Crystal soul and the story of her love. Princess Olga Nikolaevna

the beauty 20.06.2019

the beauty

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova was born in November 1895, was the first child in. Parents could not get enough of her appearance. Olga distinguished herself by her abilities in the study of sciences, loved solitude and books.

The Grand Duchess was very smart, she had Creative skills. She behaved with everyone simply and naturally. The princess was surprisingly responsive, sincere and generous. The first daughter inherited facial features, posture, and golden hair from her mother.

From Nikolai Alexandrovich, the daughter inherited inner world. She, like her father, possessed an amazingly pure Christian soul. The princess was distinguished by an innate sense of justice, did not like lies. This immediately attracted people to her.

Growing up, she spent more and more time with her father. Nicholas II took his daughter with him to Divine services and to a review of regimental exercises. Olga Nikolaevna was the chief of the Third Elizabethan Hussar Regiment. During the years of the war with Japan, the Emperor liked to walk with his daughter and saw in her the only consolation from the troubles of the events of that war.

The girl was a deeply religious person. Since childhood, she was characterized by honesty and directness. The princess was always sincere, and sometimes even overly frank, she was charming and cheerful. AT free time Olga loved to ride horses, communicate with her brother - play the piano.

When they began to give her the first money for personal needs, she first decided to pay for the treatment of a disabled child, whom she often saw during walks. The boy limped heavily and walked with crutches. For a long time she set aside part of her personal money for the treatment of the boy.

It soon burst. The princess, like her mother and sisters, was a sister of mercy. At first she was a surgical nurse, the work is not easy. Olga could not endure the horrors of surgical operations for a long time. She continued to be a sister of mercy, but not in the surgical department. Meeting new wounded at the station, brought straight from the front, she often had to wash her sick feet and take care of them. However, the princesses rarely gave themselves away, communicating on an equal footing with ordinary Russian soldiers.

During the war, Olga and her sisters were members of the Committee for Assistance to Soldiers' Families, where they did a great job. She did a lot for the good of society, but she was very shy about her publicity. Grand Duchess Olga Romanova selflessly loved her homeland and family, was very worried about the sick Tsarevich Alexei, rejoiced at her sisters, empathized with her mother, and worried about her father.

Of all the daughters of the Emperor, only she was lucky enough to dance at adult, not “pink” balls * (* “Pink” or “children's” balls were called, where girls of 13-15 years old were present. - S. M.) .. Of all their friendly sisterly four with an intricately enchanting aroma of a monogram - seal - signature: "OTMA", only she managed to experience the gentle touch of the wings of First Love. But what did it bring her, that light, weightless touch? A sharp, incomparable feeling of happiness, a captivating fascination of a gesture, a look that reflected an obscure trembling of the heart, or - the bitterness of pain and disappointment, so familiar to all of us from the first moment of the creation of the world, to us, the daughters of Eve and the heirs of Lilith?

Nobody knows for sure. The name of her Beloved has not yet been precisely established by any of the historians. Only - guesses, fantasies, legends ..

“The holy secret of the soul of a young girl” (* Phrase of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna from a letter to her husband, Emperor Nicholas II. - S. M.) remained with her forever. Her diaries almost did not survive - she burned them, almost all of them, during one of the searches in the terrible Yekaterinburg prison. The last of them, the dying one, seems extremely stingy, encrypted, faceless. But there is so much pain and desire to live in it, such a thirst for finding the forever lost golden thread of a calm, harmonious family world in which she grew up and which she lost ... Then, in February 1917 .. And, perhaps, much earlier, in the fall of 1905 - th…

2.

Her letters to her father - the Emperor are stored in the archives behind seven seals and locks. Perhaps archivists and researchers think that publishing in large numbers the naive reasoning of a young girl of the “royal family - tribe”, who spent almost her entire life in muslin dresses and lace scarves (* often knitted with her own hand - S.M.) is not at all - not at all interesting. Of course they are right. The rapid 21st century, with its high technologies, virtual worlds and a strange, dissonant against the background of all this, too sharp a fall down of the Soul, not sinful, no, but simply - exhausted by contradictions and bodily passions - this century is so far from the slowness of the early twentieth, where her Life passed, where her personal Fate was written on the tablets of Memory, that you are no longer surprised at the apparent uselessness of this Fate, to us, lazy and incurious, mocking, firm, rational descendants! Everything leaves without a trace, like gold dust in the sand of Time, the Universe, Eternity. And eternity is so cold! But .. But my gaze again stops at fragments of letters and documents, and the soul is burned by lines of memories dividing its Path into “before” and “after” .. And I think. And I begin to weave an unpretentious lace from simple, old memories, letters, paintings, books, sketches, fragments of quotes ...

What was she like, the eldest Tsesarevna, the beloved daughter of Emperor Nicholas II, the sister of mercy of the Tsarskoye Selo infirmary, the Russian princess from a bright fairy tale with a sad tragic end?

What she was like, this airy fairy in a gauze dress, with a pink ribbon in her hair, the very little girl whom the midwife predicted a happy fate at birth, because the head of the newborn was densely covered with light blond ringlets - curls.

Best of the day

I am trying to guess and write, draw strokes and zigzags of her Destiny for you. And I have to start with the worst.

Tsesarevna and Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova died in an instant, along with her parents, having received a bullet right in the heart. Before her death, she managed to cross herself. She was not bayoneted alive like the rest of her sisters. If this can be considered happiness, then yes, eldest daughter the last Sovereign of Russia was very lucky!

But let us turn to the beginning of such an “unusually happy journey” of a porphyry-bearing child. To his birth and infancy. To the first chapters of life.

3.

She was born on November 315, 1895 in Tsarskoye Selo. She was a cheerful, lively girl, a favorite of her father, who at first compared her "achievements" with the "achievements" of her sister Xenia's daughter, Irina. And he wrote in his diary, not hiding his pride: "Our Olga weighs a little more." “At the christening, ours was calmer and didn’t scream like that when they were dipped ...”

Once, one of the adult guests asked jokingly, pulling her out from under the table, where she climbed, trying to pull off some object from the tablecloth:

I am the Grand Duchess ... - she answered with a sigh.

Well, what a princess you are, you didn’t reach the table!

I don't know myself. And you ask dad, he knows everything ... He will tell you who I am.

Olga answered seriously and hobbled on still unsteady legs, towards the laughter and smiles of the guests ... (E. Radzinsky. "Nicholas II: Life and Death." Ch.5. Royal Family.)

Quite tiny, all princess girls were taught by their mother to hold a needle or hoop for embroidery, knitting needles, and make tiny clothes for dolls. Alexandra Fedorovna believed that even little girls should be busy with something.

