Romanovs in England

the monarchists or the whites and exiles in general?

After 1917 the monarchists wasn't a threat: but the non-monarchist whites and especially the Mensheviks and the SR were.

The monarchists.

By the time Stalin came to power the Whites had been mostly disabled, by the Trust, selected kidnappings/murders, and other active measures. But the State Security spent huge amounts of time and money monitoring the monarchists.
 
Lets go with something more romantic. Something the tabloids of the time would just eat up. Have one of the girls fall for one of the Royal Naval officers who come to rescue her and her family. The parents are furious. The two love birds eventually elope. Bonus points if the sailor in question,or one or more of their children, makes a name for themselves in this TL's World War II.
This guy? Lord Mountbatten’s older brother

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mountbatten,_2nd_Marquess_of_Milford_Haven

He married a Russian Imperial, but that was in 1916 when things were different. Him and one of the Romanov girls would also be first cousins as their mothers are sisters.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that Louis Mountbattan kept a picture of Maria by his bedside in memory of her until the day he died. He had quite a crush on her.
 
I didn't know this. Perhaps there's something there for a romance.

Just substitute one Mountbatten for another.

From what I understand, Dickie and the woman he married in the twenties had an interesting marriage.
 
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"Open marriage" is the phrase you're looking for. Dickie & Edwina had an open marriage. Which wasn't unusual for English (or other nationalities) aristocracies/nobles. Once the wife has popped out the requisite heir (and hopefully spare), they go their own ways. Not the sort of marriage Nick & Alix had, nor the sort they would want for their daughters & son. Open marriage in that both were discreet, but each knew the other was sleeping with others.
 
They had girls though, no heirs.

Another question: what is the best way to get Alix and the kids out of Russia? Through the Crimea then perhaps further south to the Mediterranean?
 

RousseauX

Donor
I like this! Said Romanov daughter would find it hard to be separated from their close knit family, which would possibly grow closer in their exile.

One major theme of my novel I can see would be the Romanovs adjusting to life as normal people. Nicholas and the girls would possibly be the easiest, Nicholas would have been happy as a country gentleman raising turnips and stuff. The girls were only just beginning to glimpse life outside their gilded cage. Alix would find it hard, not that she particularly liked being Tsarina but I think she was more used to telling people what to do. However, she may like being shut out of her daughters’ social events as I see their grandmother taking charge. Alexei may also find it difficult, he liked to play up mbecause he would one day be the Tsar. Though I was thinking of getting a strict English tutor for him to straighten him out.

As for money, if there’s a pension it may be enough to stave off poverty with maybe what they could get from what they grow. The girls may get a dress allowance in addition to this.
Would it be possible for the Romanovs (or a part of it) in exile to be able to live a more humble life style though?

A lot of the white emigre aristocrats bankrupted themselves trying to maintain their life style at court or threw their money into bad investments. Nicholas did have the mentality of a Byzantine emperor, though he seem to be humble when it comes to apolitical stuff.

Maybe Nicholas settles down in a country estate and writes his memoirs to make some money?

Yes, there would probably almost certainly be divisions in the family among the daughters, some of them would adopt the American lifestyle while others won't.

Nelson Rockefeller is around same age as Anastasia, a marriage between them maybe? The Romanovs wouldn't be worth much financially but there is some vanity in marrying the daughter of an emperor.
 
My ideas for marriages for the girls. Some of my ideas are just cruel though.

Olga - Dutifully marries the son of an English aristocrat with money. After the birth of their son he begins having affairs and she finds out he's gay.

Tatiana - Unsure. I'd have to look at her temperament more. Perhaps an American.

Maria - Definitely Louis Mountbatten. She will be a navy wife on his modest income, waiting faithfully for him during WWII and then goes with him to India when he becomes Viceroy.

Anastasia - If anyone is going to have a scandal, I think it would be her. From what I understand she's the tomboy of the four and is perhaps the most likely to be a flapper, rebel and do things like bob her hair, drink cocktails and smoke cigarettes.
 
A lot of monarchs had personal fortunes, and these would have investments overseas. Also during the period of the Russian Civil War there will be a good deal of confusion about who owns Russian State assets held outside of Russia, and the Romanovs might be able to make a claim on some of those. After the Bolsheviks took power they repudiated all foreign/Tsarist debt, and any assets overseas were divided by creditors. This doesn't guarantee a fortune for the Romanovs, but they might be able to accumulate a decent nest egg hopefully to invested thoughtfully. Of course if the Romanovs have money, many exiled nobles will be asking for charity.
 
My ideas for marriages for the girls. Some of my ideas are just cruel though.

Olga - Dutifully marries the son of an English aristocrat with money. After the birth of their son he begins having affairs and she finds out he's gay.

Tatiana - Unsure. I'd have to look at her temperament more. Perhaps an American.

