Tsar Nicholas II, one of the most
disastrous rulers in modern history, ascended the throne on 1
November 1894. Grand Duke Nicholas was born in May 1868 to the
Tsarevitch, Alexander Alexandrovitch, and the Tsesarevna, Maria
Feodorovna. During his childhood, he would develop a lifelong
friendship with his cousin, the future King George V of the United
Kingdom. Nicholas was not…
While there are many missing tiaras,
necklaces, and rings, there is one missing piece of royal history
that literally looms larger. The Amber Room from Catherine Palace
went missing during the Second World War, and it has not been
located to this day. The Amber Room…
The Romanov family had one of the most
impressive jewel collections in Europe. However, during the Russian
Revolution, the new government claimed the collection and several
pieces mysteriously went missing. Tsar Nicholas II was forced
to abdicate on 15 March 1917.
The second season of The Great from Hulu
has premiered in the United States and Canada and will be
premiering in the United Kingdom on 5 December. The popular period
drama is a fictional take on Catherine the Great’s early
reign. The Great was written by Tony McNamara, an Australian
playwright and author, who also wrote the screenplay for the 2018
film The Favourite. The Favourite featured…
A chance listing on the Public Catalogue
Foundation Art UK, for an oil on canvas painting (35.8 x 30.7 cm)
said to be of Russia’s last Empress, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna,
when she was Princess Alix of Hesse (1872-1918) led me to
investigate this extraordinary artwork…
As the only son of the Russian Empress
Catherine the Great, Tsar Paul I succeeded his mother on her death
in 1796. He would rule the Russian Empire for the next five years.
Probably, he would had ruled the Russian Empire much longer than
that. But Paul was murdered. And his…
As the last Emperor of Russia, Tsar
Nicholas II’s twenty-three-year reign came to an abrupt end when he
abdicated on 15 March 1917. Those tumultuous years of his reign
were defined by the Russo-Japanese War that saw the annihilation of
the Russian Baltic Fleet, Bloody Sunday and an estimated 3.3
million Russians die during World War I. The relatives of
Nicholas’s extended family tree insisted…
A Russian imperial residence is to reopen
following extensive rehabilitation. This is the Alexander Palace in
St Petersburg which over the past three years has been renovated
for more than £24 million (or 31 million US dollars or 2 billion
Russian rubles). The palace was…
In the British Library five letters from
Princess Alix of Hesse, later Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of
Russia (1872-1918) are preserved. Initially, I thought there were
seven letters of hers at the British Library, but further research
has enabled me to establish that these…
Caught forever in a moment of time, they
are the tragic family whose terrible end in World War One still
appals and fascinates today. The children of the last Tsar of
Russia died alongside their parents in Yekaterinburg one hundred
years ago this summer. And yet Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and
Alexei had lived most of their lives in imperial splendour. They
had been born to Nicholas II, Tsar…