Olga loved to play with her sister Tatyana, who was born on May 28, 1897 (also in Tsarskoye Selo). Russian speech was mixed with English and French, sweets, biscuits and toys were equally shared... Toys passed from the older to the younger. In the evenings, the girls quieted down near their mother, who read fairy tales to them or quietly hummed English folk songs. The older girls were incredibly happy with their father, but they rarely even saw him in the evenings, they knew that he was busy ...

When he had a free minute, he took both fair-haired babies on his knees and told them fairy tales, but not English, but Russian, long, a little scary, filled with magic and miracles ...

Little mischievous girls were allowed to carefully stroke their lush, fluffy mustaches, in which a soft, slightly sly smile was hidden.

They grew up, the viscous boredom of grammar lessons, French, English began. Strict governesses followed their posture, manners, movements, and the ability to behave at the table.

However, everything was unobtrusive and simple, no frills in food and treats. Lots of reading. Yes, and there was not much time for pranks, soon Olga had younger sisters - Maria (born June 26, 1899, Peterhof) and Anastasia (born June 18, 1901, Peterhof). They all played together and learned by playing. The older ones looked after the younger ones.

All four slept in the same room on folding camp beds. Even the young princesses tried to dress the same way. But the content of the desks was different for everyone ... favorite books, watercolors, herbariums, albums with photographs, icons. Each of them diligently kept a diary. At first these were expensive albums with gold embossing and clasps, on a moire lining, then - after the February storm and arrest - simple notebooks with pencil notes. Much was destroyed during searches in Tobolsk and Yekaterinburg, much, as I have said more than once, is unknown, or disappeared without a trace ...

The girls went in for sports a lot: they played ball, rode a bicycle, ran and swam well, were fond of then newfangled tennis, horseback riding, doused themselves with cold water in the mornings, and took warm baths in the evenings. Their day was always scheduled by the minute by the strict Empress - mother, they never knew idle boredom.

Olga and Tatiana during summer holidays in Finnish skerries they liked to look for small pieces of amber or beautiful pebbles, and in the glades of Belovezhya and Spala (Poland) - mushrooms and berries .. They appreciated every minute of relaxation that they could spend with their parents or in solitude - reading and diaries.

So hand in hand with the inseparable beauty sister Tatyana and her younger sisters, whom she treated with maternal tenderness and strictness, Olga Nikolaevna, the eldest child in a friendly and loving family, imperceptibly for herself, captivatingly turned from a plump, lively girl with a somewhat broad face, into a charming teenage girl.

4.

Yulia Alexandrovna Den, a friend of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, recalled later, already in exile: “The eldest of the four beautiful sisters was Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. She was a sweet creature. Anyone who saw her immediately fell in love. but at the age of fifteen she somehow immediately became prettier. beautiful hands and legs. Olga Nikolaevna took life seriously, she was endowed with intelligence and a complaisant character. In my opinion, it was a strong-willed nature, but she had a sensitive, crystal soul. "A devoted friend of the Tsar's family, Anna Taneeva - Vyrubova, recalling the eldest daughter of the Tsar, as if supplemented Yulia Alexandrovna Den:

“Olga Nikolaevna was remarkably smart and capable, and teaching was a joke to her, which is why she was sometimes lazy. characteristic features she had a strong will and an incorruptible honesty and directness in which she was like her mother. She had these wonderful qualities from childhood, but as a child Olga Nikolaevna was often stubborn, disobedient and very quick-tempered; later she knew how to restrain herself. She had wonderful blond hair, large blue eyes and a marvelous complexion, a slightly upturned nose, resembling sovereigns.

5.

Baroness Sophia Buxgevden also left her own, equally harmonious, “in love” description of the Tsesarevna: “Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna was beautiful, tall, with laughing blue eyes... she rode beautifully, played tennis and danced. Of all the sisters, she was the smartest, the most musical; according to her teachers, she had absolute pitch. She could play any melody she heard, transcribe complex musical pieces ... Olga Nikolaevna was very direct, sometimes too frank, always sincere. She was very charming and most cheerful. When she was in school, the poor teachers had to experience many of her various tricks that she invented to play a trick on them. Yes, and having matured, she did not leave a chance to have fun. She was generous and immediately responded to any request, acting under the influence of a heartfelt, hot impulse and a great sense of compassion, strongly developed in her .... "

From the memoirs of Baroness M. K. Dieterikhs:

"Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna was a typical good Russian girl with a big soul. She made an irresistible impression on those around her with her tenderness, her charming, sweet treatment of everyone. She always kept herself even, calm and amazingly simple and natural. She did not like housekeeping, but she preferred solitude and books. She was developed and very well-read, had a talent for the arts: she played the piano, sang, and studied singing in Petrograd, (she had a wonderful soprano voice) drew well. She was very modest and did not like luxury."

6.

Whom do all these beautiful portraits remind us of? Every now and then you catch yourself thinking that when you approach this charming image, you immediately remember the ideal of all girls - a kind and modest princess from a fairy tale (* exactly - a princess, not a queen! - S. M.).

Fragile, tender, refined, not loving housekeeping... And the “purely Russian type”, inherent, according to Taneeva, to Olga Nikolaevna, does not interfere, but harmoniously complements this image. And the very place for a real Princess is at the ball ... And Olga went there.

On the day of the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty, her first adult appearance took place.

“That evening her face burned with such joyful embarrassment, such youth and thirst for life, that it was impossible to take your eyes off her. Brilliant officers were brought to her, she danced with everyone and femininely, blushing slightly, thanked at the end of the dance with a nod of her head, later S. Ya. Ofrosimova recalled.

And here is how Anna Taneeva described the time of the girlish triumph of the elder Tsesarevna:

“This autumn, Olga Nikolaevna turned sixteen years old, the age of majority for the Grand Duchesses. She received various diamond items and a necklace from her parents. All the Grand Duchesses received pearl and diamond necklaces at the age of sixteen, but the Empress did not want the Ministry of the Court to spend so much money immediately on their purchase for the Grand Duchesses, and she came up with the idea that twice a year, on birthdays and name days, they received one diamond and one pearl. Thus, Grand Duchess Olga had two necklaces of thirty-two stones, collected for her from early childhood.

In the evening there was a ball, one of the most beautiful balls at the Court. We danced downstairs in the big dining room. The southern fragrant night looked through the huge glass doors, wide open. All the Grand Dukes with their families, officers of the local garrison and acquaintances who lived in Yalta were invited. Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, for the first time in a long dress made of soft pink fabric, with blond hair, beautifully combed, cheerful and fresh, like a lily flower, was the center of everyone's attention. She was appointed chief of the 3rd Elisavetgrad Hussar Regiment, which made her especially happy. After the ball there was dinner at small round tables.”

