Cousin of Nicholas 2. Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich: a short biography. The dynasty changes its name

As you know, the imperial Romanov family was shot on the night of July 17, 1918 by the Bolsheviks. Many people ask a natural question: why did Nicholas II and his family not leave the country, because such a possibility was seriously considered by the Provisional Government? It was planned that the Romanovs would go to England, but the cousin of Nicholas II, George V, with whom they were very close and insanely similar, for some reason preferred to disown their relatives.

Participation in the First World War for Russia had very disastrous consequences. During the February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas II signed his abdication. In return, the Provisional Government promised him and his family unhindered travel abroad.

Later, the head of the Provisional Government A.F. Kerensky assured: “As for the evacuation of the royal family, we decided to send them through Murmansk to London. In March 1917, they received the consent of the British government, but in July, when everything was ready for the train to travel to Murmansk and Foreign Minister Tereshchenko sent a telegram to London with a request to send a ship to meet the royal family, the British Ambassador received a clear answer from Prime Minister Lloyd George: the British government, unfortunately, cannot accept the royal family as guests during the war. ".

Instead of Murmansk, the imperial family was sent to Tobolsk, since anarchist sentiments were growing in the capital and the Bolsheviks were eager for power. As you know, after the overthrow of the Provisional Government, the new leaders considered that the Romanovs should be physically destroyed.

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Nicholas II
and George V as children. | Photo: historicplay.livejournal.com.

Assessing the situation, historian and writer Gennady Sokolov said: “Kerensky was not cunning, he did not whitewash himself in hindsight. Declassified documents fully confirm his words ".

The Romanovs had to actually go to England, because during the First World War both countries were considered allies, and members of the royal and imperial families were not strangers to each other. George V was a cousin of both Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna.

George V wrote to his cousin: “Yes, my dearest Nicky, I hope that we will always continue our friendship with you; you know, I am unchanging, and I have always loved you so ... In my thoughts I am constantly with you. God bless you, my dear old Nicky, and remember that you can always count on me as your friend. Your loyal friend Georgie forever. ".

On March 22, 1917, the British Cabinet of Ministers made a decision to "provide the Emperor and Empress with shelter in England while the war is going on." A week later, George V began to behave quite differently from what he wrote to "old Nicky." He doubted the expediency of the arrival of the Romanovs in England, and the path is dangerous ...

On April 2, 1917, the British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour expressed his surprise to the king that the monarch should not back down, since the ministers had already decided to invite the Romanovs.

But George V was persistent and a couple of days later wrote to the Foreign Minister: "Instruct Ambassador Buchanan to tell Milyukov that we must withdraw our consent to the Russian government's proposal."... In the afterword, he stressed that it was not the king who invited the imperial family, but the British government.

In May 1917, the Russian Foreign Ministry received a new order from the British Ambassador, which indicated that "The British government cannot advise His Majesty to show hospitality to people whose sympathies for Germany are more than well known."... It also played into the hands of propaganda against Nicholas II and his wife, who, as you know, was of German origin. The closest relative left his cousin to the mercy of fate, and everyone knows the sad ending of this story.

Some historians explained this position of George V in relation to the Romanovs by the fact that he was afraid of a revolution in Great Britain, since the workers' trade unions were very sympathetic to the Bolsheviks. The disgraced imperial family could only worsen the situation. For the sake of preserving the throne, "Georgie" decided to sacrifice a cousin.

But if the surviving documents are to be believed, the king's secretary wrote to the British ambassador Berthier in Paris: "It was the firm conviction of the king who never wanted this." That is, from the very beginning, George V did not want the Romanovs to move to England. And Russia has always been considered a geopolitical rival of Great Britain.

Well, at the same time, the Bolsheviks set themselves a goal: to destroy not only Nicholas II and his wife with children, but also all relatives with this surname. V

Andrey Vladimirovich Romanov is the last representative of the House of Romanov. On the political stage, he was rarely a key character, being in the shadow of more eminent persons. Despite this, Andrei Vladimirovich was an outstanding person who made a brilliant military career.

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich was born on May 2, 1879 in Tsarskoe Selo. His father, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, is the third son of the emperor and empress, his younger brother. Mother - the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, after marriage the Russian Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Cousin - Alexandrovich, grandfather - Alexander II Nikolaevich - Emperors of All Russia, Tsars of Poland and Grand Dukes of Finland from the dynasty of the August Romanovs.

