The Slaughter of the Romanovs....

Chit-chat, current events
Vecchiolarry
Posts: 1392
Joined: May 6th, 2007, 10:15 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Post by Vecchiolarry »

Hi Reiko,

As I've written before on TCM, Nell did not know the Czar, Empress and the children at all. She met them all but only ever saw them about twice and always at a distance.
She thought Nicholas was a dunce and Alexandra rather boring. They lived outside St. Petersburg and rarely associated with Russian society. The Empress was a real recluse and apparently quite ill most of the time.

Nell was associated with The Dowager Empress, who lived and entertained in the Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg.
The DE, Maria Feodorovna, was a party girl and loved to dance. She was out and about with the Russian people and was quite loved by everyone.......
She did not like Alexandra and although close to N & A's children, much prefered her daughter's (Xenia) children, all of whom were hooligans and boisterous. They all survived the revolution and lived to disgrace themselves down the years.

As for marriage of the Grand Duchesses:
Olga was taken to meet Prince Carol of Roumania in 1912, with the hopes that they would become interested but neither even looked at each other. Carol was a disgrace and later ruined himself by running away with not one but two 'whores' (his mother's discription)....
The Grand Duke Boris proposed to Olga in 1914, but the Empress was scandalized that so debased a man as him should marry her innocent little girl.
And, so Olga remained a spinster.
I never heard or read that anybody was interested in Tatiana. She was rather bookish.

I think the Empress kept her girls cloistered and naive and girlish.

Larry
Rainee
Posts: 9
Joined: July 24th, 2007, 8:33 am
Location: Paso Robles, CA

Post by Rainee »

Hi Larry,

Thanks for the clarification on Nell and the Romanovs. It's been quite a while since I've read about the Romanovs and the revolution.

I asked about the girls because I don't remember reading anything about any impending marriage or an engagment to any of them. I didn't know if WWI was to blame or not. My husband always thinks everyone stayed away because of the fear of the hemophilia. Maybe if Alexandra would have let the girls grow up and away from her a little bit they could have survived.
Reiko

Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler
Vecchiolarry
Posts: 1392
Joined: May 6th, 2007, 10:15 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Post by Vecchiolarry »

Hi Reiko,

Your husband's probably right about the haemophilia aspect, although that problem was never revealed by the Russian Court. However, rumours and the news of it would have gotten out, knowing how gossip starts and travels.
The Spanish Royal Family was rank with haemophilia, brought on by Queen Victoria Eugenia, a cousin of Alexandra. They also had madness going for them too.
Once, when going to visit VE in exile in Switzerland, Nell told me and my governess, Laura, "Don't mention sickness or lunacy, as it upsets the old girl!!" Actually, VE was quite a nice lady and I liked her; she was quite a beauty even at her age.....

Larry
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