Anyway, I did these and wrote "alternative universe" book reviews for them
Finally a biography which has been missing on our book shelves for far too long. After her successful joint biography of Emperor Alexei II and his wife, Empress Ileana Fyodorovna, the author turns our attention to one of Emperor’s elder sisters. The narative takes us since the early beginning of Maria Nikolaevna’s life, through her idylic, if sometimes isolated childhood, and describes the horrors and hardships the young Grand Duchess endured during the Great War and Revolution. Previously unpublished diaries reveal the turmoil of a hasty rescue of the Imperial family from the Siberian city of Tobolsk, which nearly ended up in tragedy for one of Maria's sisters, after which they were all secretly spirited away into Crimea. There, finally old enough for the job, Maria Nikolaevna spent the rest of the war nursing the wounded. When finally peace was announced and monarchy in Russia restored, albeit in a new, constitutional form, the Grand Duchess returned after years to Petersburg and her home. The book does not disclose in much detail the political discussions which finally confirmed Nicholas II a deposed monarch and proclaimed his son Alexei a new Emperor, with his uncle Grand Duke Mikhail a regent until the boy woulc ome of age, however since one can easily look all information up in the already mentioned “Alexei & Ileana”, all is well.
While Grand Duchess' life between the year 1918-1920 must have seemed uneventful from the public point of view, the newly discovered and for the first time ever published material finally confirms that the period was marked by an emotional struggle for her. As soon as 1919 she found herself in love with General Prince Mikhail Danilov, almost ten years her senior. After a series of misunderstandings, which sprouted from a mutual feeling of not being deserving to love each other, and later the opposition of the former Empress Alexandra, who felt Danilov was too experienced (and low in rank) for her innocent daughter, the two were finally married in a lavish ceremony in Winter Palace chappel. Taking a permanent residence in the palace of Gatchina, where Prince Danilov joined the regiment of Blue Cuirasiers, the couple led a quiet life for years, together with their children: Princess Anastasia (*1923), twin Princes Konstantin and Peter (*1925) and Prince Nicholas (*1929). The Danilov family maintained close relationship with the court and Maria's brother the Emperor, helping his young wife Ileana to adjust to her new position.
Already popular for her amiable nature and various charity activities (Grand Duchess, now Princess Danilova, personally stood at the birth of the most effective system of local public healthcare units all over Russia, more than 50 schools, and became a renowned patroness of talented Russian artists), Maria Nikolaevna became nothing short of a legend with the outburst of the World War II. As her husband fought relentlessly against the Germans, she turned the palace of Gatchina into a hospital, following an example of her mother so many years back. Unfortunatelly, as the Germans marched on, Gatchina soon found itself in their stride, with nobody able to help. The Emperor's sister managed to move heaven and earth to organize a safe transport of more than a thousands patients to other towns, however, aware that she would be a most valuable hostage , she decided not to follow. Instead, she disappeared.
Four months pregnant with her youngest child, the 42 years old Grand Duchess seemingly vanished into thin winter air. The German troops could only stare into a blinding whiteness of the Russian planes, as their limbs were slowly freezing and Maria Nikolaevna passed from reality into a myth for several months. Accompanied only by one of her fellow nurses and a young officer (close friend of her husband), she headed from Gatchina down south. Traveling mostly on foot and cut off from information, she stayed in litle villages among peasants, not disclosing her indentity. But rumours travel quickly, and soon sightings of her were reported by various people, who claimed to have seen. Both the Germans and the Russians searched frantically for her, however soon the “sightings” were so numerous and reported at the same time from completely different places, that the search turned into nothing.
The missing Grand Duchess soon became a popular tale among the common people, who let their imagination run wild and transformed her into a magical being, appearing in the least expected moment in front of little huts, cloacked in white and with a crown of ice diamonds on her head. Whoever would refuse to offer her a shelter, would inevitably be punished. In many minds Maria Nikolaevna blended with the figure of Snegurochka - Snow Maiden from Russian fairytales. She would be called thus fondly among the public for the rest of her life. When she finally reapeared in Ilinkoye, dressed indeed in white (in her nursing uniform) but without any diamonds to adorn herself with, her husband rushed to her side and was presented with their youngest child, Princess Ekaterina.
Maria Nikolaevna led an active life in the years post the war as well, continuting with her philathropy and charity activities, supporting her brother and when he prematurely died after an accident in 1956, she was one of the most loved and trusted people who gathered around his son, Emperor Fyodor IV. Death of her husband, Prince Danilov, sent her into a severe depression, which she managed to overcome only with the help of her sisters. She followed the man of her heart to the other side ten years later, exactly on a day, in 1987.
Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Princess Danilova, certainly stands tall among the most fascinating and inspirational characters of Russia history, and going through the pages of her biography is an extremely rewarding and enriching experience. To end on a truly high note, we have been informed that the author is currently busy working on another biography, and that of Maria's elder sister, Queen Tatiana of Yugoslavia. She is also in talks with the Danish royal family, who could provide her with neccessary documents for a planned biography of Princess Anastasia, wife of Prince Knud of Denmark. Unfortunatelly there seems to be no immediate plan for a biography of the eldest sister, Olga, who gave up her Imperial title and lived in the Crimea as a professional writer, marrying a commoner Vladislav Shevchenko in 1930 (the couple had one son), living life according to her own terms. It appears the former Grand Duchess destroyed many of her diaries and letters, and whatever is left must not be touched for another twenty years, according to her wish.