Andrew was in the warmest relations with representatives of the royal family. The boy had a special love for the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the youngest son of Alexander III.

He received his general education and upbringing under the supervision of his most illustrious parents. He entered military service in 1895. In 1902, after graduating from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School, with the rank of second lieutenant, he entered the service in the fifth battery of the Guards Horse-Artillery Brigade.

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich with his family

From 1902 to 1905 he studied at the Alexander Military Law Academy, after which he was enrolled in the military-judicial department. From June 1905 to April 1906 he was a translator of foreign military criminal regulations at the Military Law Academy.

On August 29, 1910, Grand Duke Andrei was appointed commander of the fifth battery of the Life Guards Horse Artillery Brigade, and on July 8, 1911, he was appointed commander of the Don Cossack Artillery Battery.

The First World War began, and Andrei Vladimirovich was sent to serve at the General Staff. On May 7, 1915, he became commander of the Life Guards Horse Artillery, and on August 15, 1915, he was transferred to Major Generals with confirmation in his post and enrollment in the Retinue.

Awards

For his brilliant service, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich was awarded the following Russian orders and medals:

Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (1879);
Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (1879);
Order of St. Anne 1 st. (1879);
Order of the White Eagle (1879);
Order of St. Stanislaus 1 st. (1879);
Order of St. Vladimir 4 st. (05/28/1905);
Order of St. Vladimir 3 tbsp. (1911);
Silver medal "In memory of the reign of Emperor Alexander III" (1896);
Medal "In Commemoration of the Coronation of Emperor Nicholas II" (1896).
Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich is distinguished by foreign orders:
Mecklenburg-Schwerin Medal in memory of the Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz (01/12/1898);
Oldenburg Order of Merit of Duke Peter-Friedrich-Ludwig (1902);
Prussian Order of the Black Eagle (03.12.1909);
Bulgarian Order "Saints Cyril and Methodius" (01/19/1912);
Serbian Order of the Star of Karageorgiya (01/23/1912);
Austrian Order of St. Stephen Grand Cross (01/23/1912);
Bulgarian Order "Saint Alexander" 1 st .;
Bukhara Order of the Crown of the State of Bukhara 1 st .;
Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig Order;
Mecklenburg-Schwerin Order of the Vendian Crown 1 st .;
Romanian Order of the Star of Romania 1 st .;
Saxe-Coburg-Gothic Order of the Ernestine House.

In emigration

After the revolution, he lived in Kislovodsk with his mother Maria Pavlovna and brother Boris Vladimirovich. On August 7, 1918, brothers Andrei and Boris were arrested and sent to Pyatigorsk, from where they were released under house arrest a day later.

A week later, Andrei Vladimirovich fled to the mountains of Kabarda, where he was for almost two months. General Pokrovsky recommends that mother Maria Pavlovna and her children go to Anapa. But in May 1919, the family returned to Kislovodsk, already liberated from the Bolsheviks. The royal couple remained in Kislovodsk until the end of 1919.

“On the very eve of Christmas, very alarming information about the situation in the theater of operations was received, and we immediately decided to leave Kislovodsk, so as not to get stuck in a mousetrap and go abroad. With pain in their hearts, Andrei and his mother were forced to leave Russia, ”writes the future wife of Andrei Vladimirovich, a ballerina.

Andrey Vladimirovich Romanov and Matilda Kshesinskaya with her son

In January 1920, refugees arrived in Novorossiysk, where they lived right in the train carriages. A month later, Grand Duke Andrey with his mother and beloved woman Matilda Kshesinskaya, who was hiding with the Romanovs after fleeing from Petrograd, sail on the steamer Semiramis.

In Constantinople, refugees received visas to France. Their life enters a new stage - since February 1920 the Romanovs have been living in the French town of Cap-d'Ay on the Riviera - there was a villa that the prince bought shortly before the revolution for his beloved Matilda Kshesinskaya.

In emigration, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich was awarded the following titles:

Honorary Chairman of the Izmailovtsev Union (1925);
Honorary Chairman of the Union of Mutual Assistance of Officers of the Life Guards of the Horse Artillery;
Chairman of the Russian Historical and Genealogical Society (Paris);
Chairman of the Guards Association.
The monarchist-legitimist Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich actively supported his older brother Kirill Vladimirovich, who in 1924 accepted the title of Emperor of All Russia in exile. He was the August representative of the Sovereign Emperor Cyril I in France and the chairman of the Sovereign's meeting with him.

