Empress Alexandra, wife of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, wrote frequently to her husband, numbering each of her letters. Several years ago, at a second hand book stall, I found a book of her letters, written between 1914 and 1916. It is called Letters of the Tsaritsa to
I was reminded by the Facebook post in the group “In the Steps of the Romanovs” that Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, eldest daughter of the Tsar Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, was born on 15th November. The Facebook post is linked to Helen Azar’s video about GD Olga’s
Above is a photo, taken at Ivnia, of my maternal great-grandmother, Countess Catherine Nicholaievna Kleinmichel, her daughters and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich – according to the writing on the back of the photo. I believe my grandmother, Olga Voronov (Woronoff) née Kleinmichel, is second from the left, next to her
This weekend, the execution on 17 July 1918, of the last Tsar of Russia, his family and their faithful staff, will be commemorated by many. There will be posts on social media and, no doubt, articles in newspapers and services in the Russian Orthodox churches remembering this dark day in
This week’s post was prompted by watching this video from the YouTube channel “In the Steps of the Romanovs”. The video reminded me of my teenage years when I would help my mother make blini (Russian pancakes) during Maslenitsa week. Maslenitsa week is similar to Shrove (or Pancake) Tuesday, except
Mental fragility – it can happen to anyone and is often triggered by traumatic events. Last week I wrote about my grandmother’s grief and depression, which gave me food for thought – perhaps she had always suffered from mental fragility? I thought I would explore this idea. I know my