John Van der Kiste - Once a Grand Duchess: Xenia, Sister of Nicolas II

O NCE A
G RAND
D UCHESS

ALSO BY JOHN VAN DER KISTE

Published by Sutton Publishing unless stated otherwise

Frederick III: German Emperor 1888 (1981)

Queen Victorias Family: A Select Bibliography (Clover, 1982)

Dearest Affie: Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victorias Second Son, 18441900 [with Bee Jordaan] (1984)

Queen Victorias Children (1986; large print edition, ISIS, 1987)

Windsor and Habsburg: The British and Austrian Reigning Houses 18481922 (1987)

Edward VIIs Children (1989)

Princess Victoria Melita, Grand Duchess Cyril of Russia, 18761936 (1991)

George Vs Children (1991)

George IIIs Children (1992)

Crowns in a Changing World (1993)

King of the Hellenes: The Greek Kings 18631974 (1994)

Childhood at Court 18191914 (1995)

Northern Crowns: The Kings of Modern Scandinavia (1996)

King George II and Queen Caroline (1997)

The Romanovs 18181959: Alexander II of Russia and his Family (1998)

Kaiser Wilhelm II: Germanys Last Emperor (1999)

The Georgian Princesses (2000)

Gilbert & Sullivans Christmas (2000)

Dearest Vicky, Darling Fritz: Queen Victorias Eldest Daughter and the German Emperor (2001)

Royal Visits in Devon and Cornwall (Halsgrove, 2002)

William and Mary (2003)

Also by Coryne Hall

Little Mother of Russia: A Biography of the Empress Marie

Feodorovna (18471928). Shepheard-Walwyn, 1999

O NCE A
G RAND
DUCHESS

Xenia,

Sister of Nicholas II

J OHN V AN DER K ISTE &
C ORYNE H ALL

Coryne would like to dedicate this book to
the memory of her parents, Peggy & Ernie
Bawcombe, and John to the memory of his father,
Wing-Commander Guy Van der Kiste.

First published in 2002

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2013

All rights reserved

Copyright John Van der Kiste and Coryne Hall, 2002, 2004, 2013 Genealogical Tables Copyright Coryne Hall 2013

The right of John Van der Kiste and Coryne Hall to be identified as the Authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7524 9929 1

Original typesetting by The History Press

Contents

Acknowledgements

W e would like to acknowledge the gracious permission of Her Majesty The Queen to publish certain letters from the Royal Archives, Windsor, of which she owns the copyright; Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, for access to letters in the private royal archives, Copenhagen. Crown copyright material from the Public Record Office is reproduced by permission of Her Majestys Stationery Office.

We are indebted to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who graciously granted a private audience to give her recollections of Grand Duchess Xenia; and, for their invaluable reminiscences and general advice, to Prince Alexander Nikititch; Prince Andrew Andreievich; and Prince Michael Feodorovich, surviving grandsons of HIH Grand Duchess Xenia.

Prince Andrew Andreievich was kind enough to facilitate our access to Grand Duchess Xenias papers in the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution & Peace, California. The Hoover Institution contains a vast archive on Russian affairs including thirteen boxes of material on Xenia. This was set up by gifts from the family in 1978 and consists of letters to Xenia and, most importantly, her diaries covering the period 191619. These relate to the Russian revolution, the abdication of Nicholas II, and the murders of both Rasputin and the Russian imperial family. Unfortunately, Xenias handwriting, never easy to read, became increasingly worse under the stress of these events. This caused considerable difficulties for our researcher Dina Leytes and translator Natalia Stewart. Despite this, both did a first-class job deciphering the Grand Duchesss writing, which at times became impossible to read. Nevertheless, these diary entries remain a prime source for events up to Xenias departure from Russia.

Only the discovery of a considerable quantity of further archive material has made it possible to complete the story. In the late summer of 2000, just as we embarked on research for this book, a remarkable collection of Grand Duchess Xenias papers suddenly came to light. It comprised some four hundred documents and letters in English, Russian and French, plus some family photographs, dating from the time of her betrothal in 1894 until shortly before her death. Many of the documents are family letters from which, although information has been extracted and used, we have not quoted directly. Other letters come from nearly every royal family in Europe, to all of which she was closely related. The Grand Duchess preserved everything poems, travel documents, Christmas cards, the invitation to the 1947 wedding of Princess Elizabeth, scores of telegrams of condolence sent on the death of her husband, even a 100 rouble banknote.

Although the letters are to Xenia, not from her, they have helped to fill out the wider picture to a remarkable degree. Without this wonderful archive, the Grand Duchesss life after the revolution would have been difficult to write, if not impossible. In making this previously unseen archive material available, and his unfailing generosity over a considerable period of time, Ian Shapiro of Argyll Etkin Ltd, London, who acquired these papers, has been a tower of strength. Without him the book would probably never have been written. Our thanks go to everyone at Argyll Etkin for stoically coping with the disruption in their offices caused by the sorting and photocopying of the documents for our research.

A DDITIONAL THANKS

Sue and Mike Woolmans, Karen Roth, Dina Leytes and Natalia Stewart have also been extremely helpful over a long spell with regard to general research, translation and deciphering of archive material, general advice and assistance beyond the call of duty. On a family level, Colin Hall and Kate Van der Kiste have been ever ready with support and general encouragement in the project.

We would also like to express our thanks to the following:

In Australia: Andrew and Elizabeth Briger.

In Britain: Ruth Abrahams; Arthur Addington; Theo Aronson; HRH Princess Margarita of Baden; Simon Bates; Mme Eunice Biedryski Bartell, President, Russian Ballet Society; Harold Brown; David Burdon-Davis; Lady Myra Butter; Pamela Clark and the staff of the Royal Archives, Windsor; David Cripps; Richard Davies, Brotherton Library, Leeds University; Frances Dimond, Curator, The Royal Photograph Collection; Robert Golden; Lady Natasha Gourlay; Margaret Guyver; Jim Hanson, Argyll Etkin; Dale Headington; Joan Heath; Dr Edward Impey, Curator, Hampton Court Palace; Barbara Irvine, Russian Refugees Aid Society; Irina James and Sylvia Leone, Surrey University; Elizabeth, Baroness Maclean; Fr Dennis Mulliner, Chaplain, Chapel Royal, Hampton Court; Sarah Parker, HM Tower of London; Suzy Payne, Penhaligons; Theresa Prout; Revd John Salter; John Thorneycroft, English Heritage; Dawn Tudor; Moya Vahey; Hugo Vickers; Katrina Warne; Mollie Whittaker-Axon; Marion Wynn; Charlotte Zeepvat; the staff of Kensington and Chelsea Public Libraries, Kingston Library; Portsmouth Library; and the Public Record Office, London.