Once a Grand Duchess : Xenia, Sister of Nicholas II

by Van Der Kiste, John; Hall, Coryne

• ISBN13: 9780750927499
• ISBN10: 0750927496
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-09-01
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square

Summary

An important new archive of letters, postcards, photographs, and other unpublished Romanov documents were used by the author to be able to write the first biography of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia. Sister of Nicholas II, she was born in 1875 and brought up in the wealth and splendour of the Russian royal family. Her father was Alexander II, and she married her cousin Grand Duke Alexander Michaelovich in 1894. They had seven children, among them her only daughter, Irina. Irina married Prince Felix Youssupov, who was one of the ringleaders in the successful attempt to murder Rasputin. During the Revolution, Xenia and her family fled from Russia in fear. Her husband went to France and died there in 1933, while she and her children made a life in England, where she died in 1960. Her life contains the elements of the Romanov dynasty: wealth, tragedy and exile.

Author Biography

John Van Der Kiste has written nineteen books on British and European royalty. He lives in Devon Coryne Hall has written one previous book She is also a regular contributor to Royalty Digest and European Royal History Journal. She lives in Hampshire

Table of Contents

List of Plates	vi
Acknowledgements	ix
Note on Dates, Names and Currency	xiii
Genealogical Tables	xiv
Introduction	xix
`A sense of happiness seemed to linger' (1864-90)	1	(25)
`A seventh heaven of bliss' (1890-4)	26	(14)
`Of one thing she certainly is not shy' (1894-1900)	40	(12)
`Why are we being punished by God?' (1901-5)	52	(11)
`A great woman and a wonderful mother' (1906-13)	63	(22)
`...if dear Papa were still alive?' (1914-17)	85	(12)
`Poor little Xenia' (1917)	97	(26)
`It all seems like a terrible nightmare' (1918-19)	123	(25)
`Any mark of sympathy in times like these' (1919-24)	148	(23)
`The light of our life is gone' (1925-8)	171	(11)
`As the Grand Duchess is very poor' (1928-36)	182	(24)
`The Grand Old Lady of the North' (1936-45)	206	(18)
`Always a Grand Duchess' (1945-60)	224	(19)
Notes	243	(13)
Bibliography	256	(5)
Index	261