A picture has been preserved that depicts this same ball. In the center of it is the Grand Duchess Tsesarevna Olga Nikolaevna in a pair of a slender and tall young man in the form of a life guard, hussar. They are selflessly circling in a whirlwind of the waltz, and the secular audience looks at them with hundreds of pairs of eyes, parted, freeing up space for such an easy enthusiastic soaring of youth.

She froze admiringly, forgetting about the music, right in the middle of the dance steps, even the parental Imperial couple themselves, apparently just opening the ball. The Sovereign and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna are anxiously watching their daughter, whose silhouette seems even more airy, weightless, against the background of the scarlet velvet of endless boxes and the dancing hall shining with the lights of hundreds of candles ..

The artist of this painting is unknown. general public, she miraculously survived in one of the private collections, but on it the artist, with some kind of sixth sense, managed to convey with a palette and brush strokes all the charm of the moments of a quickly passing youth and, in general, the transience of life.

The canvas seems like a mirage, all the figures on it can disappear in an instant, get lost in a dense cloud of fog, or be dissolved in a huge crowd, which now so respectfully parted in front of the dancers. With bated breath, you think that the artist was right. Life adult daughter The Emperor of Russia began as a magical mirage, which, however, soon melted away without a trace.

7.

This mirage was brilliant, magical, and everything in it was connected with the ceremonial, magnificent life of the brilliant Russian Court - appearances with the Sovereign at celebrations, at court balls, in theaters; with the Empress - at charity bazaars, on numerous trips around Russia.

Many memoirists for a long time still remembered the slender, graceful figure of the eldest Grand Duchess, who joyfully adorned the brilliant royal exits.

But all this external, brilliant, ceremonial, ostentatious, for a casual, superficial observer, for the crowd, all that constituted some kind of finished image of the Grand Duchess and made her so similar to her sisters; all this did not harmonize at all with the genuine modest and simple everyday life Olga Nikolaevna, nor with the true structure of the inner world of a girl who managed to develop, and often even show her deep individuality. A girl who always had her own thoughts and thoughts, and her difficult paths were outlined not for a superficial, but for a deep perception of life.

8.

AT last years before the war, when the Grand Duchess was eighteen years old, one could speak of her as an established young character, full of irresistible charm and beauty; many who knew her in those years quite fully and strikingly consonantly outline the structure of her complex and clear at the same time inner world. P. Gilliard recalled with trepidation about his students during these years:

“The Grand Duchesses were charming with their freshness and health. It was difficult to find four sisters so different in character and at the same time so closely united by friendship. The latter did not interfere with their personal independence and, despite the difference in temperaments, united them with a lively bond.

But especially of all four, the devoted Monsieur Pierre Gilliard singled out all the same - it was the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna who later gave his best student the following description: “The eldest, Olga Nikolaevna, had a very lively mind. She had a lot of prudence and at the same time spontaneity. She was of a very independent character and possessed a quick and amusing resourcefulness in her answers... I recall, incidentally, how, in one of our first grammar lessons, when I was explaining to her conjugations and the use of auxiliary verbs, she suddenly interrupted me with an exclamation: "Ah, I understood, auxiliary verbs are servants of verbs; only one unfortunate verb "to have" must serve itself!"... At first it was not so easy for me with her, but after the first skirmishes, the most sincere and cordial relations were established between us."

9.

Yes, all contemporaries who knew her, as one said that Olga had a great mind. But it seems that this mind was more philosophical than practical, worldly ...

Those close to the Romanov Family recalled about her sister Tsesarevna Tatyana Nikolaevna that she quickly navigated various situations and made decisions. And in these cases, Olga Nikolaevna could willingly and freely yield to her beloved sister the "palm". And she herself was not averse to abstract, calm speculation, and all her judgments were distinguished by great depth. She was passionately fond of history, her favorite heroine was always Catherine the Great. In response to the remarks of the Empress - the mother, whom she respectfully idolized, that in the elegant memoirs of the Great Great-great-great-grandmother, basically, only beautiful words and little deeds, Olga Nikolaevna immediately and vividly objected:

“Mom, but beautiful words support people like crutches. And it depends on people whether these words will grow into wonderful deeds. In the age of Catherine the Great, there were many beautiful words, but there is a lot to do ... The development of the Crimea, the war with Turkey, the construction of new cities, the successes of the Enlightenment. The Empress involuntarily had to agree with her daughter's clear and wise logic.

10.

But more than other children, Grand Duchess Olga still looked like her Father, Tsar Nikolai Alexandrovich, whom she, according to the teacher Sydney Gibbs, "loved more than anything in the world." She adored him, her relatives called her that - "daddy's daughter." Dieterikhs wrote: "Everyone around her was given the impression that she had inherited more of her father's traits, especially in the gentleness of her character and the simplicity of her attitude towards people."

But, having inherited a strong father's will, Olga did not have time to learn, like him, to restrain herself. "Her manners were" tough "", - we read in N.A. Sokolov. The elder princess was quick-tempered, although quick-tempered. The father, with amazing kindness and not cunning, knew how to hide his feelings, his daughter - a true woman - did not know how to do this at all. She lacked composure, and some unevenness of character distinguished her from her sisters. We can say that she was a little more capricious than the sisters. And the relationship with the mother of Grand Duchess Olga was a little more complicated than with her father. All the efforts of mother and father were aimed at keeping the clear light " crystal soul"of their eldest child, perhaps the most difficult in character, and they quite succeeded.

Life physician Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin wrote about Olga Nikolaevna:

“I will never forget the subtle, completely inconspicuous, but such a sensitive attitude towards my grief ... * (* During the First World War, E. S. Botkin lost his eldest son, dearly beloved by him. The doctor was very keenly worried about his terrible loss. - S. M.) In the middle of my dark thoughts, Olga Nikolaevna ran into the room - and, really, it was like an angel flew in. sunlight her souls warmed all who were near.

11.

The external beauty, which, according to others, so clearly manifested itself in the princess at the age of fifteen - at a difficult time when a girl turned into a girl, was largely the result of the constant upbringing and growth of the soul of this girl, and only displayed her inner beauty. But with other parents, everything could have been different if the urge for independence, which Gilliard recalls, had been rudely suppressed or, on the contrary, would have been left without any attention, turning a strong, strong-willed, sensitive girl into a capricious and power-hungry creature.

