Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia to Maria Feodorovna, «Various facts from November 12 to November 19, 1916»
Count Gudovich told me that his niece, the little Countess Hendrikova, told him that two ladies, i.e., A.F. (Alexandra Feodorovna) and Anya (Anna Vyrubova), had notebooks where the names of people of all classes were written alphabetically, and that in these notebooks they usually looked for people fit to be ministers. Admit that this is pure madness. There is only one remedy, Sandro and Pavel do not mind, it is for the closest, for you and your children to take the initiative to conduct a medical consultation of all our celebrities from a medical point of view, and then send them to a remote sanatorium, with or without Vyrubova, to undergo serious treatment. Otherwise, be prepared for any accidents. Tell that to Sandro-because that’s my firm opinion.
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia to Maria Feodorovna, «Various facts from December 17 to December 22, 1916»
The balding man writing to you has been thinking a lot, spending sleepless nights, running around the empty St. Petersburg embankments at dawn — and now he tells you — never look for the names of the brave souls who performed this act of civic courage, high patriotism and deliverance*. The word is silver, and silence is gold!
Madame (Alexandra Feodorovna) is madder than ever. On the night of the 19th, after the autopsy of the corpse, the order came to transport… the body of the insignificant to the emperor’s palace!!!
Two more appointments to positions took place under the influence of the murdered man …
Madame is getting more and more in charge of drowning Nicky… And time passes, gossip intensifies, the general situation inspires fears.
I’m putting the same dilemma before you again. After the hypnotist, it is necessary to try to neutralize A.F., while she is hypnotized. By all means, it is necessary to send her as far away as possible, either to a sanatorium or to a monastery. We are talking about saving the throne - not the dynasty, which is still strong, but the present sovereign. Otherwise it will be too late. … All Russia knows that the late Rasputin and A.F. are the same. If the first one is killed, the second one should disappear. The general peace of mind depends on it. …
«I read his diary, he (Nicholas 2) brought it with him. I was very interested in one day in the diary, this is April 1, where he writes about Alice of H (Alix of Hesse) and about me. He likes Alice very much, he has already told me about it before, and I am seriously starting to be jealous of her…»
«I think the reason for the unpopularity of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was that she lacked artistry. Acting is an integral part of the Russian nature, and sometimes it seems that Russians do not live life, they acting it. It was completely alien to Alexandra Fyodorovna.»
FROM THE MEMOIRS OF ENGLISH TEACHER CHARLES SIDNEY GIBBS
In 1914, before the War. The Imperial Family was spending the summer in Livadia. The Empress used to like very much to take walks by herself; and for this reason, she would drive out of Livadia in an open carriage; after going a few miles she would get out of the carriage and walk on foot in the company of one of her ladies in waiting.Always modestly dressed in a plain summer dress, sandals and without a fancy hat she would sometimes go down to Yalta, drop by some church in order to pray unnoticed by others.⛪️
It was Told That Once,The Empress stopped by the Autsky Church, prayed for a while and put some candles by the holy icons. In the church there stood a group of very poorly dressed people who had come to baptize a child. The priest had already put on his vestments, but the people evidently were awaiting someone and thus he did not begin the service. The Empress had already intended to leave when the priest approached her and asked her to take the place of the terribly late godmother. The Empress kindly agreed, and taking the child in her arms she stood together with the child’s father, a poor shoemaker.
To the question directed to the Empress concerning how she would like the little girl to be called, she answered simply: “Alexandra”. And then, in the course of the service she performed everything that is required of sponsors,together with the shoemaker she walked around the font three times, holding the child in her arms, in accord with the Church typicon.
After the baptismal ceremony, the Empress jotted down simply in the metrical book of the Autsky church: “Alexandra Romanova”. In parting, she shook the hand of everyone who had come for the christening, and having asked the address of her goddaughter, she set out on foot. The next day, an imperial coach drove up to the poor house of the shoemaker, the father of the newly-baptized, which was on the outskirts of Yalta, and the lady-in-waiting who had accompanied the Empress the day before brought Shurochka (little Alexandra) an entire trousseau and for her parents a gift of 500 rubles from the Most-august godmother.
Sources:by N. V. Khvostova, 1958 TheRomanovroyalmartyrs
“Her Majesty could not stand all kinds of snobbery. Once during the Japanese War, she worked in one of the rooms of the Winter Palace. Its windows overlooked the Neva embankment. From the place where Her Majesty was sitting, it was possible to observe the soldiers and officers passing by the Palace. Suddenly, She looked carefully out the window and sighed with displeasure. Her face was written with extreme indignation. One of the officers who were in the Palace dared to ask her what was the matter. Her Majesty pointed to the embankment:
"That’s it,” she said. It turned out that soldiers passing by one of the officers saluted him, but he did not return the same. - Why does an officer not respect soldiers, next to whom he may one day fall? I can’t stand such snobs,“ she added with a chill in her voice..
Group photograph of the Hessian sisters along with Ernest Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, Prince Louis of Battenberg, Princess Alice of Battenberg, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, possibly in Darmstadt, 1887.
Photograph of the Hessian sisters with their brother Ernest Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and uncle Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, early 1880s.
![Nicholas II with his wife Alexandra Feodorovna [original source]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/07ed1b7d4b5f3ec90fe801639148c0fc/tumblr_pcvq3750rv1skwqjto1_1280.jpg "Nicholas II with his wife Alexandra Feodorovna [original source]")
