am i too romantic?

You are not too romantic at all! I think the same thing. But it must have been hard for her - losing two sons (Nicholas and Michael), a daughter-in-law (Alix), and five young grandchildren (OTMAA) in one year. Not to mension being booted out of her own country which she herself had ruled for a few years with her husband! All of the fear she had wasn't helped at all by the sad news that a bunch of soldiers had massacred her family in the basement - if I was Marie in that situation, I'd have completely broken down.

[Forum Admin]

Our own Helen Rappaport " wrote in her The Last Days of the Romanovs"

"The murder of his cousin NIcky was a crushing blow for the King.  Mrs. Asquith, wife of the Foreign Secretary, recorded that George's grief was palpable when he spoke of the vindictive and unnecessary killing of "the poor Czar."  It was, he said, an 'abominable"act, but that was about the best he could muster…"It was a foul murder', he wrote in his diary: 'I was devoted to Nicky who was the kindest of men."

[Vive_HIH_Aleksey]

I read on this forum in a previous thread, ages ago probably, that Princess Ileana of Romania hoped against hope that Aleksei Nicholaievich would come to reunite with her. When he didn't, she knew he was dead... Beyond that, I don't have any details and sadly can't recall the particular thread; I've read a lot of them.

[Kalafrana]

In 'Memories of Six Reigns' Princess Marie Louise states that George V asked her to go and see him and said that he had heard the news from the British government, and asked her to go and see Victoria Milford Haven and break it to her before it appeared in the newspapers. I will look up my copy to see what more she says.

Ann

[Olga Bernice]

I have always thought: how can one really thinks a certain person has lived and escaped if doesn't receive anything more from him=
I mean: how coudl Maria Fedorovna persisting believe Nicholas and family were alive &escaped, since she has never received a word from them? Im sure that, if they has managed to escape, they would have found a way to wirte. Or am i too romantic?

You are not too romantic at all! I think the same thing. But it must have been hard for her - losing two sons (Nicholas and Michael), a daughter-in-law (Alix), and five young grandchildren (OTMAA) in one year. Not to mension being booted out of her own country which she herself had ruled for a few years with her husband! All of the fear she had wasn't helped at all by the sad news that a bunch of soldiers had massacred her family in the basement - if I was Marie in that situation, I'd have completely broken down.

Yes . . . if I were in her situation, I would have tried to convince myself that at least Nicholas & family survived, at least to keep my sanity . . . that's probably one of the reasons she did it.

[LauraO]

I have always thought: how can one really thinks a certain person has lived and escaped if doesn't receive anything more from him=
I mean: how coudl Maria Fedorovna persisting believe Nicholas and family were alive &escaped, since she has never received a word from them? Im sure that, if they has managed to escape, they would have found a way to wirte. Or am i too romantic?

You are not too romantic at all! I think the same thing. But it must have been hard for her - losing two sons (Nicholas and Michael), a daughter-in-law (Alix), and five young grandchildren (OTMAA) in one year. Not to mension being booted out of her own country which she herself had ruled for a few years with her husband! All of the fear she had wasn't helped at all by the sad news that a bunch of soldiers had massacred her family in the basement - if I was Marie in that situation, I'd have completely broken down.

technically i suppose it was the third son she had lost, GD Alexander dying at what? ten months? unimaginable for all of your sons to die! plus your grandchildren. i agree, i think denial prevented her from a breakdown which would have been otherwise imminant

[Selencia]

In a recent book I read about the Romanovs, I remember a statement that Kaiser Wilhelm tried to get them out of Russia after it became clear they couldn't go to England. Apparently it was 50% wanting to stick it George and 50% genuinely wanting to help.
Ive heard about George's reaction, but what about his wife?

[AGRBear]

In the beginning,  I think the Dowager was told that Nicholas and his family had escaped.  There are comments made by several generals who believed an escape had occured.  Then there was the missing bodies..... Today, there are still people, who have far more information than the Dowager, believe one or more did escape...
No member of the Russian Royal Family appeared that first week,  the next month...  She must have been full of anxiety but hopeful that Nicholas and his family had escape...  Still,  there was only rumors then reports that Nicholas II had been executed and the rest of the family had been taken away and hidden by the Bolsheviks...

Rumors came and went...  The Bolsheviks were known for keeping political prisioners isolated and out of sight...   The Dowager continued to hope.   No body of Nicholas II was found...  And,  she died hoping that the Royal Family were alive... somewhere.....

Other members of the family took different view.  Most believed Nicholas II and his family had been killed.  Survival of one or all had been based on rumors....

Some believe the Dowager was in denial.   When a person has lost a family member and no body has been found,  a person never stops hoping that the missing person is alive somewhere....  They feel if they give up hope that they are guilty of "giving up" when they should be continuing their search.

It is so easy for those of us not touched by such a lost to understand.  Without "closure"  (a body in a coffin),  hopes continue.   For the Dowger, this was not just one body, it was the body of her son,  her daughter-in-law, their children, and, servents.

AGRBear