OLGA ROMANOV AND DANCING
From the diary of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna: (more…)
OLGA ROMANOV: GRAND DUCHESS OLGA NIKOLAEVNA OF RUSSIA
OLGA ROMANOV: GRAND DUCHESS OLGA NIKOLAEVNA OF RUSSIA
A very large baby girl joined the Romanov family on November 15 (Old Style: November 3) 1895, in St Petersburg, Russia. On that day her father, Tsar Nicholas II, wrote in his diary: “A day I will remember forever . . . at exactly 9 o’clock a baby’s cry was heard and we all breathed a sigh of relief! With prayer we named the daughter sent to us by God ‘Olga’!”
Baby Olga’s aunt, the Grand Duchess Ksenia’s diary entry for 3 November was a bit more cynical: “The birth of a daughter to Nicky and Alix! A great joy, although it’s a great pity it’s not a son! . . . The baby is huge – weighing 10 pounds – and had to be pulled out with forceps!”
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanov was the first of Tsar Nicholas II’s and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna’s five children. Born at the Anichkov Palace where the newlywed Russian imperial couple initially settled, the first of four daughters, Olga Romanov was born “in the purple” – during the imperial reign of her parents. Her Russian title “Velikaya Knyazhna” is most precisely translated as “the Grand Princess”, which means that Olga Romanov, as an “Imperial Highness”, was higher in rank than other princesses in Europe who were merely “Royal Highnesses”. “Grand Duchess” is the more common English translation. Read more OLGA ROMANOV: GRAND DUCHESS OLGA NIKOLAEVNA OF RUSSIA
MARIA ROMANOV: GRAND DUCHESS MARIA NIKOLAEVNA OF RUSSIA
MARIA ROMANOV: GRAND DUCHESS MARIA NIKOLAEVNA OF RUSSIA
by Amanda Madru
June 14th, 1899 (O.S.). A 101-gun salute is fired from the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, heralding the birth of yet another daughter to Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, and his German-born wife, Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna. The baby’s arrival is met with near-universal disappointment: the Pauline Laws implemented by her ancestor, Emperor Pavel I’s stipulated that males come first in the succession, and a male heir was eagerly awaited. Nicholas and Alexandra have, after nearly five years of marriage, only three little girls to show for themselves. Russia is in need of an heir, and the Imperial couple has once again failed on this count. The infant is named in honor of her paternal grandmother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. She is christened Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia. Read more MARIA ROMANOV: GRAND DUCHESS MARIA NIKOLAEVNA OF RUSSIA
HELEN AZAR INTERVIEWS
HELEN AZAR INTERVIEWS LISTED BELOW:
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ROMANOV FAMILY IN FINLAND
Every summer prior to the war, the Romanov family boarded their imperial yacht “The Standart” and headed for a holiday on the Finnish skerries. The time they spent in Finland was always one of their fondest memories.
From Grand Duchess Olga’s 1913 diary: Read more ROMANOV FAMILY IN FINLAND
ROMANOV FAMILY HAVING FUN
During the war years when no balls or court entertainments were allowed to take place, and life was a series of solemn events, the Romanov sisters managed to find various ways to brighten their dutiful days as well as those of others. Read more ROMANOV FAMILY HAVING FUN