Here are excerpts from letters - examples of how the mother - the Empress answered some capriciousness and waywardness of her beloved eldest daughter:

"You are so nice to me, be the same to your sisters. Show your loving heart." “First of all, remember that you should always be a good example to the younger ones ... They are small, they don’t understand everything so well and will always imitate the big ones. Therefore, you must consider everything you say and do.” "Be a good girl, my Olga, and help the four youngest ones to be good too."

“My sweet, dear girl, I hope everything went well. I have thought so much about you, my poor thing, knowing well from experience how unpleasant such misunderstandings can be. You feel so unhappy when someone is angry with you. We must all endure trials: both adults and small children, God teaches us a lesson in patience. I know that this is especially difficult for you, because you feel everything very deeply and you have a hot temper. But you must learn to curb your tongue. Pray quickly for God to help you. I had so many stories with my governess, and I always thought it was best to apologize, even if I was right, just because I was younger and could suppress my anger faster.

M. * (* An unidentified person, probably the nanny of the Tsarevich and the younger princesses - Maria Vishnyakova. - S. M.) is so good and devoted, but now she is very nervous: she has not been on vacation for four years, her leg hurts, she caught a cold, and is very worried when Baby is unwell. * (* Heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich. - S. M.) And it’s hard for her to be with children (not always obedient) all day. Try to always sympathize with her and do not think about yourself. Then, with God's help, it will be easier for you to endure. God bless you. I kiss you very gently. Your mother." "Yes, try to be more obedient and don't be too impatient, don't get angry about it. It really upsets me, because you are now very big. You see how Anastasia begins to repeat after you."

"My child. Do not think that I angrily said goodbye to you at night. This was not. Mom has the right to tell the children what she thinks, and you left with such a sullen face. You shouldn't do that, baby, because it's upsetting me, and I must be harsh when necessary. I spoil my girls too often. Sleep well. May God bless and keep you. Kisses you hard. Yours old mama". (*Excerpts from the letters of the Empress Empress' daughter are quoted from the book by M. Krivtsova, stored in the web archive of the author of the article. - S. M.)

12.

In this soft full of love exhortation, one can feel both maternal firmness and the daughter's blessing for a resolute struggle with her shortcomings. The Empress understood, more than others, that Olga Nikolaevna seemed to have a great depth and subtlety of feelings, sometimes hidden behind a certain nervousness.

She generally seems more mysterious than her sisters. We often read how spontaneous and cheerful Olga Nikolaevna was, how gratifying it was for those around her, what indescribable charm and simplicity always emanated from her.

But here is what, for example, the same Baroness M. K. Diterichs writes: “At the same time, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna left in people who studied her nature the impression of a person who seemed to have experienced some great grief in life ... Sometimes she laughs, but it is felt that her laughter is only external, and there, deep down, she is not at all funny, but sad. Olga Nikolaevna was very devoted to her father. She loved him boundlessly. The horror of the 1905 revolution affected her much more than others She has completely changed, her cheerfulness has disappeared.”

It must be said that sensitive ladies-in-waiting and experienced court ladies were not mistaken. The princess grew up quickly.

13.

The spiritual subtlety of Caesar's daughter did not allow her, over time and age, to perceive only the bright side of the world, and its upheavals - the 1905 rebellion, the events in Moscow, extremely exacerbated the impressionability of nature. The impetuous spiritual experience of the lovely Russian princess was also facilitated by the fact that, as a teenager, she experienced an acute feeling of falling in love, and could even endure some great personal drama hidden from everyone. The correspondence of the Empress with her husband - the Sovereign and Olga herself indicate something similar. In these letters we will find specific example what was already discussed above - how sensitively and carefully the August parents treated the feelings of their children: “Yes, N.P. is very nice,” the Empress writes to her eldest daughter. “I don’t know if he is a believer. But there is no need to talk about him to think. Otherwise, various stupid things come to mind and make someone blush. "I know who you were thinking about in the car - don't be so sad. Soon, with God's help, you will see him again. Don't think too much about N.P. It upsets you." And further, in another letter: “I noticed a long time ago that you were somehow sad, but you didn’t ask questions, because people don’t like being questioned ... Of course, to return home to the lessons (and this is inevitable) after long holidays and a merry life with relatives and pleasant young people is not easy ... I know well about your feelings for ... poor thing. Try not to think too much about him…. You see, others might notice the way you look at him, and conversations will start... Now that you're a big girl, you should always be discreet and not show your feelings. You cannot show your feelings to others when these others may consider them indecent. I know that he treats you like a little sister and he knows that you, the little Grand Duchess, should not treat him differently.

Darling, I cannot write everything, it will take too long, and I am not alone: be courageous, cheer up and do not allow yourself to think so much about him. This will not lead to good, but will only bring you more sadness. If I were healthy, I would try to amuse you, make you laugh - everything would be easier then, but this is not so, and nothing can be done. God help you. Don't be discouraged and don't think you're doing something terrible. God bless you. I kiss you hard. Your old mother."

"Dear child! Thank you for the note. Yes, dear, when you love someone, you experience his grief with him and rejoice when he is happy. You ask what to do. You need to pray from the bottom of your heart that God will give your friend strength and calmness in order to endure grief, not murmuring against God's will. And we must try to help each other carry the cross sent by God. We must try to lighten the burden, help, be cheerful. Well, sleep well and do not fill your head too much with extraneous thoughts. From this "It won't do. Sleep well and try to always be a good girl. God bless you. Gentle kisses from your old mother."

14.

The Grand Duchesses had no secrets from Alexandra Feodorovna. They knew that she would carefully and carefully guard any of their secrets. And so it happened. The name of the first love of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna has not been found out by any researcher, historian, and simply - by an inquisitive reader!

It remains to be added here that, in the opinion of the author of the article - an essay, this in no way could be the Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov, the "cousin - nephew" of Nicholas II, as some serious authors - historians write (E. Radzinsky, for example.). By the style of the letters, by the reservations of the Empress - mother, one can understand that we are talking not about a family member, otherwise Alexandra Feodorovna would not have been lost in conjectures about the religious feelings of her daughter's chosen one: Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov grew up in a close circle and she knew everything about him. Probably, it was one of the young officers - soldiers lying in the Palace infirmary, belonging to a good noble family, and, probably, who lost someone close in the war: father, brother, uncle - as the empress speaks of grief, which suddenly befell young man But. I repeat, all these are just weak guesses, versions, legends. The real name of the “hero of the novel” of the Russian Tsesarevna was not named: neither by History, nor by the royal couple, for the secret of the heart of the eldest daughter was inviolable for parents ..

But the "wedding question", one way or another, still stood before the royal family. And pretty sharp.

15.

