Possible Marriage Candidates

[Olga Maria]

It's always been Ileana because of that Romanian trip in 1914 - I wonder if you know Elizabeth of Greece, too? The sister of Marina, Duchess of Kent. There is an anecdote of Alexei saying 'I love you' to her in his anecdotes thread ^^ Alexei is the luckiest among the siblings, actually. There were more princesses who were the same age as he was, therefore, he could have had more options had they lived, compared to the princes available for OTMA.

Quoted from Holly: The only thing I've ever seen that remotely resembled a 'crush' was either a diary or letter (thought it was in A Lifelong Passion but can't find it now) which simply stated that a very young Anastasia was pleased with a cousin and kept calling him a 'nice little boy' and gave him flowers.

I found it from your collection of Anastasia's anecdotes in your Anastasia website.  That 'crush' was Igor, according to the poet GD Konstantin. Possibly it was because he found the little boy very cute ^^

Oh I searched for who that Igor is - he was born on 1894. Or was it not the Igor referred to by Konstantin Konstantinovich? He surely said they 'brought their Igor' with them in that diary entry. Surely he meant it was his son.

[Kassafrass]

It's always been Ileana because of that Romanian trip in 1914 - I wonder if you know Elizabeth of Greece, too? The sister of Marina, Duchess of Kent. There is an anecdote of Alexei saying 'I love you' to her in his anecdotes thread ^^ Alexei is the luckiest among the siblings, actually. There were more princesses who were the same age as he was, therefore, he could have had more options had they lived, compared to the princes available for OTMA.

I know a little bit of the Greek royals, but not as much as I do of the Romanovs and such. I think I might have to look into them soon. It's just had to focus on more than one thing at a time for me and right now I'm so consumed with collecting OTMA information.

I can imagine that anecdote is very sweet. I always hear about the girls and their crushes but I never really gave thought to Alexei and the girls that might have caught his eye!

[Olga Maria]

I can imagine that anecdote is very sweet. I always hear about the girls and their crushes but I never really gave thought to Alexei and the girls that might have caught his eye!

Indeed, much were just about OTMA because there were available letters, diary entries, etc. which fuel the interest for that. On the other hand, Alexei has only a few of those, and given his short and sheltered life, his exposure to seeing girls was limited so he didn't mention or barely touched that subject on his letters... There might be more info about that in his subforum ^^
Yes, for me it's sweet, and it happened when both were 3 years old ~ it wasn't surely serious but it's funny that he already had an eye on girls at that age : ))

It's okay if you can't search for her yet ^^ Anyway,  it's improper to discuss about her and Alexei here because this is Anastasia's thread... My apologies, I was the one who started talking about this topic :S

I understand what you feel about the "OTMA info craze" which I had in extreme severity in 2008-09.  That's the time I also didn't want to share my time for researching about them with other royals XD I still have it but in severity this time. LOL, so let's go ahead and work hard!  (^o^)  I'm researching for 'unknown' memoirs in Russian about them right now and I won't forget to share them with all of you!

Ah... This is KR's diary entry regarding Igor and Anastasia:
... Our little ones were invited to tea with the Emperor's children. Igor went, too. Little Anastasia was thrilled with him, kept calling him a nice little boy and gave him flowers when they said goodbye..."

[Kassafrass]

Please do share any information you find. I'd love to read any and all of it as I am quite new when it comes to reading actual anecdotes and memoirs about the children, and it makes me very excited to think that there are still more out there that might not have been released just yet.

Anyway, as far as Anastasia and Igor go, I think that might have been sweet. It's so cute the way she was already acting around him; giving him flowers and such! Whose son was he, again?

[Olga Maria]

Yes, Kassy, I would share if I find one! ^^
Igor is the poet KR’s son.

[Kassafrass]

So sad reading about him... he died in that mine shaft with his brother and Grand Duchess Ella... Ironic how Nastya had a fancy for them and they both end up perishing at the hands of the Bolsheviks, and so close to each other too.