Personal life

On January 30, 1921, in the Russian Church in Cannes, the wedding of Grand Duke Andrei Romanov and Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya, prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater, Honored Artist of His Majesty of the Imperial Theaters took place.

She is known as the favorite of Tsarevich Nicholas in 1882-1884. The relationship ended after the engagement of the future Emperor Nicholas II with Queen Victoria's granddaughter Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt in April 1894.

After the breakup, Matilda Kshesinskaya was in an amorous relationship with the Grand Dukes Sergei Mikhailovich and Andrei Vladimirovich. In 1918, Sergei Mikhailovich was shot in Alapaevsk.

The wedding of Kshesinskaya and Romanov took place only after the death of Andrei Vladimirovich's mother in 1920 in Contrexeville. Maria Pavlovna categorically objected to the relationship between the prince and Kshesinskaya, so the love affair was hidden.

Vladimir is the illegitimate son of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya and one of the Russian princes. The young man was adopted by Andrey Vladimirovich in 1921. Since 1935, he was called "His Serene Highness Prince Vladimir Andreevich Romanovsky-Krasinsky", since the beginning of the Second World War - Vladimir Romanov.

During the German occupation, Vladimir Krasinsky, as a member of the "pro-Soviet" Union of Young Russians, was arrested by the Gestapo and ended up in a concentration camp. After 144 days, Andrei Vladimirovich managed to achieve his release.

Andrei Vladimirovich was a fan of the arts and an avid theater-goer; he studied law and fire science at the professional level, and also loved hunting and fishing. The Grand Duke took pictures and is known as one of the first Russian car enthusiasts.

Last years and death

In recent years, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich continued to support Vladimir Kirillovich and his wife Leonida Georgievna. One of the last joys of his life is the birth of the grand-niece of the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna (now the head of the Russian Imperial House) in 1953 in Spain. Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich himself became her godfather.

He died in Paris on October 30, 1956. His grave is in the Sainte-Genevier-des-Bois cemetery. The cause of death of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich is unknown - historians have not recorded what kind of illness struck Romanov.

Tomb of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich and Matilda Kshesinskaya

Andrei Vladimirovich at that time turned 77 years old - thus he set a kind of longevity record among the great dukes of the Romanovs.

After the death of his brother Boris Vladimirovich Romanov in 1943, for 13 years Andrei remained the last of the grand dukes of the Romanov dynasty born before 1917.

Movies and books

The name of the Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich appears in the literature and cinema dedicated to the life of the Romanov dynasty, especially the last years of their reign.

One of the interesting works concerning the biography of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich is the animated film "Anastasia" (1997). Although the name of the prince is not mentioned, his participation is obvious to the viewer: the main character Anastasia is the youngest daughter of Emperor Nicholas II, who allegedly survived after the execution of the royal family in the basement of the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg.

Anna Anderson (left) called herself Princess Anastasia (right)

According to historical data, Andrei Vladimirovich openly supported the claims of Anna Anderson, recognizing in her the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Nicholas II. Pressure from other members of the royal family forced the Grand Duke to withdraw his confession.

Another work in which his persona appears is the new film "Matilda", which caused a public outcry long before its premiere. The scandalous picture tells about the personal relationship of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, who is destined to become Emperor Nicholas II, with the future wife of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Matilda Kshesinskaya. Religious and public figures criticized fairly explicit scenes with the participation of the Most Serene Highness and the ballerina.

The role of Andrei Vladimirovich in the film "Matilda" was played by an actor who became famous throughout the country thanks to his participation in the New Year's blockbuster "Black Lightning" and the psychological thriller "How I Spent This Summer".

The life and convictions of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich are described in his "war diary" covering 1914-1917. The uniqueness of this document lies in the fact that in addition to the "bare facts" the author wrote down his own thoughts about what was happening, memories, and the facts themselves were set out in the most detailed and informative way.

A love story that descendants are trying to rewrite.

Matilda Kshesinskaya. /

People who lived in Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries thought little about what their image would be in the eyes of distant descendants. Therefore, they lived simply - they loved, betrayed, committed meanness and selfless acts, not knowing that a hundred years later one of them would be put on a halo, while others would be posthumously denied the right to love.