In January 1916, when Olga was already in her twentieth year, talk began about marrying her to Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich. But the Empress was desperately against it. Grand Duke Boris was eighteen years older than the beautiful princess! The Empress wrote to her husband indignantly: “The thought of Boris is too unsympathetic, and I am sure that our daughter would never agree to marry him, and I would understand her perfectly .... The more I think about Boris,” the Empress writes to her husband after another a few days - the more I realize what a terrible company his wife will be drawn into ... "

The company, indeed, was nowhere worse: ballerinas, actresses, high-society ladies with a dozen lovers in epaulettes and without, players and spenders of all stripes!

Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich was very "famous" in the Romanov family for his countless love affairs and noisy revels. Naturally, the hands of the eldest Grand Duchess would never have been given to a groom with such a reputation, and the Royal Family firmly made this old womanizer understand. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the mother of an unfortunate applicant, “almost an empress” of the St. Petersburg beau monde, could not forgive her porphyry-bearing relatives for such an affront for the rest of her life! But the daughter's peace of mind for loving parents was more expensive than the sidelong glances of relatives hurt in ambitions and all sorts of secular gossip around ..

In Olga’s head and heart there were completely different thoughts - “these are the holy secrets of a young girl, others should not know them, it would be terribly painful for Olga. She is so receptive!” the Empress carefully wrote to her husband, tremblingly guarding the inner world of her clear and at the same time complex soul.

16.

But like any mother, the Empress, of course, was worried about the future of her children. “I always ask myself who our girls will marry, and I can’t imagine what their fate will be,” she wrote bitterly to Nikolai Alexandrovich, perhaps clearly anticipating a great misfortune. From the correspondence of the Sovereign and the Empress, it is clear that Olga longed for great female happiness, which bypassed her.

Parents sympathized with her, but more and more often they wondered: is there a couple worthy of their daughter? Alas... They couldn't name anyone. Even the old devoted valet of the Empress A. Volkov, who was very fond of the elder Tsesarevna, grumpily remarked: “What a time has come! “It’s time to marry off daughters, but there is no one to marry, and the people have become empty, tiddly!”

17.

“The years seem distant to me,” recalls A. A. Taneeva, “when the Grand Duchesses were growing up and we, relatives, were thinking about their possible weddings. They did not want to go abroad, but there were no suitors at home. From childhood, the idea of marriage worried the Grand Duchesses, since for them marriage was associated with going abroad. Especially the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna did not want to hear about leaving her homeland. This question was a sore point for her, and she was almost hostile to foreign suitors.

From the beginning of 1914, for the poor Grand Duchess Olga, a straightforward and Russian soul, this issue became extremely acute; the Romanian Crown Prince (now King Carol II) arrived with his beautiful mother, Queen Mary; the close associates began to tease the Grand Duchess with the possibility of marriage, but she did not want to hear.

After all, she knew that “princes are not free, like girls - they don’t take girlfriends according to their hearts, but according to the calculations of other people, for the benefit of a stranger ..” * (* Ostrovsky A.N. “Snow Maiden”).

18.

“At the end of May,” recalls P. Gilliard, “a rumor spread at the Court about the impending betrothal of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna to Prince Carol of Romania. She was then eighteen and a half years old.

Parents on both sides seemed to be sympathetic to this suggestion, which the political environment made desirable. I also knew that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sazonov, was making every effort to make it come true, and that the final decision should be made during the forthcoming trip of the Russian Imperial Family to Romania.

At the beginning of July, when we were once alone with the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, she suddenly said to me with her characteristic frankness, imbued with that frankness and gullibility that allowed our relationship, which began at a time when she was a little girl: “Tell me the truth, do you know why we are going to Romania?”

I answered her with some embarrassment: "I think that this is an act of courtesy that the Sovereign shows to the Romanian king in order to answer his previous visit."

“Yes, this may be an official occasion, but real reason?.. Ah, I understand you shouldn't know her, but I'm sure everyone around me is talking about it and that you know her.

When I bowed my head in agreement, she added:

"Well, so! If I don't want it, it won't happen. Dad promised me not to force me... but I don’t want to leave Russia.”

“But you will be able to come back here whenever you please.”

- “Despite everything, I will be a stranger in my country, and I am Russian and I want to remain Russian!”

On June 13, we sailed from Yalta on the imperial yacht Shtandart, and the next day in the morning we approached Constanta. Solemn meeting; an intimate breakfast, tea, then a parade, and in the evening a sumptuous dinner. Olga Nikolaevna, sitting next to Prince Carol, answered his questions with her usual friendliness. As for the rest of the Grand Duchesses, they could hardly hide the boredom they always experienced in such cases, and constantly leaned in my direction, pointing with laughing eyes at older sister. The evening ended early, and an hour later the yacht departed, heading for Odessa.

The next morning, I learned that the matchmaking proposal had been abandoned, or at least postponed indefinitely. Olga Nikolaevna insisted on her own.”

This is how P. Gilliard ends this interesting memoir and adds in exile: “Who could have foreseen then that this wedding could save her from the pending hard fate.”

But who knows what fate would have prepared for the Russian Princess Olga Romanova if she lived on Romanian soil? During the occupation of Romania by Hitler, the sovereign royal family was forced to hide from the Nazis, and King Karol abdicated! The steps of history for human destinies are always unpredictable, although they are repeated like frames of a film rolled backwards ...

TO BE CONTINUED...

_______________________________________________________________________

Makarenko Svetlana. Semipalatinsk. Kazakhstan.

*In the course of working on the article, the author extensively used the funds of the personal book collection and the web archive, as well as the text of the electronic version of the book by O. A. Platonov, kindly provided by A. N. Nozdrachev (Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Territory). "The crown of thorns of Russia". Nicholas II in secret correspondence. T. 1 - 2. "

George:
Demyan 15.12.2016 02:31:31

What kind of servility? You, Gosh, were personally in the Romanov family in order to take the liberty of talking about certain standards? In the age of high technology, it will be useful not to engage in obscurantism, but to study applied sciences. If you personally feel itching about the standards - study the ideal relationship in the silence of the archives. And do not meddle with your sycophancy in the world.

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova

Of all their friendly sisterly four with an intricately bewitching aroma of a monogram - seal - signature: "OTMA", only she managed to experience the gentle touch of the wings of First Love. But what did it bring her, that light, weightless touch? A sharp, incomparable feeling of happiness, a captivating charm of a gesture, a look that reflected an obscure trembling of the heart, or - the bitterness of pain and disappointment, so familiar to all of us from the first moment of the creation of the world, to us, the daughters of Eve and the heirs of Lilith?

Nobody knows for sure. The name of her Beloved has not yet been precisely established by any of the historians. Only - guesses, fantasies, legends ..

To draw strokes and zigzags of her Fate, one has to start from the worst.

