| Serialisation: Part 1: Romanovs Revisited by David Cripps |
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| Thursday, 30 March 2006 | ||||||||||
  Most people enjoy looking through old photographs, especially when they are over one hundred years old. Even more so, of course, when the pictures show members of a once great dynasty that disappeared towards the end of the Great War, amidst revolution and bloodshed.Some of these images are made so much more poignant because we know what happened to the Imperial children, or at least to some of them, over 80 years ago. In this book, I have tried to mix the formal with the informal and I have also included the brothers, sisters, mother and some of the cousins of the last anointed Tsar. All of the photographs come from private collections and even if some of them have been seen before, hopefully some are new to the reader, which is the whole point of any new book on this once illustrious family. My own interest started when I was very young, with a TV programme called Children of Destiny focusing on the last Imperial children and particularly Anastasia. When it was screened, I wanted to believe the version that she did survive the massacre and was truly a lost Princess. As an adult, in view of the results of the DNA testing, I now know that the woman claiming to be Anastasia could not have been her. But, how did she know so much? When you look at some of these images it is like a diary of their lives in photographs. I have tried to include a lot of images of the Tsar's mother, brothers and sisters, since they were some of the most fascinating personalities of Imperial Russia. To widen the sphere, I have also added pictures of other, lesser-known members of the large Romanov family. PART 1: The Royal Sisters — Queen Alexandra of England & Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia  Princess Dagmar of Denmark at 16. 1861: The Danish Princesses, whose good looks had enraptured an Emperor and captivated his son. They looked towards this Scandinavian country for suitable brides, but the British Queen was also looking for a wife for her son, the Prince of Wales (continues)... 1870: The young Marie Feodorovna, who was considered such a huge success by the St. Petersburg society. 1873: Twins in everything but age. Marie, on the right, and Alexandra. Not only were they sisters, they were best friends and liked to dress identically. A powerful group. A future Tsar, his future Empress and her sister, a future Queen of England. The three had such fun together, especially when Alexander III was invested by the Prince of Wales with the Order of the Garter at the Anitchkof Palace (continues)... The new Tsar Alexander III's beloved consort, Empress Marie. He called her "the Angel of Russia" (continues)... Family group taken in the Crimea at the time of the engagement of Xenia to her cousin, Alexander Mikhailovich. From left to right: Tsarevitch Nicholas, behind him his brother, George, his grandfather, King Christian of Denmark, Empress Marie, Queen Louise of Denmark, the Princess of Wales (continues)... By 1905 the Dowager Empress said to a lady-in-waiting of the young Empress Alexandra: "She has splendid ideas but she never tells me what she does or expects to do. When we two are together, she always converses about everything but herself. I shall be glad if only she would drop her reserve." (continues)... 1912: On the Standart. The Dowager Empress with her hand on the Tsar's knee (continues)... Queen Alexandra, the Queen Mother, and her sister the Dowager Empress. The Dowager Empress had come to stay with the Queen for the wedding in April 1923 of the Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (continues)... A perplexed Queen Alexandra leaves Marlborough House to go to the station to greet her sister, the Dowager Empress (continues)... This private image of the smiling Dowager Empress in her 81st year at Hvidore, her last home. Here they claimed the old Empress played solitaire with her memories. She also had a king's ransom in jewels hidden under her bed (continues)... The Dowager Empress makes her last public appearance, in the winter of 1925, supported by her Cossack Yachik, who adored the Empress (continues)...Romanovs Revisited: 1860-1960 by David William Cripps (2005) is published by Rosvall Royal Books If you would like to order a signed copy of Romanovs Revisited, please send a cheque or postal order, made out to David Cripps, for a total of £24 (inclusive of £4 post and packing) or $42 US, along with your name and address to: David Cripps 1 Chadwick Mews Thames Road, Chiswick London W4 3QX U.K. Please get in touch via e-mail if you would prefer to pay via Paypal or have any queries. Comment on this article
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I also think the whole thing with Rasputin and the influence he appeared to have on the Romanovs was very odd. I have seen movies about them, and I guess he helped the young Romanov boy who had hemophilia? Would like to hear more about that whole thing sometime...if you have any info on that.| < Prev | Next > |
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