Tsarevich Alexei surrounded by his tutors: c. 1915.
The Duchess of Marlborough dressed in royal regalia for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902.
Later that year, she and her husband visited Russia and attended a Bal des Palmiers at the Winter Palace. The Duchess sat next to the Tsar at dinner. She was impressed by his youth and the extreme burden he carried as Autocrat of All the Russias.
She said of their meeting:
“When I asked him why he hesitated to give Russia the democratic government that was so successful in England, he answered gravely, ’ There is nothing I would like better, but Russia is not ready for a democratic government. We are two hundred years behind Europe in the development of our national political institutions. Russia is still more Asiatic than European and must therefore be governed by an autocratic government.’”
Her friend Millicent Sutherland who was also on the trip described Nicholas as a “gentle, quiet little man.”
Both women thought that he was a good man, but weak.
The Empress did not grant an audience to the Marlborough party.
Source: Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart
This is a really HUGE breakthrough for the Romanovs. I’m actually shaking as I read this article. I have posted about this previously, but the site has since been updated.
The SEARCH foundation is an independently funded organization that was responsible for the discovery and excavation of Alexei and Anastasia’s remains. Now they have a lead on Michael’s.
In 1918, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich and his secretary, Brian Johnson were arrested by Soviet forces and imprisoned, not unlike many other Romanovs, in the city of Perm. His captor was Bolshevik Andrey Markov, who burst into Michael’s hotel room and forced him to leave by gunpoint. Markov told Michael he was being taken to a train, by which the Grand Duke did not resist. But the Bolshevik led them out ‘by a shortcut’ through the forest, and both Michael and Brian were shot in the chest and head. Local peasants heard the gunshot, and by the time they arrived the shooter had disappeared. But it did not take them long to find the bodies. The peasants respectively buried the two men under the trees, into which they scratched the letters “M” and “A” Michael Alexandrovich.
In 2007, a man recorded in an interview with Russian press reveiling a story he had kept through communist rule. On the night of the 11 June, 1918, he had been amongst the villagers who had come across two men’s bodies in the forest. He died soon after but his story has helped reveal one of the final mysteries of the Romanov family.And in 2012, the murder site was located. The SEARCH foundation followed the directions given by the man and found the precise spot where there were engravings upon the trees. Unfortunately the weather soon turned characteristically harsh and they were forced to give up their search. But the website says that the organization will be returning in the summer of 2013.
I personally, will keep my eye on this. Soon we may have Uncle Misha reunited with us, and his dear family once again.
Wow I had no idea this was going on :O this is incredible!
Oh wow! How wonderful that the Grand Duke and his secretary can finally be laid to rest appropriately soon!