Tsesarevna and Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova died in an instant, along with her parents, having received a bullet right in the heart. Before her death, she managed to cross herself. She was not bayoneted alive like the rest of her sisters. If this can be considered happiness, then yes, the eldest daughter of the last Sovereign of Russia was very lucky!

But let us turn to the beginning of such an “unusually happy journey” of a porphyry-bearing child. To his birth and infancy.

She was born on November 3 (15), 1895 in Tsarskoye Selo. She was a cheerful, lively girl, a favorite of her father, who at first compared her "achievements" with the "achievements" of her sister Xenia's daughter, Irina. And he wrote in his diary, not hiding his pride: "Our Olga weighs a little more." “At the christening, ours was calmer and didn’t scream like that when they were dipped ...”

Once, one of the adult guests asked jokingly, pulling her out from under the table, where she climbed, trying to pull off some object from the tablecloth: - Who are you? - I am the Grand Duchess ... - she answered with a sigh. - Well, what a princess you are, you didn’t reach the table! - I don't know myself. And you ask dad, he knows everything ... He will tell you who I am. Olga answered seriously and hobbled on still unsteady legs, towards the laughter and smiles of the guests.

Very tiny, all princess girls were taught by their mother to hold a needle or embroidery hoop, knitting needles, and make tiny clothes for dolls. Alexandra Fedorovna believed that even little girls should be busy with something.

Olga loved to play with her sister Tatyana, who was born on May 28, 1897. Russian speech was mixed with English and French, sweets, biscuits and toys were equally shared... Toys passed from the older to the younger. In the evenings, the girls quieted down near their mother, who read fairy tales to them or quietly hummed English folk songs. The older girls rejoiced at their father unspeakably, but even

We rarely saw him in the evenings, they knew that he was busy ...

Princesses Olga and Tatiana

When he had a free minute, he took both fair-haired babies on his knees and told them fairy tales, but not English, but Russian, long, a little scary, filled with magic and miracles ...

Little mischievous girls were allowed to carefully stroke their lush, fluffy mustaches, in which a soft, slightly sly smile was hidden.

Nicholas II, with daughters Olga and Tatiana

Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Princess Olga and Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich

They grew up, the viscous boredom of grammar lessons, French, English began. Strict governesses followed their posture, manners, movements, and the ability to behave at the table.

Princesses Olga and Tatiana

Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with her daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, 1901

Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia

Princess Olga

Princesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia

Olga and Tatyana, during their summer holidays in Finnish skerries, liked to look for small pieces of amber or beautiful pebbles, and mushrooms and berries in the glades of Belovezhya and Spaly (Poland) .. They appreciated every minute of relaxation that they could spend with their parents or in solitude - reading and diaries.

Olga in Finland

So, hand in hand with the inseparable beauty of her sister Tatyana and her younger sisters, to whom she treated with maternal tenderness and strictness, Olga Nikolaevna, the eldest child in a friendly and loving family, imperceptibly turned captivatingly from a plump, lively girl with a somewhat broad face, into a charming teenage girl.

Yulia Alexandrovna Den, a friend of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, recalled later, already in exile: “The eldest of the four beautiful sisters was Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. She was a sweet creature. Anyone who saw her immediately fell in love. but at the age of fifteen she somehow immediately became prettier. A little above average height, a fresh face, dark blue eyes, magnificent light blond hair, beautiful arms and legs. Olga Nikolaevna took life seriously, was endowed with intelligence and an accommodating character. To my look, it was a strong-willed nature, but she had a sensitive, crystal soul. Devoted friend of the Imperial family Anna

Taneeva - Vyrubova, remembering the eldest daughter of the Tsar, as if supplementing Yulia Alexandrovna Den:

“Olga Nikolaevna was remarkably smart and capable, and teaching was a joke to her, which is why she was sometimes lazy. She was characterized by a strong will and an incorruptible honesty and directness in which she resembled her mother. She had these wonderful qualities from childhood, but as a child Olga Nikolaevna was often stubborn, disobedient and very quick-tempered; later she knew how to restrain herself. She had wonderful blond hair, large blue eyes and a marvelous complexion, a slightly upturned nose, resembling sovereigns.

On the day of the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty, her first adult appearance took place.

And here is how Anna Taneeva described the time of the girlish triumph of the elder Tsesarevna:

Olga, 16 years old

Olga's birthday (16 years old), Livadia

She was appointed chief of the 3rd Elisavetgrad Hussar Regiment, which made her especially happy.

In the last years before the war, when the Grand Duchess was eighteen years old, one could speak of her as an established young character, full of irresistible charm and beauty; many who knew her in those years quite fully and strikingly consonantly outline the structure of her complex and clear at the same time inner world. P. Gilliard recalled with trepidation about his students during these years:

Yes, all contemporaries who knew her, as one said that Olga had a great mind. But it seems that this mind was more philosophical than practical, worldly ...

Grand Duchesses Olga (1895-1918) and Tatiana (1897-1918)

She was passionately fond of history, her favorite heroine was always Catherine the Great. In response to the remarks of the Empress - the mother, whom she respectfully idolized, that in the elegant memoirs of the Great Great-great-great-grandmother, basically, only beautiful words and little deeds, Olga Nikolaevna immediately and vividly objected:

“Mom, but beautiful words support people like crutches. And it depends on people whether these words will grow into wonderful deeds. In the age of Catherine the Great, there were many beautiful words, but there were also many deeds ... The development of the Crimea, the war with Turkey, the construction of new cities, the successes of the Enlightenment. The Empress involuntarily had to agree with her daughter's clear and wise logic.

Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, 1911

Nicholas II with Olga and Tatiana

But, having inherited a strong father's will, Olga did not have time to learn, like him, to restrain herself. "Her manners were" tough "", - we read in N.A. Sokolov. The elder princess was quick-tempered, although quick-tempered. The father, with amazing kindness and not cunning, knew how to hide his feelings, his daughter - a true woman - did not know how to do this at all. She lacked composure, and some unevenness of character distinguished her from her sisters. We can say that she was a little more capricious than the sisters. And the relationship with the mother of Grand Duchess Olga was a little more complicated than with her father. All the efforts of the mother and father were aimed at preserving the clear light of the "crystal soul" of their eldest child, perhaps the most difficult in character, and they completely succeeded.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with her daughter Olga

Here are excerpts from letters - examples of how the mother - the Empress answered some capriciousness and waywardness of her beloved eldest daughter:

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with daughters Olga, Tatiana Maria, Anastasia

Princesses Olga, Tatyana, Maria with Pavel Voronov

The correspondence of the Empress with her husband - the Sovereign and Olga herself indicate something similar. In these letters we will find a concrete example of how carefully the August parents treated the feelings of their children: “Yes, N.P. is very nice,” the Empress writes to her eldest daughter. “I don’t know if he is a believer. But there is no need to think about him. then various stupid things come to mind and make someone blush. "I know who you were thinking about in the car - don't be so sad. Soon, with God's help, you will see him again. Don't think too much about N.P. It upsets you."