Matilda Kshesinskaya got an amazing fate - fame, universal recognition, love of the powerful, emigration, life under German occupation, poverty. And decades after her death, people who consider themselves to be highly spiritual personalities will flap her name on every corner, inwardly cursing the fact that she ever lived in the world.

"Kshesinskaya 2nd"

She was born in Ligov, near St. Petersburg, on August 31, 1872. Ballet was her destiny from birth - her father, Pole Felix Kshesinsky, was a dancer and teacher, an unsurpassed mazurka performer.

Mother, Julia Dominskaya, was a unique woman: in her first marriage she gave birth to five children, and after the death of her husband she married Felix Kshesinsky and gave birth to three more. Matilda was the youngest in this ballet family, and, following the example of her parents and older brothers and sisters, she decided to link her life with the stage.

At the beginning of her career, the name "Kshesinskaya 2nd" will be assigned to her. The first was her sister Julia, a brilliant artist of the Imperial Theaters. Brother Joseph, also a renowned dancer, will remain in Soviet Russia after the revolution, receive the title of Honored Artist of the Republic, stage performances and teach.

Felix Kshesinsky and Yulia Dominskaya. Photo:

Joseph Kshesinsky will be bypassed by repression, but his fate, nevertheless, will be tragic - he will become one of the hundreds of thousands of victims of the blockade of Leningrad.

Little Matilda dreamed of fame, and worked hard in class. The teachers of the Imperial Theater School said among themselves that the girl had a great future, if, of course, she found a wealthy patron.

Fateful dinner

The life of Russian ballet in the times of the Russian Empire was similar to the life of show business in post-Soviet Russia - talent alone was not enough. Careers were done through the bed, and it was not really hidden. The faithful married actresses were destined to be the backdrop for the brilliantly talented courtesans.

In 1890, 18-year-old graduate of the Imperial Theater School, Matilda Kshesinskaya, was given a high honor - Emperor Alexander III himself with his family attended the graduation performance.

Ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. 1896 Photo:

“This exam decided my fate,” Kshesinskaya writes in her memoirs.

After the performance, the monarch and his retinue appeared in the rehearsal hall, where Alexander III showered Matilda with compliments. And then the emperor showed the young ballerina at a festive dinner a place next to the heir to the throne - Nicholas.

Alexander III, unlike other representatives of the imperial family, including his father, who lived in two families, is considered a faithful husband. The emperor preferred another amusement of Russian men to walking "to the left" - the consumption of a "little white woman" in the company of friends.

However, Alexander did not see anything shameful that a young man learns the basics of love before marriage. That's why he pushed his phlegmatic 22-year-old son into the arms of an 18-year-old beauty of Polish blood.

“I don't remember what we talked about, but I immediately fell in love with the heir. As I now see his blue eyes with such a kind expression. I stopped looking at him only as an heir, I forgot about it, everything was like a dream. When I said goodbye to the heir, who had spent the whole dinner next to me, we looked at each other differently than when we met, a feeling of attraction crept into his soul, as well as into mine, ”Kshesinskaya wrote about that evening.

Passion "hussar Volkov"

Their romance was not stormy. Matilda dreamed of meeting, but the heir, busy with state affairs, did not have time to meet.

In January 1892 a certain "hussar Volkov" arrived at Matilda's house. The surprised girl approached the door, and ... Nikolai was walking towards her. They spent that night together for the first time.

The visits of "Hussar Volkov" became regular, and the whole Petersburg knew about them. It got to the point that one night a St. Petersburg mayor broke into a couple in love, who received a strict order to deliver the heir to his father on an urgent matter.

This relationship had no future. Nikolai knew the rules of the game well: before his betrothal in 1894 to Princess Alice of Hesse, the future Alexandra Fedorovna, he parted with Matilda.

In her memoirs, Kshesinskaya writes that she was inconsolable. Believe it or not, everyone's personal business. An affair with the heir to the throne gave her such patronage that her rivals on the stage could not have.

We must pay tribute, getting the best games, she proved that she deserves them. Becoming a prima ballerina, she continued to improve, taking private lessons from the famous Italian ballet master Enrico Cecchetti.

