Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918) and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix) (1872-1918)

[fearghas]

Originally Posted by Furienna

I believe that the two oldest daughters could have been married by then, and if they had been, they would have lived somewhere else and survived. But they had refused to leave their mother.

There wereat least two half hearted attempts to marry off the two older daughters, one attempt was with CrownPrince Carol of Romania and also with the Prince of Wales. The girls weren't interested and their mother was definitely not going to push the issue. It makes me wonder, if there hadn't been a revolution, who might they have married. At least one of the older girls said that she wouldn't marry outside Russia but would a Russian Aristocrat have been seen as a suitable suitor for the Emperors daughter? Perhaps one of the sons of the Grand Duke Konstantine might have been suitable?

[Furienna]

While I'm not an expert on the Russian imperial family, I think it was rather big, so I think there were a few cousins to choose from. But it seems like Olga and Tatiana only fell in love with men, who were below them in rank, so they hadn't gotten married yet.

[Moonmaiden23]

The five Romanov offspring would likely have been welcomed in a number of countries....particularly Denmark where their Danish paternal grandmother had a home(Hvidore) and where she eventually died, or France where quite a large number of aristocratic Russian expatriates like the Youssupovs settled.

I am sure that even George V's Government would have offered them asylum with both their parents dead. The massacre of their Russian cousins is said to have haunted King George and Queen Mary for the remainder of their days.

Nicholas and Alexandra died quickly at the hands of the Ekaterinburg death squad. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei did not. In other words, the most innocent and least culpable of them suffered the most.

Terrible irony.

[AristoCat]

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

Would any country have taken in the kids though? They were tainted as the children of the man who was responsible for lots of deaths through his policies. The Dowager Empress was allowed to live in Denmark but would Denmark have opened its doors to her with the children who would have been the focus for an untold number of attempted revolts etc in Russia?

These children as we call them were in fact teenagers with minds of their own as well so there is a possibility that they would have refused to leave their parents.

Given that the Romanov family was vast and scattered around the world, I do not think that any of them would have rejected taking in the teenagers and giving them a home. It's not like the kids were guilty of anything.

I do know I wonder if whether or not the Grand Duchesses would have been allowed to live in peace, without being pressured ot take on some role in exile and being hassled about their father and stuck immersed in family intrigues. I bet Cyril would have tried to marry one of them off to his kids right away.

[Victorian-Dandy]

Lets be totally hypothetical for a moment and lets imagine that King George V had granted asylum to his cousin and they had been allowed to leave Russia on the understanding that neither they nor their heirs could ever return.

So there they are kicked out of Russia with just what they can carry, George V gives them a small (by royal standards) cottage in Norfolk probably on the Sandringham Estate and perhaps an apartment in Kensington Palace.

Do folks think they would have been able to settle in England, knowing they had been forced to surrender so much without trying to reclaim what was taken from them..ie the monarchy and their wealth.

Personally I think that Nicky would have rather enjoyed just being a country gent but somehow I do not think that Alix would have been quite so willing or able to throw off the royal mantle.

Anyhow this is just totally hypothetical and something I've wondered about when reading or watching a program on the last Tsar.

[AristoCat]

I think Alix would have been a little miffed, but chances are after all that torture she would have adapted quickly and enjoyed quiet country life with occasional trips to the palace.

[CyrilVladisla]

Nicholas II liked to read Pushkin, Gogol, and the novels of Tolstoy.
Nicholas II's favorite ballet was The Hunchback Horse.
The Hunchback Horse was based on a Russian fairytale.

[Alexey 1904]

Wonder if Nicky ever read 'War and Peace'. He would have had enough time to read it while under house arrest and then at the Ipatiev House.

[Furienna]

There were many great writers in Russia back in the day. But I have no idea how much Nicholas read.

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by Victorian-Dandy

Lets be totally hypothetical for a moment and lets imagine that King George V had granted asylum to his cousin and they had been allowed to leave Russia on the understanding that neither they nor their heirs could ever return...

The Tsar is said to have had a fortune stashed away in the Bank of England. Far from being obliged to live as poor relations of the British Royal Family, the Romanovs would have been quite comfortable indeed. Nicholas and Alexandra both loved England. In fact the Tsarina's private rooms at Tsarskoe Selo, Peterhof and all the Imperial residences were decorated in English chintz, and she employed British nursemaids for her children and she and Nicholas spoke English to one another and to the children.

They doubtless would have been horrified to see Russia fall to Bolshevism and would have never ceased rallying other expatriate Russians to try and overthrow Lenin.. But Nicholas especially would perhaps have accepted their fate as the will of God, and have been happy and relieved to escape the burdens of a throne he never really wanted anyway.
.

[Al_bina]

Photos of the Romanovs from Anna Vyrubova's archive | Spletnik.ru

[Duchessmary]

Thanks for sharing. I'm amazed that the empress is actually smiling in a few snaps!

[CyrilVladisla]

Al_bina, I like the photograph of Alexis with his drum.

Even in public surrounded by government ministers, his sister, the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna addressed Mikhail by her own pet name for him.
Her pet name foe Mikhail was "Floppy".

In Nicholas and Alexandra, Robert K. Massie wrote:

In a second boost of enthusiastic patriotism, after returning from Moscow, Nicholas suddenly changed the name of his own capital. On August 31, 1914 the German St. Petersburg was changed to the Slav Petrograd.

Tsar Nicholas II: HIS VOICE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpEEwZBcmJg

Private moments of Tsar Nicholas II
Private moments of the last Russian Tsar and his family captured on camera before they were executed by the Bolsheviks | Daily Mail Online

Grand Duke Michael leaving Ballater Station on a visit to Queen Victoria at Balmoral.
http://www.gettyimages.com/license/802496508

[Al_bina]

The Romanvos - Captions | Blogs•Spletnik.ru

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by Duchessmary

Thanks for sharing. I'm amazed that the empress is actually smiling in a few snaps!

The only photos I have ever seen of her smiling were in the period of her engagement to Nicholas and very early in their marriage. She was a beautiful young woman indeed!

[Al_bina]

Possibly the last photo of Nicholas II and Alexandra Fedorovna. It was taken in Tobolsk in 1917

https://ru-royalty.livejournal.com/1998727.html

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

Possibly the last photo of Nicholas II and Alexadra Fedorvona. It was taken in Tobolosk in 1917

https://ru-royalty.livejournal.com/1998727.html

Very very sad..... thank you for posting...

[Al_bina]

https://il-ducess.livejournal.com/381298.html

The above link contains the photo of Nicholas' II coronation procession on Tverskays-Yamskaya street.

https://il-ducess.livejournal.com/380811.html

The above link contains photos of Nicholas' II coronation.

[Frelinghighness]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

Photos of the Romanovs from Anna Vyrubova's archive | Spletnik.ru

These pictures are absolutely amazing! Thank you for posting.

[Blog Real]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD1z...ature=youtu.be