And further, in another letter: “I noticed a long time ago that you were somehow sad, but you didn’t ask questions, because people don’t like being questioned ... Of course, to return home to the lessons (and this is inevitable) after long holidays and a merry life with relatives and pleasant young people is not easy ... I know well about your feelings for ... poor thing. Try not to think too much about him…. You see, others might notice the way you look at him, and conversations will start... Now that you're a big girl, you should always be discreet and not show your feelings. You cannot show your feelings to others when these others may consider them indecent. I know that he treats you like a little sister and he knows that you, the little Grand Duchess, should not treat him differently.

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna and Pavel Voronov.

Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana

Grand Duchess Olga

Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich and Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich

The Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the mother of the unfortunate applicant, the “almost empress” of the St. Petersburg beau monde, could not forgive her porphyry-bearing relatives for such an affront for the rest of her life! But the daughter's peace of mind for loving parents was more expensive than the sidelong glances of relatives hurt in ambitions and all sorts of secular gossip around ..

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with her daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia

From the correspondence of the Sovereign and the Empress, it is clear that Olga longed for great female happiness, which bypassed her.

Parents sympathized with her, but more and more often they wondered: is there a couple worthy of their daughter? Alas... They couldn't name anyone. Even the old devoted valet of the Empress A. Volkov, who was very fond of the elder Tsesarevna, grumpily remarked: “What a time has come! “It’s time to marry off your daughters, but there is no one to marry, and the people have become all empty, tiddly!”

I answered her with some embarrassment: "I think that this is an act of courtesy that the Sovereign shows to the Romanian king in order to answer his previous visit."

Romania 1914

The next morning, I learned that the matchmaking proposal had been abandoned, or at least postponed indefinitely. Olga Nikolaevna insisted on her own.”

This is how P. Gilliard ends this interesting memoir and adds in exile: “Who could have foreseen then that this wedding could save her from the pending hard fate.”

Grand Duchess Olga

Carol II of Romania

She had golden brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. She was modest, sincere and kind. She loved simplicity and was not interested in outfits. She was most like her father, whom she loved unconditionally. Olga was distinguished by the speed of her mind and possessed prudence; her father often consulted with her on important matters. Like her father, Olga devotedly loved Russia and the Russian people. When confronted with the possibility of marrying a foreign prince, she flatly refused, saying: “I never want to leave Russia. I am Russian, and I will always remain so.

The Grand Duchess was very smart, she had creative abilities. She behaved with everyone simply and naturally. The princess was surprisingly responsive, sincere and generous. The first daughter of Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova inherited facial features, posture, and golden hair from her mother.

From Nikolai Alexandrovich, the daughter inherited the inner world. She, like her father, possessed an amazingly pure Christian soul. The princess was distinguished by an innate sense of justice, did not like lies. This immediately attracted people to her.

The girl was a deeply religious person. Since childhood, she was characterized by honesty and directness. The princess was always sincere, and sometimes even overly frank, she was charming and cheerful. In her free time, Olga loved to ride horses, communicate with her brother - Tsarevich Alexei, play the piano.

Soon the First World War broke out. The princess, like her mother and sisters, was a sister of mercy. At first she was a surgical nurse, the work is not easy. Olga could not endure the horrors of surgical operations for a long time. She continued to be a sister of mercy, but not in the surgical department. Meeting new wounded at the station, brought straight from the front, she often had to wash her sick feet and take care of them. However, the princesses rarely gave themselves away, communicating on an equal footing with ordinary Russian soldiers.

She died, like her whole family, at the hands of the Bolsheviks, from a thoughtless terrible crime. This happened on July 17, 1918. Ranked with her family to the Face of Saints of Russia Orthodox Church in 2000

This prayer was written in verse by the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna shortly before the execution:

Send us, Lord, patience
In a time of stormy dark days
endure the persecution of the people
And the torture of our executioners.
Give us strength, oh right God,
To forgive the villainy of the neighbor
And the cross is heavy and bloody
To meet with Your meekness.
And in the days of rebellious excitement,
When enemies rob us,
Now shame and insult
Christ the Savior help
Lord of the World, God of the universe,
Bless us with prayer...
And give rest to the humble soul
In an unbearable terrible hour.
And at the threshold of the grave
Breathe into the mouth of your servants
Inhuman forces -
Pray for your enemies...

The last Russian Tsar Nicholas II was shot in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 16-17, 1918, along with his family: his wife Alexandra, heir Alexei and four daughters - Olga, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia. What were the royal children who were worthy of the crown of martyrs and martyrs? Their spiritual qualities were admired even during their lifetime ...

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, according to the maid of honor of her mother S. Ya. Ofrosimova, in the strict sense of the word could not be called beautiful, “but her whole being breathes such femininity, such youth that she seems more than beautiful. The more you look at her, the prettier and prettier her face becomes. It is illuminated by an inner light, it becomes beautiful from every bright smile, from her manner of laughing, throwing her head slightly back, so that the whole even, pearly row of snow-white teeth is visible.

Skillfully and deftly the work is argued in her unusually beautiful and gentle hands. All of her, fragile and tender, somehow especially carefully and lovingly bends over a simple soldier's shirt, which she sews. Her melodious voice, her graceful movements, her whole lovely thin figure - the personification of femininity and friendliness. She is bright and cheerful. I involuntarily recall the words spoken to me by one of her teachers: “Olga Nikolaevna has a crystal soul.”

The crystal soul also creates an outwardly beautiful image, the girl's face is illuminated by an inner light - a reflection of a bright soul.

Anna Vyrubova believed that Olga and Maria Nikolaevna were similar to her father's family and had a purely Russian type. “Olga Nikolaevna was remarkably smart and capable, and teaching was a joke to her, which is why she was sometimes lazy. She was characterized by a strong will and an incorruptible honesty and directness in which she resembled her mother. She had these wonderful qualities from childhood, but as a child Olga Nikolaevna was often stubborn, disobedient and very quick-tempered; afterwards she knew how to restrain herself. She had wonderful blond hair, large blue eyes and a marvelous complexion, a slightly upturned nose, resembling the Sovereign.