Matilda Kshesinskaya became the first Russian dancer to perform 32 fouettés in a row, which today are considered the trademark of Russian ballet, having adopted this trick from the Italians.

Soloist of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater Matilda Kshesinskaya in the ballet "Pharaoh's Daughter", 1900. Photo:

Grand Ducal Love Triangle

Her heart was not free for long. The new chosen one again became a representative of the Romanovs' house, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, grandson of Nicholas I and great-uncle of Nicholas II. The unmarried Sergei Mikhailovich, who was known as a closed man, felt incredible affection for Matilda. He took care of her for many years, thanks to which her career in the theater was completely cloudless.

Feelings of Sergei Mikhailovich passed cruel tests. In 1901, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, the uncle of Nicholas II, began to look after Kshensinskaya. But this was only an episode before the appearance of a real rival. The rival was his son - Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, cousin of Nicholas II. He was ten years younger than his relative and seven years younger than Matilda.

“It was no longer an empty flirtation ... From the day of my first meeting with the Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, we began to meet more and more often, and our feelings for each other soon turned into a strong mutual attraction,” writes Kshesinskaya.

Men of the Romanov family flew to Matilda like butterflies on fire. Why? Now none of them will explain. And the ballerina skillfully manipulated them - having struck up a relationship with Andrei, she never parted with Sergei.

Having gone on a trip in the fall of 1901, Matilda felt unwell in Paris, and when she turned to a doctor, she found out that she was in a "position." But she didn't know whose child it was. Moreover, both lovers were ready to recognize the child as their own.

The son was born on June 18, 1902. Matilda wanted to call him Nicholas, but did not dare - such a step would be a violation of the rules that they once established with the now Emperor Nicholas II. As a result, the boy was named Vladimir, in honor of the father of the Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

The son of Matilda Kshesinskaya will have an interesting biography - before the revolution he will be “Sergeevich” because he is recognized by the “senior lover”, and in emigration he will become “Andreevich”, because the “younger lover” marries his mother and recognizes him as his son.

Kshesinskaya, in the end, will consider that the son was conceived after all from Andrey. So be it.

Matilda Kshesinskaya, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich and their son Vladimir. Around 1906 Photo:

Mistress of the Russian ballet

In the theater, Matilda was openly afraid. After leaving the troupe in 1904, she continued one-time performances, receiving mind-boggling royalties. All the parties that she liked were assigned to her and only to her. To go against Kshesinskaya at the beginning of the 20th century in Russian ballet meant to end her career and ruin my life.

The director of the Imperial Theaters, Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky, once dared to insist that Kshesinskaya go on stage in a costume that she did not like. The ballerina did not obey and was fined. A couple of days later, Volkonsky resigned, as Emperor Nicholas II himself explained to him that he was wrong.

The new director of the Imperial Theaters, Vladimir Telyakovsky, did not argue with Matilda over the word “absolutely”.

“It would seem that a ballerina serving in the directorate should belong to the repertoire, but here it turned out that the repertoire belongs to M. Kshesinskaya, and both out of fifty performances, forty belong to balletomanes, and in the repertoire - of all ballets, more than half of the best belong to the ballerina Kshesinskaya, - Telyakovsky wrote in his memoirs. - She considered them her property and could give or not let others dance. There were cases when a ballerina was discharged from abroad. In her contract, ballets were stipulated for the tour. So it was with the ballerina Grimaldi, who was invited in 1900. But when she decided to rehearse one ballet specified in the contract (this ballet was "A Vain Precaution"), Kshesinskaya said: "I won't give it, this is my ballet." Began - telephones, conversations, telegrams. The poor director rushed here and there. Finally, he sends the minister an encrypted telegram to Denmark, where he was at that time with the sovereign. The case was secret, of special state importance. And what? Receives the following answer: "Since this ballet is Kshesinskaya, then leave him for her."

Matilda Kshesinskaya with her son Vladimir, 1916.Photo:

Shot off nose

In 1906, Kshesinskaya became the owner of a luxurious mansion in St. Petersburg, where everything, from start to finish, was done according to her own ideas. There was a wine cellar in the mansion for men visiting the ballerina; in the courtyard, horse-drawn carriages and cars were waiting for the hostess. There was even a barn, since the ballerina loved fresh milk.

Where did all this splendor come from? Contemporaries said that even Matilda's space fees would not be enough for all this luxury. It was claimed that the Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, a member of the Council of State Defense, “pinched off” for his beloved little by little from the country's military budget.

