Re: the relationship betweeen Alix and Xenia, other factors may have been at work as well. Xenia's husband Sandro was not the most tactful person in the world, in sharp contrast to the more diplomatic Nicholas. And in time Sandro became an unfaithful husband, which would certainly have been an embarrassment to Xenia, especially as a marked contrast to the fidelity of her brother and his wife. The fact that Xenia did have an entire troop of healthy, boisterous sons was undoubtedly difficult for Alix to bear--compounded with the fact that the Dowager Empress favored Xenia and Sandro's children over Nicholas and Alix's children--but Xenia's attitude also may have contributed to the dynamic. In addition to being hostile toward Rasputin and sharing in the gossip, in time she also strayed from her own marital vows. Also during this period, Nicholas and Alix were showing sympathy for the predicament of his youngest sister, Olga, and that also may have widened the gulf. For just as the Dowager Empress favored her grandchildren by Xenia, she also had been far closer to Xenia than to her youngest daughter Olga--who, not incidentally, remained tactful about the matter of Rasputin.
The Dowager Empress had tangled with Alix early on, most notably over the matter of the jewels. She was reluctant to let go of her position, and Alix, quite rightly, did not want to be publicly subordinate to her mother-in-law. So battle lines were drawn, and--all things considered--it is understandable that the two couples, once friendly newlyweds with infant girls approximately the same age, eventually would become estranged.
