Warwick - The Life and Death of Ella Grand Duchess of Russia

The Life and Death of

ELLA

Grand Duchess of Russia

A Romanov Tragedy

Christopher Warwick

First published as Ella: Princess, Saint & Martyr

First published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 2006
This edition published by Albert Bridge Books 2014
Copyright Christopher Warwick 2014
ISBN - 978-1-909771-09-3

FOR MUM

IN MEMORY

PERMISSIONS

The author and publishers are grateful to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for permission to quote from correspondence as well as the journals of Queen Victoria, in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle; to HRH Prince Moritz, Landgraf of Hesse, for permission to quote from correspondence and other documents, and to reproduce photographs from the Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt; to the Trustees of the Broadlands Archives to quote from The Recollections of Victoria, Lady Milford Haven and to reproduce photographs from the archive collection; to Countess Sonja Bernadotte of Wisborg for permission to quote from Dear darling Willy .. . edited by Marion Mienert, published at Mainau; to Dr Sergei Mironenko and the Moscow State Archives, Gosudarstvennyi Arckhiv Rossiiskoi Federatsii (GARF), to quote from letters written by Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna to Tsar Nicholas II, published in Materialy k Zhitiyu prepodobnomuchenitsi velikoi knyagini Elizavety [Materials for the life of Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elisabeth] 1996; Slava bogu za vse .. . [Martyrs of Russia: Thank God for Everything...]; and Pis'ma velikoy knyagini Elizavety Fedorovny k imperatoru Nikolayu II (18961916) [The letters from Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna to Emperor Nicholas II (18961916)//Istochnik, 1994. #4. C. 1638.]; to Weidenfeld & Nicolson, a division of the Orion Publishing Group, to quote from A Lifelong Passion by Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko; to Viking Penguin, a division of the Penguin Group (USA) Inc to quote from Education of A Princess by Marie, Grand Duchess of Russia, copyright 1930, renewed 1958; to David Higham Associates Limited to quote from Advice to a Granddaughter by Richard Hough, published by William Heinemann; and David Duff for permission to quote from Hessian Tapestry, originally published by Frederick Muller in 1967 and subsequently by David & Charles Ltd.

CONTENTS

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I n writing this biography of Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna, it was always my intention that it should be a personal study, very much her story. That is to say, I wanted it to focus on Ella and her life, rather than involve too detailed a discussion of, for example, the wars and politics of her time. Nor, I should add, did I intend Ella's youngest sister Alix, otherwise the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, her husband the Emperor Nicholas II and their family, to play more of a part than was strictly necessary. A great deal has already been and continues to be published about them and I have worked on the assumption that most readers of this book will already know something about the lives and fate of Nicholas and Alexandra. If not, perhaps this study might whet their appetite. On the way, without wishing to sound patronizing or high handed, I have tried, in the interests of accuracy, to correct some of the popular myths, misconceptions and errors about Ella and also about her husband, Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich, that have appeared in previous books about the Romanovs and, as a consequence, on any number of websites. As so often happens, an unchallenged story repeated often enough unfortunately, if inevitably, becomes accepted as fact.

RUSSIAN DATING SYSTEM, NAMES AND TITLES

Before moving on, I should offer an explanation about dates where the Russian calendar is concerned. Until February 1918, when it changed to the Gregorian Calendar, in use elsewhere in Europe, Russia still used the Julian Calendar, which meant that in the 17th-century Russia's dating system was ten days behind Europe, in the nineteenth century twelve days behind and in the 20th-century, at least until the start of 1918, thirteen days behind. Where known, I have chosen to indicate both old-style (OS) and new-style (NS) dates. Lest I should be accused of inconsistency, I have deliberately used anglicised spellings for names, such as Alexander instead of Aleksandr, but have otherwise chosen to use Russian spellings elsewhere a matter of personal preference. Where it appears, I have also used the 's' spelling of Ella's given name, that is to say, Elisabeth, as opposed to Elizabeth. The titles emperor and tsar, like empress and tsarina, are both correct and are interchangeable. I have used both styles. Similarly, while the literal interpretation of Grand Duke and Grand Duchess is Grand Prince and Grand Princess, I have chosen to use the former more familiar and easily recognized form.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In offering my thanks to all who have helped to make this biography what it is, I must first acknowledge Her Majesty The Queen, by whose gracious permission I was again able to undertake research in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle. His Royal Highness Prince Moritz, Landgraf of Hesse, not only granted me full access to family papers in the Hesse State Archives Hessisches Staatsarchiv in Darmstadt, but very kindly gave me permission to visit both the old and new family mausolea at the Rosenhhe.

