Olga and Tatiana at Court Events

[Antonio_P.Caballer]

I would like to more about the 1914 event you are speaking of, Antonio. I would also like to find a copy of "No Time to Grieve".
Is this an out of print, older book?

Hello Pasha!

I bought my copy through bookfinder.com. It´s not too old, and i think i copy should not be either difficult or expensive. Mine is in near fine condition and was quite cheap indeed. The authoress was the daughter of the last Russian ambassador in Paris before the revolution.
Best luck!

Antonio.

[Pasha]

Thanks, Antonio. I will try to find it. It sounds very interesting.

I would love to see that painting, Lanie. Was it in a book you read? Also, which books or accounts have you read about the events we have been discussing?

I would also like to know if anyone knows of any photos of any of these events, whether the 1913 or 1914 balls we have been discussing. There even may be an outside possibility that one of these events may have been filmed. Wouldn't that be something?

[Lanie]

The painting is in Nicholas and Alexandra, 1998--the exhibition catalog.

The accounts I've read are from Vyrubova, Buxhoeveden, I think Gilliard too and I've seen the bits from Izvolsky's book too thanks to Greg King.

I bet there are photographs from this event, or at least photos of Olga all dressed up nicely; but I've never seen them!

[Pasha]

I did find Iswolsky's book on Amazon. com. They actually had several copies starting at $3.99.
It would be quite a find to locate photos of those events. They must be somewhere. For a family that took so many photos, it seems they would have to have had a court photographer following them to these events.
Do you mean Greg King who co-wrote " The Fate of the Romanovs"?

[Lanie]

I did find Iswolsky's book on Amazon. com. They actually had several copies starting at $3.99.
It would be quite a find to locate photos of those events. They must be somewhere. For a family that took so many photos, it seems they would have to have had a court photographer following them to these events.
Do you mean Greg King who co-wrote " The Fate of the Romanovs"?
 

Yup.  I was working on a biographical article about Tatiana for his magazine so he was kind enough to send me some things but now that Atlantis is ceasing publication I don't have anything to do with the 23 page (So far! not finished) article...

[Georgiy]

You should put it on the Alexander Palace website.

[Pasha]

Too bad about his magazine. I really enjoyed that book. It filled in a lot of gaps and answered a lot of questions.

I would also love to see or hear more about your article on Tatiana. I rarely see more than a paragraph at a time about ner, let alone 23 pages!!

Wonder if there is anything in that article about Tatia going to a ball?

[Lanie]

Too bad about his magazine. I really enjoyed that book. It filled in a lot of gaps and answered a lot of questions.

I would also love to see or hear more about your article on Tatiana. I rarely see more than a paragraph at a time about ner, let alone 23 pages!!

Wonder if there is anything in that article about Tatia going to a ball?
 

There is!  But it's from 1914.  Nicholas saying the girls (ON and TN) not wanting to tear themselves away any later than around three in the morning...

[Pasha]

Somehow I knew that ball was going to be in 1914 I would love to hear more, Lanie. Where did you get your research from? I know you mentioned Buxhoveden (sp?) and others as resources before. The King-Wilson book does not paint a very rosy picture of her towards the end.

Anyway, I am intriqued about our friends dancing til 3! I bet Alix wasn't thrilled about this!!

[moonlight_tsarina]

Wow, 23 pages?
You told me before you wrote something Lanie, but not that much!!  
You should add it like Pasha said, like how there is one for Olga.  

[Pasha]

I did get a chance to read that passage from "No Time to Gieve" that Antonio recommended. It is quite interesting and gives a clearer picture of one of these elaborate events. After being announced to the gathering of guests, dignitaries, etc., Nicholas was introduced and entered with Olga and Tatiana. He had the first dance with Olga, and, evidently, there was an awkward period when no one asked the girls to dance. I guess it might be a bit intimidating to be the first to ask the tsar's daughter for a dance.

According to the author, this e vening continued well into the morning, and the Grand Duchesses danced quite a bit.

I know Lanie mentioned a painting, bu there must be some photos somewhere!!



     

[Pasha]

Hey everyone,

I still haven't heard from anyone who knows of a photo or photos of Tatiana (or Olga) at one of these elaborate events, whether 1913 or 1914. Has anyone seen anything like this? We seem to have established that they attended at least one of these frunctions together, and Lanie mentioned a painting, but still no photos.
 There must be something out there. The family took photos for all kinds of events. Did they miss this one?

[Georgiy]

In those days it would have been more difficult to take photos at night time. Maybe there are none, or perhaps - no surviving photos.

[Pasha]

You are certainly right about the night photos, Georgiy. You don't see many, if any,
outdoor night shots from this period, but there certainly are portrait photos that were taken inside. However, maybe these photos just don't exist.

Olga and Tatiana do have a history of attending, concerts, ballets and such. They were both present at the theater and in the same box when Stolypin was shot at point blank range. This was in 1911. Olga was 16 and Tatiana 14. Olga evidently was hysterical and Tatiana calmed her down, though Tatiana was deeply affected by this event.

[Sarai_Porretta]

With regards to taking photos at night in those days, I always thought it was a big shame that photos don't exist (that we know of) of Olga's big "coming out" ball at Livadia in 1911. The image of her with her hair up for the first time, wearing a lovely pink gown, and dancing into the night in that beautiful palace by the sea - it is really the stuff of fairy tales and I would have loved to see a picture of her that evening.