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The Grand Duchesses in 1916
Left to right: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia


The escape of the Grand Duchesses of Russia: Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, was probably the single most talked about story of the late 1910’s. Four Russian royals had been run out of their homeland and into the arms of the English. They left behind their parents, their brother and everything that had been their lives in the early summer of 1917 when, fearing that the offer of asylum for their family would be withdrawn, Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, and his wife, had sent their children in three parties to escape Russia: Olga and Maria travelled in one party of four (an older servant couple pretended to be their parents), Tatiana and Anastasia in a party of three (one man pretended to be their elder brother), and Alexey with a servant (serving as his father) charged with his care, although not one of great importance, which would prove the wrong choice. The first party managed to escape to a ship, which arrived on May 3rd in England. A week later, the second party arrived, also in England.

The third party made it as far as the coast of Russia, when the Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich was half recognised by an official, who questioned the two travellers. Reportedly, the Tsarevich kept to his story, claiming he was travelling with his father to America, first stopping in England, then a round trip to see the world before settling in California. However, the servant bungled his lies, and when he was tasked with explaining himself, he told the truth, and the two were roughly escorted to Tobolsk in the Urals, where the royal couple were effectively imprisoned. While happy to have one of their children with them, the royal couple were also distraught that their son had not made it to safety, and upon hearing the servant he had travelled with had been executed, the trio mourned what might have been.
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