Kshesinskaya had everything she dreamed of, and, like many women in her position, she got bored.

The result of boredom was the 44-year-old ballerina's romance with a new stage partner, Peter Vladimirov, who was 21 years younger than Matilda.

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, ready to share his mistress with an equal, was furious. During a tour of Kshesinskaya in Paris, the prince challenged the dancer to a duel. An offended representative of the Romanov family shot the unhappy Vladimirov's nose. The doctors had to collect it piece by piece.

But, surprisingly, the Grand Duke this time also forgave the windy beloved.

The end of the fairy tale

The tale ended in 1917. With the fall of the empire, Kshesinskaya's former life also collapsed. She also tried to sue the Bolsheviks for the mansion, from the balcony of which Lenin spoke. The understanding of how serious everything is came later.

Together with her son, Kshesinskaya wandered across the south of Russia, where the power was changing, as if in a kaleidoscope. Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks in Pyatigorsk, but they, still undecided what he was to blame, let him go on all four sides. Son Vladimir was ill with the Spanish flu, which mowed millions of people in Europe. Miraculously escaping typhus, in February 1920 Matilda Kshesinskaya on the steamer "Semiramis" left Russia forever.

By this time, two of her lovers from the Romanov family were no longer alive. Nikolai's life was interrupted in the house of Ipatiev, Sergei was shot dead in Alapaevsk. When his body was raised from the mine, where it had been dumped, a small gold medallion with a portrait of Matilda Kshesinskaya and the inscription "Malia" was found in the Grand Duke's hand.

Juncker in the former mansion of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya after the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the RSDLP (b) moved from it. June 6, 1917. Photo:

The Serene Princess at a reception at Muller's

In 1921, in Cannes, 49-year-old Matilda Kshesinskaya became a legal wife for the first time in her life. Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, despite the sidelong glances of his relatives, formalized the marriage and adopted a child whom he always considered his own.

In 1929, Kshesinskaya opened her ballet school in Paris. This step was rather forced - the former comfortable life was left behind, it was necessary to earn a living. Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who in 1924 declared himself the head of the Romanovs' house in exile, in 1926 awarded Kshesinskaya and her offspring the title and surname of princes Krasinsky, and in 1935 the title began to sound like "the most lofty princes Romanovsky-Krasinsky."

During the Second World War, when the Germans occupied France, Matilda's son was arrested by the Gestapo. According to legend, the ballerina, in order to achieve her release, achieved a personal audience with the chief of the Gestapo Müller. Kshesinskaya herself never confirmed this. Vladimir spent 144 days in a concentration camp, unlike many other emigrants, he refused to cooperate with the Germans, and nevertheless was released.

There were many long-livers in the Kshesinsky family. Matilda's grandfather lived 106 years, sister Yulia died at the age of 103, and Kshesinskaya 2 herself passed away just a few months before her 100th birthday.

The building of the Museum of the October Revolution - also known as the mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaya. 1972 Architect A. Gauguin, R. Melzer. Photo: / B. Manushin

"I cried with happiness"

In the 1950s, she wrote a memoir of her life, which was first published in French in 1960.

“In 1958 the Bolshoi Ballet Company arrived in Paris. Although I don't go anywhere else, dividing my time between my house and the dance studio where I earn to live, I made an exception and went to the Opera to see the Russians. I cried with happiness. It was the same ballet that I saw more than forty years ago, the owner of the same spirit and the same traditions ... ”- wrote Matilda. Probably, ballet remained her main love for all her life.

The cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois became the resting place of Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya. She was buried with her husband, whom she survived for 15 years, and her son, who passed away three years after her mother.

The inscription on the monument reads: "The Most Serene Princess Maria Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters Kshesinskaya."

No one will be able to take away from Matilda Kshesinskaya the life he lived, just as no one will be able to remake the history of the last decades of the Russian Empire to their liking, turning living people into disembodied beings. And those who try to do this do not know even a tenth of the colors of life that little Matilda learned.

The grave of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Romanov at the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery in the city of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the Paris region. Photo: / Valery Melnikov

Nicholas II had a striking resemblance to his cousin, the British king George V.

