Grand Duchess Tatiana was Nicholas II's second daughter. Seen here wearing an ensemble that would make a PETA member go off the deep end.
Tatiana was born in 1897. Her best friend was her sister, Olga, who was eighteen months older. Tatiana was always the most responsible and orderly of her siblings. She has three sisters, Olga, Maria, and Anastasia, and a brother, Alexei. Tatiana was known in the family as "the governess" because she took charge of everything. Tatiana and her siblings were "born in the purple" meaning that they were born to a reigning monarch and consort. But the Romanov children had simple and sheltered lives. Tatiana shared a room with her sister Olga. The children slept on thin mattresses that could be easily moved around. They were expected to learn to deal with some level of discomfort, and as young children were required to take cold baths. Remember that this was Russia so that wasn't very comfortable.
Growing up, the Romanov children were taught to not expect things or feel entitled. They had to ask for servants to do things for them, and say please and thank you, as well as understand some things weren't possible. Of the children Tatiana was the most "haughty" but she was not snobbish or rude. Like her mother, she was a bit withdrawn around those she didn't know. Had she lived, she would have made a great royal lady.
Tatiana and her sisters were incredibly close. They styled themselves "OTMA", taken from the first letters of their names. The girls shared a large bathroom and spent most of their time together. They had few outside friends, and grew to be closer than any other set of royal siblings I've read about. They would joke, and argue, and they had their own slang terms and nicknames. They could also be rather mean to each other; once the girls were having a snowball fight and Anastasia covered a rock in snow and threw it at Tatiana's head. Poor Tatiana was knocked out and put on bed rest for several days. Needless to say, Anastasia got in a lot of trouble. When one of their teacher's left her job to get married, Tatiana wrote a letter to her new husband instructing him to be kind to her on behalf of Tatiana's family.
Tatiana was incredibly close to her mother. She cared for her mother when she was sick, did her hair in exile, and walked with and read with her almost every day. She was loyal, but always desperate for affection. Here's an excerpt from "A Lifelong Passion: The Letters of Nicholas and Alexandra" which is probably my favorite royal book of all time. Did I mention how much I love royal letters?
Tatiana to Alix (Empress Alexandra, Tatiana's mother), February 18, 1917:
"Mama darling, sweet one,
I was such a fool today! When you called me several times to come to you (whilst Ania was there in the afternoon), I wanted to so awfully much. But then I felt that if I'll come, I'll howl, and I didn't want to be such an idiot before Ania.
And then I never thanked you as I wanted to for the nice drive. I was so please but by some stupid diea of mine, I didn't want to show I was pleased. When you asked me if I wanted to drive I said I did not know. It was not true- because I wanted to but I was afraid you would be tired of driving. I was so happy in the morning, it was the devil who got in me and made me so beastly. Please forgive me, my own precious Mama sweet.
I kiss you 1000 times and still more, as I love you. Good night, deary, from your own living-very, very much more than I can say in the world-child,
Tatiana"
Tatiana was considered very regal and fashionable in public. She had the bearing of a Princess and was always seen as such. But she was actually uncomfortable about her title. When someone called her "Your Imperial Highness" she was very shocked and insisted they never call her that. She was sometimes known in the family as Tanya or Tatya. She had few friends outside of her family, but greatly valued the ones she had.
She wrote to a friend during the family's captivity, in January 1918, a few months before she was killed:
"A small [snow] hill has been built in our yard. When we get bored with walking back and forth, then we slide down it, and often we take very funny falls. Once Zhilik ended up sitting on my head. I begged him to get up, but he couldn't because he had sprained his ankle and it hurt. Somehow I crawled out. It was terribly silly and funny, but he still had to lie down for a few days because of his ankle. Another time I was going down the hill backwards and banged the back of my head really hard against the ice. I thought nothing would be left of the hill, but it turned out that neither I nor my head burst, and my head didn't even hurt. I've got a hard head, don't I? Eh?
We also had very cold weather with a particularly strong wind-- it sliced terribly at my face. It was very cold in the rooms. In the hall it was 5 30/4 degrees [42 deg. F.]. Not far from Mr. Conrad's. Please console him at least a little bit. Does he get letters from his wife? How can it be that you still haven't gone to the show in the Chinese theater? Oh! What famous things you are missing!"
Tatiana was deeply religious, and loved fashion and foreign magazines. Tatiana has a bulldog named Ortino who was given to her by an officer in World War I with whom she had a flirtation. She loved animals and her family also had a cat that "belonged" to Alexei but was taken care of by the whole family.
Tatiana died along with the rest of her family in 1918. She was twenty-one.
Tatiana's probably my favorite Romanov, and it really depresses me to think she was so young when she was killed. She was killed almost 92 year ago, and her entire world is gone. It's strange to think about. Everyone she knew is dead, and almost everything she had was destroyed. She was a product of a society that was gone when she died. It's amazing to see these photographs because these people are all gone, and the world they lived in gone, too, but there she is sitting outside in her furs. She lived this sheltered existence and managed to have a surprisingly ordinary life and ordinary feelings. But she never got to live her life. She grew up, and became an adult, and that was it. It's sad to think of the things she never got to experience. I guess people die every day, but when you read about someone enough you feel like you know them....
