Nicholas and Alexandra

33 “I have been ill nearly all the time”: Buxhoeveden, 128. “Don’t think my ill health depresses me”: ibid., 126.

34 “She keeps to her bed”: N to MF, 248. “Botkin has persuaded her”: ibid., 254. “It is too sad and painful”: MF to N, 237–8.

35 “Some trouble of the circulation”: Marye, 394.

CHAPTER 13 THE ROYAL PROGRESS

 1 “This bog”: Kokovtsov, 304.

 2 The Imperial train: Mosolov, 241–5; Vyrubova, 97.

 3 Zakouski: Vyrubova, 97; Bruce Lockhart, 57; Mosolov, 224.

 4 Heat and discomfort: N to MF, 247. Silver toboggans: Mosolov, 55.

 5 The Finnish fjords: Gilliard, 97.

 6 The Standart: Mosolov, 246.

 7 Informality aboard the yacht: Botkin, 10; Almedingen, 120.

 8 “During performances of the opera”: Vorres, 92. Sailor-nannies: Vyrubova, 29.

 9 Nicholas ashore: ibid., 18, 28–9. Alexandra aboard: ibid., 18, 29.

10 “Just like any other grandmother”: ibid., 88. Evening prayer: ibid., 29. Rocked to sleep: ibid., 18.

11 Shipwrecked: Mosolov, 247; Vyrubova, 33; Buxhoeveden, 114.

12 “The Emperor rather disheveled”: Vyrubova, 33.

13 “Ashore and afloat, there were dinner parties and balls”: Heckstall-Smith, 77.

14 Prince Albert’s whooping cough: Wheeler-Bennett, 42.

15 “The one and only time I ever saw Tsar Nicholas”: Windsor, 69.

16 “Dear uncle … most kind”: Buxhoeveden, 122.

17 “He said he would be happy”: N to MF, 122. “His joke … was in very doubtful taste”: MF to N, 125.

18 “Emperor William’s visit was a success”: N to MF, 269.

19 The flowering of the Crimea: Vyrubova, 36.

20 “To see a cavalcade of Tartars”: ibid., 38.

21 Livadia Palace: ibid., 41–3; Botkina, 13.

22 The Empress at Livadia: Vyrubova, 39.

23 “Little Alexis and I saw it happen”: Vorres, 110.

24 “Just now, Alexei has come in”: N to MF, 250.

25 “Madame, this is for umbrellas”: Botkina, 9.

26 The Tsar at Livadia: Vyrubova, 39.

27 Nicholas’s march in private’s uniform: Mosolov, 22; Botkina, 9–10.

28 Easter at Livadia: Vyrubova, 47.

29 Faberge: This account of the master jeweler and his art draws heavily on Bainbridge and Dennis. In addition, I have seen Faberge collections at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, at Mrs. Merriweather Post’s home in Washington, D.C., in the Kremlin in Moscow and in the Hermitage in Leningrad.

30 The Great Siberian Railway Easter Egg: Tupper, 260–70.

31 “They should realize the sadness”: Buxhoeveden, 180.

32 Alexis at the charity bazaars: Vyrubova, 26.

33 Yalta parties: Vorres, 56; Vyrubova, 44.

34 The Emir of Bokhara: Vorres, 92; Vyrubova, 39.

35 Olga’s necklace: Vyrubova, 43.

36 Olga’s birthday ball: ibid., 44–5.

CHAPTER 14 “THE LITTLE ONE WILL NOT DIE”

 1 “Darling Madgie”: Buxhoeveden, 129.

 2 Borodino Centenary: Botkin, 89. “A common feeling of deep reverence”: N to MF, 270.

 3 Moscow ceremonies: N to MF, 273; Bruce Lockhart, 74. “Alexis got hold of a glass of champagne”: N to MF, 274.

 4 Bialowieza: Mosolov, 251. “The weather is warm”: N to MF, 274. Alexis fell jumping into a boat: ibid., 275.

 5 The house at Spala: Vyrubova, 91. The Road of Mushrooms: ibid., 92. Flaming torches: ibid., 91.

 6 “Alexis had looked to me ill”: Gilliard, 28.

 7 “An experience in horror”: Vyrubova, 92.

 8 Botkin’s examination: N to MF, 276. “The days between the 6th and the 10th were the worst”: ibid., 276. Screams pierced the walls: Gilliard, 29.

 9 “Mama, help me!”: Buxhoeveden, 132.

10 “I was hardly able to stay in the room”: N to MF, 276. Nicholas weeping: Vyrubova, 93.

11 “It will not hurt any more, will it?”: Buxhoeveden, 132. “Build me a little monument”: Vyrubova, 93.

12 The household routine unchanged: Gilliard, 29, 31.

13 “I could see the Tsaritsa in the front row”: ibid., 29.

14 Medical bulletins: ibid., 30. Prayers: ibid., 31.

15 “All the servants, the Cossacks”: N to MF, 277.

16 The end had come: Vyrubova, 93.

17 “The Little One will not die”: ibid., 94.

18 “The doctors notice no improvement yet”: Paleologue, I, 148.

19 “We decided to give him Holy Communion”: N to MF, 276–8.

20 “I do not agree with my colleagues”: Mosolov, 151–2. “The recovery was wholly inexplicable”: Vorres, 143.

21 “It is impossible to predict”: M. Litten, Hemorrhagic Diseases (New York, W. B. Saunders and Co., 1905).

22 Poinsard: Brinkhous, 249–53.

23 Resumption of normal life: Vyrubova, 95–6.

24 “Alexis’s recovery will be very slow”: N to MF, 277–8. The journey home: Mosolov, 152; Vyrubova, 97.

25 Alexis’s leg: Gilliard, 32; Vyrubova, 93. Hot mudbaths: Gilliard, 37.

CHAPTER 15 RASPUTIN

 1 Rasputin’s appearance: Fulop-Miller, 3–4; Iliodor, 92; Pares, 135.

 2 Rasputin’s eyes: Vyrubova, 153; Iliodor, 209; Paleologue, I, 292.

 3 “The starets made me lie down on the sofa”: Yussoupov, 208.

 4 “Well, my dear”: Yussoupov, Rasputin, 103.

 5 Rasputin and the country girl: Fulop-Miller, 6–7.

 6 “He ran his pale eyes over me”: Rodzianko, 24.

 7 “When Rasputin came into my study”: Kerensky, Murder, 46.

 8 “When you select your starets”: qtd. by Gilliard, 54.

 9 “Rasputin” means “dissolute”: Paleologue, I, 138; Pares, 134.

10 The horsethief: Fulop-Miller, 14–15. The rake: ibid., 16.

11 Verkhoturye: ibid., 17–18; Pares, 134.

12 The Khlysty: Paleologue, I, 139; Fulop-Miller, 19, 30–2; Wilson, 38. Praskovie Rasputin: Rasputin, 45; Fulop-Miller, 45. “He has enough for all”: Pares, 145.

13 “Gregory has turned pilgrim”: Wilson, 33.

14 John of Kronstadt, Theophan, Hermogen: Fulop-Miller, 54–7.

15 “We have got to know a man of God, Gregory”: Pares, 137; Fulop-Miller, 145; Almedingen, 117.