Sophie Buchshowden left the following description of Grand Duchess Olga, harmoniously complementing Vyrubova's memoirs: “Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna was beautiful, tall, with laughing blue eyes... she rode and danced beautifully. Of all the sisters, she was the smartest, the most musical; according to her teachers, she had perfect pitch. She could play by ear any melody she heard, transcribe complex pieces of music... Olga Nikolaevna was very direct, sometimes too frank, always sincere. She was very charming and most cheerful. When she was in school, the poor teachers had to experience many of her various tricks that she invented to play a trick on them. Yes, and having matured, she did not leave a chance to have fun. She was generous and responded immediately to any request.”

M. K. Diterichs: “Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna was a typical good Russian girl with a big soul. She made an impression on those around her with her tenderness, her "bewitching" sweet treatment of everyone. She behaved with everyone evenly, calmly and amazingly simply and naturally. She did not like housekeeping, but she loved solitude and books. She was developed and very well-read; she had an aptitude for the arts: she played the piano, sang, and in Petrograd she studied singing, and drew well. She was very modest and did not like luxury.”

Whom do all these beautiful portraits remind you of? You catch yourself thinking that you involuntarily recall the kind princess from a fairy tale. Fragile, tender, refined, not loving housekeeping... Not without reason, and where, according to our ideas, the place for a real princess is at the ball, only Olga Nikolaevna managed to visit the four sisters: “Only the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna was at the real ball , and then only once, on the day of the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty. That evening her face burned with such joyful embarrassment, such youth and thirst for life, that one could not take one's eyes off her. Brilliant officers were brought to her, she danced with everyone and womanly, blushing slightly, thanked at the end of the dance with a nod of her head. The rest of the Princesses never managed to attend a real ball ”(S. Ya. Ofrosimova).

Pierre Gilliard, describing his first acquaintance with a noble student, who would later become his favorite student, singled out from all, immediately noted both the childish briskness and the girlish purity of the little princess. “The eldest of the Grand Duchesses, Olga, a ten-year-old girl, very blond, with eyes full of a sly twinkle, with a slightly upturned nose, looked at me with an expression in which, it seemed, there was a desire from the first minute to find weakness- but this child exuded purity and truthfulness, which immediately attracted sympathy for him.

The teacher will still have the opportunity to remarkably study this rather complex character, he will note a lively mind, resourcefulness, a desire for independence, constant sincerity - not a drop of guile! - and captivating charm. “At first, it was not so easy for me with her,” Gilliard recalled, “but after the first skirmishes, the most sincere and cordial relations were established between us.”

All as one remember that Olga had a great mind. But it seems that this mind was philosophical, not practical. Olga was not averse to speculating abstractly, and her judgments were distinguished by great depth. She was fond of history, her favorite historical figure was Catherine the Great.

Grand Duchess Olga was more like Tsar Nicholas than anyone else, whom she, according to her teacher Sidney Gibbs, "loved more than anything else." She was called so - "daughter of the father." Dieterikhs wrote that everyone around her had the impression that she had inherited more of her father's traits, especially in her softness of character and simplicity of attitude towards people. But Olga did not have time to learn, like her father, to restrain the angry impulses inherent in the Romanovs. “Her manners were “hard,” we read in N. A. Sokolov. The elder princess was quick-tempered, although quick-tempered. She lacked composure, and some unevenness of character distinguished her from her sisters. And the relationship with the mother of Grand Duchess Olga was more complicated than with her father.

All the efforts of the mother and father were aimed at preserving the clear light of the “crystal soul” of their eldest child, perhaps the most difficult child in character. “You are so nice to me, be the same with your sisters. Show your loving heart, ”wrote Alexandra Fedorovna to her eldest daughter.

« We all must endure trials: both adults and small children - God teaches us a lesson in patience. I know that this is especially difficult for you, because you are going through everything very deeply, and you have a hot temper. But you must learn to bridle your tongue, and when you feel that you should refrain from doing so. Pray quickly for God to help you. I had so many stories with my governess, and I always thought it was best to apologize, even if I was right, just because I was younger and could suppress my anger faster. M. is so good and devoted, but now she is very nervous: she has not been on vacation for four years, her leg hurts, she has caught a cold and is very worried when Baby is unwell. And all day long being with children (not always obedient) is hard for her. Try to always sympathize with her and do not think about yourself. Then, with God's help, it will be easier for you to endure. God bless you. I kiss you very gently. Your mother".

“Yes, try to be more obedient and don't be too impatient, don't get angry about it. It really upsets me, because you are now very big. You see how Anastasia begins to repeat after you.

“My child. Don't think that I angrily said goodbye to you for the night. It wasn't. Mom has the right to tell the kids what she thinks, and you left with such a sullen face. You don't have to do that, baby, because it upsets me, and I have to be harsh when necessary. I spoil my girls way too often. Sleep well. May God bless and keep you. I kiss you hard. Your old mother."

The Empress understood that Olga Nikolaevna seemed to have great depth and subtlety of feelings, sometimes hidden behind some nervousness. Olga seems more mysterious than her sisters. We read how direct and cheerful the elder princess was, how gratifying it was for those around her. But here is what M. K. Diterikhs writes: “At the same time, the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna left in the people who studied Her nature the impression of a person who seemed to have experienced some great grief in life. “It used to be that She laughs, but it is felt that Her laughter is only external, and there, in the depths of her soul, She is not at all funny, but sad.”

Sophie Buhsgevden: “Olga Nikolaevna was devoted to her Father. The horror of the revolution affected her much more than others. She has completely changed, her cheerfulness has disappeared.

Olga, as a teenager, experienced a feeling of falling in love, later she could even endure some kind of personal drama hidden from everyone. The correspondence of the Empress with her husband and Olga Nikolaevna herself point to something similar.

“Yes, N.P. is very nice. I don't know if he is a believer. But there is no need to think about it. And then various stupid things come to mind and make someone blush.

“I know who you were thinking about in the car - don't be so sad. Soon, with God's help, you will see him again. Don't think too much about N.P. It upsets you."

“I noticed a long time ago that you were somehow sad, but you didn’t ask questions, because people don’t like being questioned ... I know very well about your feelings for .... poor thing ... Now that you are already big girl, you should always be discreet and not show your feelings. You cannot show your feelings to others when these others may consider them indecent. I know that he treats you like a little sister, and he knows that you are a little Grand Duchess, he should not treat him differently. Honey, I can't write everything, it would take too long and I'm not alone. Be courageous, cheer up, and don't let yourself think so much about him. This will not lead to good, but will only bring you more sadness. If I were healthy, I tried to amuse you, make you laugh, everything would be easier then - but this is not so, and nothing can be done. God help you. Cheer up and don't think you're doing something terrible. God bless you. I kiss you hard. Your old mother."