(St
Martin’s Press, New York.) 482 pages, 36 illustrations.
For her latest book Julia Gelardi looks at four members of the
Romanov family, Marie Alexandrovna and Olga Constantinovna, who were born Russian Grand Duchesses;
and Marie Feodorovna and Marie Pavlovna who married into the Romanov family.
For Marie Alexandrovna, the only (and rather spoilt) daughter of
Alexander II, her misfortune was not to marry a king, for when she married
Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and went to live at the court of Queen
Victoria she found it hard to adjust. Flaunting her superior jewels and
demanding precedence over all the princesses except the Princess of Wales,
Marie disliked England and was soon homesick for Russia. When her husband
inherited the Dukedom of Coburg at least it got the Duchess away from Victoria.
The other Romanov Grand Duchess, Olga Constantinovna, was married at
sixteen to King George I of Greece and left the splendours of St Petersburg for
a huge, draughty palace in Athens.
Although she visited Russia as often as possible she raised her children
as Greeks, helping both her adopted country and her homeland through charity
work.
For Marie Pavlovna, born a Princess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, life
took a different turn when she ditched her fiancé and married Grand Duke
Vladimir. Refusing to convert to Orthodoxy (and thereby setting a precedent),
she moved with her husband into the luxurious Vladimir Palace and became one of
the leading lights of society, whose court rivalled that of Tsar Nicholas II. Ambitious
and formidable, she never forgot that her family was next in line for the
throne.
The fourth subject of this book is Empress Marie Feodorovna, born
Princess Dagmar of Denmark, who moved from the simplicity of the Danish court
to the Russian capital, became a much-loved Empress and the mother of the
ill-fated Nicholas II. She also
adjusted well to the change in lifestyle, loving what might be called all the
perks of the job.
From a life of wealth and power these four very differing
personalities were caught up in the chaos of war and revolution, three of them
escaping from Russia in dramatic circumstances and the fourth, Marie
Alexandrovna, in Germany. Their stories are brilliantly woven together,
something Julia Gelardi always does really well, and the letters and diaries
quoted make fascinating reading.
The period covered by this book is significant, as it is the
lifespan of Marie Feodorovna and, as the last of the four to die, she does
figure rather too heavily in this work. I would have liked to read more about
Marie Alexandrovna, especially her letters to Missy in Romania. She seems to disappear in the middle,
which is a shame, but her last years make poignant reading.
Marie Alexandrovna and Marie Pavlovna both died in 1920 but for
Marie Feodorovna and Queen Olga, exile was bitter, pining both for their
families and for Russia. Queen
Olga, who had endured revolution in Russia and in Greece summed it up thus: “Everything,
everything is gone with no return ….My brothers are gone, I am the only one
remaining in my family like a miserable fragment of the past”.
A riveting read.
Coryne Hall
This title is available through us at Eurohistory. If interested in a copy simply email us at:
books@eurohistory.com
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