Nicholas II "cousin Nicky" and George V "cousin Georgie"

Nicholas II and George V

King George, 1893

Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, visits England for the wedding of King George V and Queen Mary. 1893

The fact is that their mothers are sisters:
- Princess Dagmar - after marriage, Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III and mother of Nicholas II
- Princess Alexandra of Denmark is the wife of King Edward VII and mother of George V.
They were the daughters of Christian IX King of Denmark.

Ilya Savich Galkin
Emperor Nicholas II in a white uniform with epaulettes.
1896

Luke Fildes
George V when Prince of Wales, painting by Sir Samuel Luke Fildes
1892

Empress Maria Feodorovna with her sister Alexandra of Wales.

Since 1842, Christian was married to Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1817-1898), niece of King Christian VIII. The couple had six children:
Frederick (1843-1912), King of Denmark Frederick VIII from 1906 to 1912
Alexandra (1844-1925), married to King Edward VII of Great Britain;
George (1845-1913), King George I of Greece from 1863 to 1913;
Dagmara (1847-1928), married to the Russian Emperor Alexander III;
Tyra (1853-1933), married to Ernst August II, Prince of Hanover;
Waldemar (1858-1939), was married to Mary of Orleans (1865-1909).
King Christian was closely related to the royal houses of Europe. He was the father of two kings - his successor Frederick VIII and King George I of Greece, Queen Alexandra of Britain, wife of Edward VII, and the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III.
Christian was, therefore, the grandfather of Nicholas II, who called him Apapa in his diary (“Grandfather”, a French children's word). Christian's other grandchildren include Constantine I of Greece, George V of Great Britain, Haakon VII of Norway.
Christiane and Louise were called "father-in-law" and "mother-in-law of Europe".
Most of Europe's monarchs are now direct descendants of Christian IX.

Nicholas II, King of Great Britain George V, King of Belgium Albert I (from left to right). 1914.

The last Russian autocrat Emperor Nicholas II and the British monarch George V, being cousins (in their private correspondence they referred to each other as "Nika's cousin" and "Georgie's cousin"), were extremely similar in appearance.

Solomon Joseph Solomon
King George V.
National Portrait Gallery 1914

American Robert Macy in the famous bestseller of the late 1960s. "Nikolai and Alexandra" cites a very curious episode, which once again testifies to the external similarity of the two brothers.
In July 1893, at the wedding of the future George V (at that time he was the Duke of York) and Princess Victoria Maria of Teck, Russia and the House of Romanovs were represented by the Heir to the Tsarevich and Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich, i.e. the future Nicholas II. The latter's English was so good and his outward resemblance to the groom was so striking that many guests, mistaking him for the Duke of York, congratulated him on his legal marriage, and a certain official asked him, as a groom, not to be late for the wedding ceremony scheduled for tomorrow. And Georg himself, who was mistaken for Nikolai, was at the same time approached with questions about the purpose of his visit to London and further plans.

Henrich Matveevich Manizer

Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II.
1896.

But their similarity was only superficial. On the one hand, there is the straightforward, trusting Nikolai, who always came to the aid of his cousin in personal and public affairs. On the other, Georg betrayed him.

E. K. Lipgart. Portrait of Nicholas II. 1914

As a result of the First World War, the February Revolution takes place in Russia, and George's cousin, Nicholas II, was forced to sign the abdication. In return, he was promised the possibility of unhindered travel to England with the whole family.
When Nicholas II abdicated the throne and, together with his family, was arrested by the Provisional Government, he could save the royal family by giving her permission to enter England. If I wanted to. But he didn't want to. Apparently, realizing that he was condemning his brother to death with the help of the British ambassador to Russia, George Buchanan, who later admitted that he was under pressure.
Alexander Kerensky honestly tried to fulfill his promise. He twice turned to the British ambassador Buchanan with a request to give the royal family asylum in England and to send an English battleship to meet him. To which Buchanan replied that he would not distract the sovereign with such a trifling request, because his country in such difficult conditions is not up to some kind of Russian tsar.
After retiring, Buchanan admitted that he was under pressure. Georg simply chickened out, or did not want to have the Russian Empire as a competitor, and made sure that it never revived.

Lance calkin
King george v
National Portrait Gallery circa 1914

It is curious that the British government destroyed all documents and telegrams containing a categorical refusal to enter England for the royal family. And if not for the recollections of the staff of the British Embassy, the British would still pretend to be surprised.