Romanov Pretenders and Imposters

[AristoCat]

There is no way that a vulnerable hemophiliac would have survived the shootings. Alexei was so incapacitated before the shootings that he couldn't walk and how on earth would any of them have gotten past the guards? The Bolshevik scum were thorough in their executions and made sure none survived. It would have taken a huge level of infiltration for there to be success in infiltrating the people guarding them and then of course, the success of getting them through the shootings only harmed and then getting them out of the hands of the Bolsheviks and then getting them out of the country. A MASSIVE undertaking that no one was prepared to plan, much less carry out.

[Russophile]

My Peter thinks that (based on his reading of all the Romanov material) Alexi was already dying when he got to Ekaterinburg.

[Daria_S]

Originally Posted by Russophile

My Peter thinks that (based on his reading of all the Romanov material) Alexi was already dying when he got to Ekaterinburg.

I believe that was the result of him sliding down the stairs in a sled in Tobolsk (or that's what I remember reading).

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Daria_S

I believe that was the result of him sliding down the stairs in a sled in Tobolsk (or that's what I remember reading).

Indeed. He didn't think it healed.

[AristoCat]

That would do it. If Alexei had survived, it would have been a literal miracle at that point.

Anyway, Anna Anderson was proven to be a fake after quite some time; for the life of me, Grand Duke Cyril was utterly unwilling to countenance the idea that any of the Grand Duchesses had survived. It's sad, but there were no survivors and it must have been torture for the Romanovs to hope and then have their hopes crushed.

[Vasillisos Markos]

Originally Posted by Russophile

Indeed. He didn't think it healed.

Russo my dear,

I concur with your Peter. I recently re-watched Nicholas and Alexandra and the scene in the movie where Alexei sleds down the stairs makes one think that he wanted to kill himself.

Originally Posted by AristoCat

That would do it. If Alexei had survived, it would have been a literal miracle at that point.

Anyway, Anna Anderson was proven to be a fake after quite some time; for the life of me, Grand Duke Cyril was utterly unwilling to countenance the idea that any of the Grand Duchesses had survived. It's sad, but there were no survivors and it must have been torture for the Romanovs to hope and then have their hopes crushed.

Grand Duchess Olga, who adored Anastasia, was especially disappointed because she hoped against hope that her favorite niece had survived the Revolution. Her hope must have been so shattered after she realized that Anderson could not possibly be her niece.

[AristoCat]

According to the biography that Olga worked on (the author wrote while Olga explained), Olga sent some blankets, but felt she never should have met with her and it supposedly crushed her.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

About the DNA tests, I know they used Prince Philips DNA to test, but did they use any of the closer relatives like Olga and Xenia's descendants? Or did they prefer Philip because of his age?

[AristoCat]

I actually do wonder why they used Philip, and not someone who was likely to be more directly related.

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Vasillisos Markos

Russo my dear,

I concur with your Peter. I recently re-watched Nicholas and Alexandra and the scene in the movie where Alexei sleds down the stairs makes one think that he wanted to kill himself.

To be so young and to experience so much pain. So very sad.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

In reading about hemophilia it has been stated that boys who suffer from it have a tendency to push the limits even though they know they aren't supposed to. Alexie's already sheltered and shielded life had become even more cumbersome in a defacto prison. Plus he has suffered from his bleedin injuries before and had to know that hurting himself would result in either a) a painful injury or b) death after very long suffering from the painful injury.

[Vasillisos Markos]

Originally Posted by AristoCat

I actually do wonder why they used Philip, and not someone who was likely to be more directly related.

Philip is a publicity coup, though, isn't he, being royal and what not? But Philip was probably one of the closest relatives alive to the Empress Alexandra. His grandmother was her sister.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

But there are descendants of Xenia who was Nicholas' sister so why not use them? Only thing I can think of is Philip being so old has a closer blood link to a woman who died in 1918.

UPDATE
I'm re-reading Massie's "The Romanovs: The Final Chpt" and there is a long explanation about why Philip was the best candidate for the DNA test because the DNA he got from his mother would be present in his grandmother his great aunt ( Alexandra) his great grandmother (Princess Alice) and perhaps also his great great grandmother (Victoria).

[Alexey 1904]

I'd like to know if 'Toscany' ever got a positive result of the 'South American Romanov' descendant's DNA. Could someone find that out for me?

[Vasillisos Markos]

Originally Posted by Alexey 1904

I'd like to know if 'Toscany' ever got a positive result of the 'South American Romanov' descendant's DNA. Could someone find that out for me?

My dear Alexey,

Please explain, I am confused by this post.

[Iluvbertie]

Originally Posted by XeniaCasaraghi

But there are descendants of Xenia who was Nicholas' sister so why not use them? Only thing I can think of is Philip being so old has a closer blood link to a woman who died in 1918.

UPDATE
I'm re-reading Massie's "The Romanovs: The Final Chpt" and there is a long explanation about why Philip was the best candidate for the DNA test because the DNA he got from his mother would be present in his grandmother his great aunt ( Alexandra) his great grandmother (Princess Alice) and perhaps also his great great grandmother (Victoria).

Philip and his sisters had the female line DNA from their female line descent from Queen Victoria which would also match the female line DNA in Alexandra and her children.

In addition he had male line DNA from his father that would link with Nicholas through their mutual descent from Christian IX of Denmark as well as some other DNA from Philip's Russian grandmother that would match up with others strands of Nicholas' from earlier Tsars.

Philip's relationship was to both Nicholas and Alexandra and thus had a greater chance of being a match on many lines.

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Vasillisos Markos

My dear Alexey,

Please explain, I am confused by this post.

There is a South American who claims to be GD Maria's descendant. This descendant claims to have the same DNA make up that matches the Hessian profile. I have spoken to them but have not gotten into the whole DNA thing. Russo is not a rocket scientist after all. . ..

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Vasillisos Markos

Please explain, I am confused by this post.

Toscany claimed to have details concerning the living grandson of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. He was claimed to be the son of a "secret" child born in 1916 to Mikhail and his wife Natalia, Countess Brasova (see posts 10, 13 etc of this thread).

Toscany also claimed to have information concerning a "secret" daughter born to Princess Marie of Romania (daughter of King Michael) named "Princess Jenna". A photograph of "Princess Jenna" that Toscany posted as evidence was identified to be that of an actress from the Australian soapie "Neighbours". The photo was a publicity shot with the network logo roughly painted out. A crude attempt at deception indeed!

The posts by Toscany in the Romanian forum claiming the existence of "Princess Jenna" (and there were many) have been removed.
Toscany is no longer a TRF member.

[Alexey 1904]

Thank you, Warren. I couldn't have explained it better if I had had to myself.

[Alexey 1904]

Dear Vasillios: The individual who called himself 'Toscany' claimed he had information from a supposed descendant of GD Mikail and his morganatic wife, Natasha(Natalia)? The posts were from Oct.2009, and as Warren has posted, this individual is no longer a member of TRF. I hope this clears this up for you.

Vasillisos, sorry for the misspelling of your name. Thanks also to Russophile for explaining what they know about 'Toscany's' claims