«Oh, they (OTMA) were lovely, and terribly sweet, far more beautiful than their photographs show. I was crackers about Marie, and was determined to marry her. She was absolutely lovely. I keep her photograph in my bedroom- always have.»
❁ “I really think people are much better now than they used to be. I’m very glad I live now when people are so kind.” ◦ “Dreams of happiness: Get married, always live in the countryside winter and summer, see only good people, no one official.” ◦ “Give my love to all who remember me.” • Olga(various sources)
❁ “I was very fond of all my brother’s children but perhaps most of the eldest, Olga. The two of us were soul mates. She resembled me in character, and that was perhaps why we understood each other so well.” • Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna
❁ “She was the cleverest of the sisters, and was very musical… She could play by ear anything she had heard…play the most difficult accompaniments at sight, and her touch on the piano was delightful. She sang prettily in a mezzosoprano. Olga Nicolaevna was very straightforward, sometimes too outspoken, but always sincere. She had great charm… She was generous, and an appeal to her met with immediate response.” • Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden
❁ “She was a most amiable girl, and people loved her from the moment they set eyes on her. She took life seriously, and she was a clever girl with a sweet disposition. I think she possessed unusual strength of character.” • Lili Dehn
❁ “Olga was perhaps the cleverest of them all, her mind being so quick to grasp ideas, so absorbent of knowledge that she learned almost without application or close study. Her chief characteristics…were a strong will and a singularly straightforward habit of thought and action. [H]ad she been allowed to live her natural life she would, I believe, have become a woman of influence and distinction.” • Anna Vyrubova
Anastasia with her dog, Pooka in the 1997 animated film Anastasia vs the real Grand Duchess Anastasia with her dog, Jimmy in 1917
There were very few instances of historical accuracy in the 20th Century Fox film; however, Anastasia’s love of animals was something both the real and fictional girls shared. The real Anastasia, born Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia in 1901, was known for being a vivacious spirit. She played pranks, made her loved ones laugh, and was devoted to her pets. Everyone in the Romanov family had their own pet and Anastasia’s was her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Jimmy. She’d had dogs before Jimmy, had loved her little puppy, Shvybvik, and doted on her sister, Olga’s cat but Jimmy was special. He loved her fiercely and she loved him the same.
Jimmy, along with two other family dogs (Grand Duchess Tatiana’s, Ortipo and Tsarevich Alexei’s, Joy) followed the family into their initial house arrest and subsequent move and imprisonment. After the revolution broke out, the Romanov family was forced to give up their throne and were placed under house arrest. They were then moved to a secret location, a house in the Siberian city of Ekaterinburg where, in July of 1918, the Romanov family was murdered. The family was sent down to the basement where they waited for some time before their death sentence was read. Before they had time to react, a group of men opened fire on the Tsar, his wife, their four daughters, son, their court physician, chambermaid, cook, and valet. While the Tsar and his wife died quickly, the rest of the prisoners died a rather slow, painful death as they had to be finished off with bayonets and shots to the head.
The three pets had followed the Romanovs into their execution chamber that night and only one survived. Alexei’s dog, Joy, managed to escape. She was eventually found by friends of the family and ended up in the UK where she spent the rest of her days. Jimmy died that night with Anastasia and his dead body was found on the pavement outside.
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna Romanova of Russia,Princess Irina Alexandrovna Romanova of Russia,Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov of Russia,Prince Andrei Alexandrovich Romanov of Russia.
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, Tsar Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.