Tatiana was born in 1897. Her best friend was her sister, Olga, who was eighteen months older. Tatiana was always the most responsible and orderly of her siblings. She has three sisters, Olga, Maria, and Anastasia, and a brother, Alexei. Tatiana was known in the family as "the governess" because she took charge of everything. Tatiana and her siblings were "born in the purple" meaning that they were born to a reigning monarch and consort. But the Romanov children had simple and sheltered lives. Tatiana shared a room with her sister Olga. The children slept on thin mattresses that could be easily moved around. They were expected to learn to deal with some level of discomfort, and as young children were required to take cold baths. Remember that this was Russia so that wasn't very comfortable.
Growing up, the Romanov children were taught to not expect things or feel entitled. They had to ask for servants to do things for them, and say please and thank you, as well as understand some things weren't possible. Of the children Tatiana was the most "haughty" but she was not snobbish or rude. Like her mother, she was a bit withdrawn around those she didn't know. Had she lived, she would have made a great royal lady.
Tatiana and her sisters were incredibly close. They styled themselves "OTMA", taken from the first letters of their names. The girls shared a large bathroom and spent most of their time together. They had few outside friends, and grew to be closer than any other set of royal siblings I've read about. They would joke, and argue, and they had their own slang terms and nicknames. They could also be rather mean to each other; once the girls were having a snowball fight and Anastasia covered a rock in snow and threw it at Tatiana's head. Poor Tatiana was knocked out and put on bed rest for several days. Needless to say, Anastasia got in a lot of trouble. When one of their teacher's left her job to get married, Tatiana wrote a letter to her new husband instructing him to be kind to her on behalf of Tatiana's family.
Tatiana was incredibly close to her mother. She cared for her mother when she was sick, did her hair in exile, and walked with and read with her almost every day. She was loyal, but always desperate for affection. Here's an excerpt from "A Lifelong Passion: The Letters of Nicholas and Alexandra" which is probably my favorite royal book of all time. Did I mention how much I love royal letters?
Tatiana to Alix (Empress Alexandra, Tatiana's mother), February 18, 1917:
"Mama darling, sweet one,
I was such a fool today! When you called me several times to come to you (whilst Ania was there in the afternoon), I wanted to so awfully much. But then I felt that if I'll come, I'll howl, and I didn't want to be such an idiot before Ania.
And then I never thanked you as I wanted to for the nice drive. I was so please but by some stupid diea of mine, I didn't want to show I was pleased. When you asked me if I wanted to drive I said I did not know. It was not true- because I wanted to but I was afraid you would be tired of driving. I was so happy in the morning, it was the devil who got in me and made me so beastly. Please forgive me, my own precious Mama sweet.
I kiss you 1000 times and still more, as I love you. Good night, deary, from your own living-very, very much more than I can say in the world-child,
Tatiana"
Tatiana was considered very regal and fashionable in public. She had the bearing of a Princess and was always seen as such. But she was actually uncomfortable about her title. When someone called her "Your Imperial Highness" she was very shocked and insisted they never call her that. She was sometimes known in the family as Tanya or Tatya. She had few friends outside of her family, but greatly valued the ones she had.
She wrote to a friend during the family's captivity, in January 1918, a few months before she was killed:
"A small [snow] hill has been built in our yard. When we get bored with walking back and forth, then we slide down it, and often we take very funny falls. Once Zhilik ended up sitting on my head. I begged him to get up, but he couldn't because he had sprained his ankle and it hurt. Somehow I crawled out. It was terribly silly and funny, but he still had to lie down for a few days because of his ankle. Another time I was going down the hill backwards and banged the back of my head really hard against the ice. I thought nothing would be left of the hill, but it turned out that neither I nor my head burst, and my head didn't even hurt. I've got a hard head, don't I? Eh?
We also had very cold weather with a particularly strong wind-- it sliced terribly at my face. It was very cold in the rooms. In the hall it was 5 30/4 degrees [42 deg. F.]. Not far from Mr. Conrad's. Please console him at least a little bit. Does he get letters from his wife? How can it be that you still haven't gone to the show in the Chinese theater? Oh! What famous things you are missing!"
Tatiana was deeply religious, and loved fashion and foreign magazines. Tatiana has a bulldog named Ortino who was given to her by an officer in World War I with whom she had a flirtation. She loved animals and her family also had a cat that "belonged" to Alexei but was taken care of by the whole family.
Tatiana died along with the rest of her family in 1918. She was twenty-one.
Tatiana's probably my favorite Romanov, and it really depresses me to think she was so young when she was killed. She was killed almost 92 year ago, and her entire world is gone. It's strange to think about. Everyone she knew is dead, and almost everything she had was destroyed. She was a product of a society that was gone when she died. It's amazing to see these photographs because these people are all gone, and the world they lived in gone, too, but there she is sitting outside in her furs. She lived this sheltered existence and managed to have a surprisingly ordinary life and ordinary feelings. But she never got to live her life. She grew up, and became an adult, and that was it. It's sad to think of the things she never got to experience. I guess people die every day, but when you read about someone enough you feel like you know them....
No comments:
Post a Comment