All that considered it makes me yet again wonder 'what if?' maybe something would have happened for them...

But on a slightly more cheerful note - he was awfully handsome!

[Olga Maria]

Yes, it is too sad that they have died the same time - their lives cut so short in a wink
Hahaha, indeed! He and Anastasia would have made a beautiful couple ~ but I haven't seen photos of him from 1910-1918.

It might not hurt if I post photos of Elisabeth of Greece here, right?
Elisabeth
Elisabeth is the girl at the back of Nicholas

[Kassafrass]

Such an adorable little girl

And just for you (and to help stay on topic) - I think I've found some older photos of Igor

It apears that this one is circa 1914-1915



And I imagine these are of him older as well

[Olga Maria]

From the bottom of my soul, Kassy, I thank you for those pictures immensely! He really looks handsome and maybe this is caused by my Igor-Anastasia craze, I think they resembl each other a bit ^^

[Kassafrass]

You are more than welcome Shandroise : ) I suppose it seems silly to be so excited over the idea of the two of them together, but I can never stop myself from thinking of all the "what-ifs" of the girls. And especially with Anastasia because we never saw many mentions of the boys she was interested in. So I'm sort of grasping onto this straw... But can you blame me?

[Kalafrana]

The third photograph is obviously later than the first two, as Igor is wearing decorations and an ADC's aiguillettes.

Ann

[Olga Maria]

You are more than welcome Shandroise : ) I suppose it seems silly to be so excited over the idea of the two of them together, but I can never stop myself from thinking of all the "what-ifs" of the girls. And especially with Anastasia because we never saw many mentions of the boys she was interested in. So I'm sort of grasping onto this straw... But can you blame me?

I think I know what you are feeling. We feel this way because we are dying hard to know if Anastasia has had even one crush or admired boy in her whole life, and here Igor is. Although it's just a faint possibility of 'being a crush', at least we know someone who Anastasia saw as very cute!

[Olga Maria]

Marriage talks for Anastasia took place!

"...'None of my daughters shall marry German princes', she (Alix) said on one occasion. It was suggested that Anastasie's future home might be England, and the Empress welcomed the idea. An English marriage would have been very near her heart."
(from Lili Dehn's "The Real Tsaritsa")

It cannot be figured whether that topic had been discussed by the family (only) or by ministers.
(It's also possible there  had been such talks for Maria.)

[Kassafrass]

There were a few different places that the girls could have gone to, but reading up on their marriage proposals makes me think of Olga and her wanting to stay in Russia. Can you imagine being in their position and dealing with the possibility of being sent away to some place as far as the UK? I wonder how Anastasia would have felt about it.

I also find it curious that Alix wouldn't let her daughters marry German princes.. Because of the tensions between Russia and Germany, perhaps? Any idea when she said this?

[Olga Maria]

 Although Alix wanted her daughters to marry for love, it seems she wasn't open to marrying them off to men who were not of noble birth, so, (had they lived) it's possible  that whether she and her daughters like it or not, OTMA would have to marry a prince or anyone noble, and necessarily would have to live wherever that man would be. Their ranks truly makes it complicated for them, and it would be likely any (or all of them) would follow the example of their Aunt Olga and lose their title (which is anyway not a big deal for them). Having said that, I think Anastasia would steadfastly oppose that idea of being married to an English (nobleman), and would do everything to avoid suffering a fate of being stuck in a 'marriage of convenience' plus living thousands of miles away from home ~

You are right - Alix didn't want it because of those tensions ^^ According to the book, she said that at the time the family were already imprisoned in Tsarskoe Selo.

Btw...

I found one of Vera Konstantinovna's memoirs but it's entirely about her family. I found curious similarities between Igor and Anastasia.
Vera described Igor as 'always lively, funny, witty and ready for mischief.' She also said he nearly drowned (in the Masurian marshes) during WWI; Anastasia also almost got drowned (can't recall where) before, but it happened when she was younger. XD, what a coincidence!