Your Favorite Grand Duchess

The Imperial Family, a year before the war started and five
years before their massacre: (from left around the Tsar) Olga,
Maria, Alexandra, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana 
By Levitsky Studio, held at the Hermitage Museum. Via Wikimedia Commons

Earlier this summer, I asked my Twitter followers (@palaceprincess) to select their favorite Grand Duchess from among the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II. This year, we are commemorated 100 years since the entire family were murdered by the Bolsheviks. At the time, Olga was 22, while her younger sisters had all celebrated their birthdays the month before: Tatiana was 21, Maria 19, and Anastasia 17. Their baby brother Alexei was less than a month away from his fourteenth birthday.

We remember the Romanov children so well because their story continued to live long after they had passed. Their gruesome deaths would have written them into the history books, just as we have never forgotten the princes in the tower who disappeared four centuries earlier. The fact that the true circumstances of their deaths remained a mystery for decades after contributed even more to their notoriety. Add to that a series of impostors claiming to be one of the children who had miraculously survived and you have a formula for generated headlines for a century. Indeed, the most famous impersonator, Anna Anderson, who even convinced some family members that she was Anastasia, so fascinated the world that her story inspired a classic movie fable starring Ingrid Bergman in the 1950s and both a children's animated film and musical theater production in the 1990s. There is even a live action film currently being produced by Netflix and starring Emily Carey, who portrayed the young Diana Prince in the 2017 hit, Wonder Woman.

(from left) Maria, Tatiana, Anastasia and Olga

Photo studio of Boasson and Eggler, 

State Archive of the Russian

Federation via Wikimedia Commons

But, I also think that another element that has kept the Romanov children "alive" for us after all these years is the massive numbers of images we have of them. Their lives played out in an era when the royalties of Europe were fascinated by cameras and photography. They also had moving picture film. So, we have access to thousands of photos of them, not just being imperial grand duchesses, but being daughters and sisters at home. Playing with each other. Farming with their dad. Reading to their mother. With their dogs. With their tutors. Nursing Russian soldiers. Recovering from measles. Photos at every stage of their lives, including while they were in captivity. There is even a photo that Anastasia took of herself in a mirror that someone has labeled the "first selfie."

The popular culture's focus on Anastasia (largely due to Anna Anderson, who has been proven a fake via DNA testing) makes it no surprise that she emerged as the favorite Grand Duchess in our poll, taking 35% of the votes, but she just edged out Tatiana with 32%, while Olga earned 18% and Maria 15%.

TojoriJ (@Tojori_Jewel) remarked that this was a very difficult decision. As she wrote, "The Grand Duchesses had a short life and unfortunately what we know or think we know is based on books written from different perspectives." TojoriJ went on to offer her thoughts on each Grand Duchess based, she said, on the few books that she had read.

Photo studio of Boasson and Eggler,
State Archive of the Russian
Federation via Wikimedia Commons

Olga
One of the biggest for many is why Olga never married. She was nearly 23 after all and had the opportunity to be betrothed to Prince Carol of Romania. It is one of the great "What if" questions of history. If she had married into Romania, would she have survived the Russian Revolution. What would her life have been like if she had lost all of her family? She had taken on nursing during the Great War, but she preferred to remain home and close to her mother and siblings. TojoriJ observed, "She was a doting sister, but lacked the drive to work towards her goal." Indeed, she is the one sister from whom a separate escape route was available, but we are looking at things with the benefit of hindsight. She didn't know that there would be a need to escape. And, if she had had that knowledge, there's no certainty that she would have preferred to have lived without them. The sisters, after all, were so close that they signed things with their joint initials: OTMA. Olga was the first and oldest, but she was not the leader.

Photo studio of Boasson and
Eggler, State Archive of the
Russian Federation
via Wikimedia Commons

Tatiana
The role of leader actually was taken by second-born Tatiana. It was she who planned activities for the siblings and even for the family. Her sisters even called her "The Governess" and their mother often communicated through Tatiana to her other children. Of the two older sisters, called "the Big Pair," Tatiana was the more serious and was the most devoted to their mother, whom she always sought to please. Both girls joined their mother as nurses during the war. She stands out to many as the most beautiful of the sisters. As poll participant Watching (@a2jean) wrote, "All beautiful girls, but Tatiana, with her darker hair and blue eyes, stands out to me." Her natural reserve could sometimes be mistaken for arrogance, but she was actually more socially inclined than any of the sisters. In my opinion, Tatiana would have made an excellent consort for the 20th Century. I could see her in the same mold as her mother's cousin, Queen Marie of Romania, ready to take on whatever task she needed to in order to help her adopted country. But, Tatiana was only 19 when the family was taken into captivity and she never had a chance to explore her possibilities.

Photo studio of Boasson and

Eggler, State Archive of the

Russian Federation

via Wikimedia Commons

Maria
TojoriJ attributes Maria with the qualities of a "People's Princess: caring, respectful and kind." When she and younger sister Anastasia would visit wounded soldiers in hospital, she was known for her innocently flirtatious nature. Like her sisters, she was devoted to family. In fact, she dreamed of having her own large family one day. Her cousin Prince Louis of Battenberg was enamored with her. Sixty years later, after his own assassination as Earl Mountbatten of Burma, it was noted that he kept her photo near him. His childhood crush inspires another of those "what if" discussions. Alas, however, crushes were a common enough occurrence for Maria, so Louis likely would have been heartbroken in the end. Interestingly, Maria was the one child who accompanied the Tsar and Empress when the family was briefly separated during their captivity. Level-headed Tatiana was left behind to look after their sick brother, but joyful Maria was thought the best companion for her parents.

Photo studio of Boasson and Eggler, 

State Archive of the
Russian 

Federation via Wikimedia Commons

Anastasia
The real Anastasia was a playful, loving girl. Many described her as witty or mischievous but never malicious. She was very lively and playful. Her visits to the war wounded were highlighted by play, distracting the weary soldiers with checkers or other games. Only 15 when the family was placed under house arrest, Anastasia presciently wrote to a friend, "Don't forget us." Nevertheless, even in captivity, she and her siblings found ways to introduce joy into their daily lives, playing outside when allowed, inventing new games, even performing little plays. The family had always been very close, but the enforced togetherness allowed Anastasia and the others to spend more time with their father the Tsar, whose duties had separated him from the family during the war. And, although Anastasia's name means "resurrection", it seems fitting that she died in the bosom of her family, together in the deep love they had for each other. The fantastic myth of her survival, if true, would almost have been sadder than the reality of her death. Brutal though it was -- shot, bayoneted, bashed with rifle butts -- to have survived without her beloved parents or siblings would have meant a life of heart-wrenching despondency.