Tatiana Anecdotes

[blessOTMA]

read a nice TN anecdote today in Baroness Buxhoeveden's book"  The life and tragedy of Alexanda Feodorovna Empress of Russia ."
When the family visited  the Tsar at HQ  during the war : quote" Large supplies of clothes for refugees were always taken on these journeys which Titana Nicolaevna distributed"   well who would be better suited for the job than the Governess ? =)

[blessOTMA]

[rosieposie]

One never knows when the usually emotional ones will stay calm but the usually  reserved ones break. Sometimes  in a highly chraged moment, the  emotional ones have a greater grip on themselves, because they must.

I read a really good comment from a mental health site,  since we know that Alexandra and Olga may have had bouts or forms of depression especially during their arrest at Tsarkoe Selo.   It is said people suffering from depression rarely cry,  even in front of others they don't show emotion or as you say stay calm.  In the situation from Lili leaving, perhaps it Alexandra and Olga were hurt on the inside but didn't show it physically.  Unlike Tatiana.

[blessOTMA]

Interesting...I also wonder if in highly emotional moments, when others are breaking down, emotional people feel in thier element and are therefore calmer than one would have believed. Lili was surprised at who was crying and who was calm. But one never knows how people will react in such situations.....and what a situation! The world had turned upside down. But TN showed she could be quite emotional too. How dear to give Lili those portraits.

[TimM]

Yeah, they had been sheltered for much of their lives and then, BOOM, reality arrives right on their door step.

[Olga Maria]

A very sad anecdote:
[Chapter VIII: Journey to Ekaterinburg from 'Left Behind' by Sophie Buxhoeveden in APTM website]

"Before they left we kissed each other goodbye, and we all had a dim feeling that this was a crucial moment. We had been marched away separately at every previous change from boat to train but this seemed to be different. Tatiana Nikolaevna tried to take the matter lightly. "What is the use of all these leave-takings? We shall all rejoice in each other's company in half an hour's time!" But one of the sentries said ominously to me, "Better say 'goodbye' citizeness",, and in is his sinister face I read that this was a real parting."

It's needless to say Tatiana's attempt has failed. I'm sure she was feeling so sad inside, speculating that they might really be separated forever because everyone was saying 'leave-takings' to each other. If I were one of their servants with them at that moment, I would suddenly burst into tears after she said those words!

[Kassafrass]

"Their rank meant very little to them, and they felt ill at ease when they were treated ceremoniously. Once at a committee I had to address "my President," the Grand Duchess Tatiana, officially, and naturally began, 'May it please Your Imperial Highness.' She looked at me with astonishment, and when I sat down again beside her 1 was rewarded by a violent kick under the table and a whispered 'Are you crazy to speak to me like that ?' In common with all the Household, I called the Emperor's daughters, in the Russian fashion, by their names and patronymic, and she thought it quite absurdly formal for me to have given her her full title! I had to appeal to the Empress to persuade her that on official occasions it was really necessary." (Sophie Buxhoeveden)

[Kassafrass]

"On one occasion they thought my dress needed a parure of rubies to complete it. I said I had none, and that my pearls would have to do. Tatiana Nikolaievna rushed off, and appeared with some brooches of hers which she wanted me to wear. I naturally refused, to her great astonishment. 'We sisters always borrow from each other,' she said, 'when we think the jewels of the one will suit the dress of the other.’” (Sophie Buxhoeveden)

[Kassafrass]

Does this count as an anecdote?

"Of all the Grand Duchesses Tatiana was with the people the most popular, and I suspect in their hearts she was the most dearly loved of her parents. Of all the girls Tatiana was most social in her tastes. She liked society and she longed pathetically for friends. But friends for these high born but unfortunate girls were very difficult to find." (Anna Vyrubova)

[Olga Maria]

Yes, Kassy ; )

Thanks for sharing those anecdotes of our sweet Tatiana!

To me, her 'violent kick under the table' and "Are you crazy to speak to me like that?" remark to Sophie Buxhoeveden sounds harsh (lol!), considering Sophie Bux. was an older woman! But it just shows how she only wanted to be seen as an ordinary lady who was given a task to help her suffering countrymen like the rest of the people in that committee : )
That jewel-sharing anecdote is very adorable. It shows a soft Tatiana - a contrast to the first anecdote which shows her 'rough' version XD

[Olga Maria]

They had very little knowledge, or idea of the value of money or how far it went; the Grand Duchess Tatiana once asked a lady-in-waiting how much one could buy for a hundred roubles, and would it, for instance, pay for a pair of gloves. She was very surprised when told that even the most expensive gloves would not cost more than twenty-fIve roubles.

(from GD Olga Nikolaevna's biography by Meriel Buchanan)

[Kassafrass]

I've read quite a few anecdotes to that effect about the girls. I'm guessing that they occurred when they were rather young, but when exactly?

[edubs31]

They had very little knowledge, or idea of the value of money or how far it went; the Grand Duchess Tatiana once asked a lady-in-waiting how much one could buy for a hundred roubles, and would it, for instance, pay for a pair of gloves. She was very surprised when told that even the most expensive gloves would not cost more than twenty-fIve roubles.

(from GD Olga Nikolaevna's biography by Meriel Buchanan)

I always found these types of things of endearing. Of course one could say they were very lucky never to have the burden of worrying about money and the cost of things. But for Tatiana to think a pair of gloves might be far more expensive then they really were speaks to their modest/humble taste in things. Tatiana surely believed something as important to a woman as a simple pair of gloves would naturally have to cost a lot of money...not understanding of course how price is driven by demand and mass production, etc. At the same time she probably would be amazed to learn how much more expensive something far more extravagant but far less useful was.

It's comforting to know that for all of the luxuries bestowed upon them the things they often treasured the most were simple and sometimes unrefined objects.

[Sarushka]

I always found these types of things of endearing.

I take the opposite view. To me, it shows just how painfully ignorant they were of the world, and the value of the resources available to them.

But for Tatiana to think a pair of gloves might be far more expensive then they really were speaks to their modest/humble taste in things. Tatiana surely believed something as important to a woman as a simple pair of gloves would naturally have to cost a lot of money

I think it's more likely that Tatiana had no idea whether 100 rubles was expensive or not, and chose gloves as a simple tangible example.

[Превед]

My guess is that her mindset was money = consumer goods, because she lived in an environment where rent, fuel bills and food costs were not an issue. Typically such a person, when hearing about salaries etc. would assume that consumer goods were (or ought to be?) much more expensive than they really are, whereas most people know that there is much more to the economy than consumer goods and disposable income!

In Tatiana's world one either owned (inherited) a house or a palace, grew one's own food on the estate and was supplied with firewood from one's own forest - or one was a servant chopping that wood and receiving room and board. Who needs money then for anything else than luxuries like gloves?