I owe very special thanks to Professor Dr Eckhart G. Franz, of the Hessisches Staatsarchiv, for all his help and not least for testing his patience with a number of last-minute enquiries. Margaret and Pamela Davis of the Urosevic Foundation, to whom I offer warmest thanks, allowed me access to the private research papers of the late Joyce Porter, linguist, writer and novelist, who had been researching an in-depth study of the later Romanovs up to the time of her death in 1990. I owe her a posthumous debt of gratitude.

A 'thank you' hardly seems sufficient where a number of friends and fellow writers are concerned, but it is at least the most enormous thank you that I offer to Charlotte Zeepvat, Zoia Belyakova, Alison Weir, Hugo Vickers, Sue Woolmans, Katrina Warne, Will Lee, Ilana Miller, Greg King and Penny Wilson for all their help and support.

Elena Tsvetkova of Blitz undertook invaluable research on my behalf in St Petersburg and Moscow; Helen Azar and Alsou Remi translated into English from Russian everything from Ella's will to KR's poetry; while as interpreter Maria Shikhireva was my right hand during my visit to the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary in Moscow. Vassily Grodetsky, Zoia Belyakova's grandson, was a no less patient and informative guide and interpreter during my visit to the Feodorovsky Sobor in what used to be Tsarskoe Selo, now Pushkin. It was also thanks to Vassily that I took the right midnight train from St Petersburg to Moscow.

I should like to extend very warmest thanks to my sister Nan Collings for some illuminating conversations, to Sally Smith, Grace O'Byrne and their colleagues Felicity, Julia, Iain, Kate and Jamie at John Wiley & Sons, to Roger Hunt and Brian Winch at MCS, and to Charlotte Howard for her help and patience. For reasons ranging from sound advice to permission to quote from little known or unpublished sources, I offer my most appreciative thanks to: Bob Atchison; Countess Sonja Bernadotte of Wisborg; Andrei Blokhin; Harold Brown; Claudia Brueckner; Ronald Bulatoff, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University, California; Prince David Chavchavadze; Pamela Clark, the Royal Archives, Windsor; Irina Davidova, Galitzine Library, St Petersburg; Frances Dimond; Baroness Honora von Furstenburg; Princess George Galitzine; Robert Golden; Coryne Hall; Mrs Paul Ilyinsky; Fraser Jansen; Frank Koch; Elena Konyukhova; Dr Oliver Kramer; Igor Kharlamov; Carol Leadenham, Hoover Institution Archives; Joe Little; Irina Menshenina; Sergei Mironenko, Moscow State Archives (GARF); Ann Morrow; Valerie Mousharapova; Kristin Nute, Blitz Research Agency; Nick Nicholson; Robin Piguet; Ian Shapiro; Argyll Etkin; Michael Sholtz, Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt; Roger Short, Galina Smirnova, Beloselsky-Belosersky (Sergeivsky) Palace, St Petersburg; Gail and Paul Smith; Elena Smolina; Gail Stewardson; Laura and Roy Stewart; Father Alban West, St George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Portland, Oregon; Bettina John Willeke, Director of the Schloss Museum, Darmstadt; Dr Christopher Woolgar, Head of Special Collections, University of Southampton; and Matushka Yelisaveta, former Mother Superior, and Dr Remma Alexeyevna at the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary in Moscow.