Maria - Definitely Louis Mountbatten. She will be a navy wife on his modest income, waiting faithfully for him during WWII and then goes with him to India when he becomes Viceroy.

Anastasia - If anyone is going to have a scandal, I think it would be her. From what I understand she's the tomboy of the four and is perhaps the most likely to be a flapper, rebel and do things like bob her hair, drink cocktails and smoke cigarettes.


There you go. Tatiana and Anastasia come to the US. Tatiana marries a du Pont and settles in the Brandywine valley north of Wilmington, DE and produces C. N. I. (Coleman Nicholas Irené) du Pont, the last of the family to become CEO of the company. Anastasia basically tells mom and dad to go pound sand, and marries a motion picture mogul, settling in southern California.
 

RousseauX

Donor
I also wonder how the Romanovs are going to respond to WWII, otl Kerensky supported the Soviet government against the Germans while some of the whites backed the Nazis

I'm guessing Nicholas would back the Soviets and might even offer to do fundraising for the Soviet government during the war
 
Well there are 4 sisters so you can have one marry for love, one marry a European Aristocrat, One marry a rich American, and one meet a nice girl in Paris and become an artist.

As to the Prince does he live long enough to produce a male heir? and with whom?

Finally when the magazines list their most Influential people of the 20th century which ones rank higher or lower than Princess Di?

I once saw one of these lists and it had her higher than Stalin, very amusing
 
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I like this! Said Romanov daughter would find it hard to be separated from their close knit family, which would possibly grow closer in their exile.

One major theme of my novel I can see would be the Romanovs adjusting to life as normal people. Nicholas and the girls would possibly be the easiest, Nicholas would have been happy as a country gentleman raising turnips and stuff. The girls were only just beginning to glimpse life outside their gilded cage. Alix would find it hard, not that she particularly liked being Tsarina but I think she was more used to telling people what to do. However, she may like being shut out of her daughters’ social events as I see their grandmother taking charge. Alexei may also find it difficult, he liked to play up mbecause he would one day be the Tsar. Though I was thinking of getting a strict English tutor for him to straighten him out.

As for money, if there’s a pension it may be enough to stave off poverty with maybe what they could get from what they grow. The girls may get a dress allowance in addition to this.

What resources and monies would the Romanov's have in English and American Bank. Would they not have an arguable claim to Russian Money in Overseas Banks?
 
Nicholas got the Russian nobility to get rid of their investments outside Russia. This is why the Russian émigrés were broke, aside from what silver or jewelery they could smuggle out.

Maybe they found bring with them one of the lost fabarge eggs.

Alexei, I was wondering if his English tutor could get him working towards a university education. This would be perhaps one of the few things he can do the same as a normal person. As in, a non-haemophiliac person.
 
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One thing about Olga and Tatiana. They are older, and during WW1 worked as nurses, being exposed to people they would not otherwise meet. They, particularly Olga, understood how screwed the Romanovs were first, and understood the resentment of them.

This could make them more independent and potentially more resentful of their parents once they were "safe".
 
I also wonder if there would be the urge for Nicholas to be Tsar again, particularly when the civil war breaks out in the twenties. This perhaps would be led by Alexandra.

I also can't see Nicholas supporting the soviets as that would mean siding with the Bolsheviks. Just for some irony, I think it would be fun if one or more of his daughters was fairly progressive with fairly socialist leanings. He would see this as the worst sort of betrayal.

And I could even see him have Nazi sympathies in the 30s. Fair few people did.
 
My ideas for marriages for the girls. Some of my ideas are just cruel though.

Olga - Dutifully marries the son of an English aristocrat with money. After the birth of their son he begins having affairs and she finds out he's gay.

Tatiana - Unsure. I'd have to look at her temperament more. Perhaps an American.

Maria - Definitely Louis Mountbatten. She will be a navy wife on his modest income, waiting faithfully for him during WWII and then goes with him to India when he becomes Viceroy.

Anastasia - If anyone is going to have a scandal, I think it would be her. From what I understand she's the tomboy of the four and is perhaps the most likely to be a flapper, rebel and do things like bob her hair, drink cocktails and smoke cigarettes.
Tatiana was considered the prize Romanov sister. She probably would have married first. She was the favorite of her mother and the most royal acting. Tatiana would marry into the British aristocracy.
I think George V would want his cousin's daughters to marry quickly so they had someone to provide for them. Also he would want the family to become anglicized quickly to put down any criticism for providing sanctuary. The faster they become "British" nobody will notice them.
Here is a twist for Olga: Have her become a Nun like her aunt the Grand Duchess Elisabeth. If her aunt dies as OTL coupled with the Revolution makes Olga devote her life to Christ. She becomes a founding member of the convent of the Church of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem. Perhaps Olga becomes sympathetic to the Jewish cause and writes to her royal relatives supporting the creation of a Jewish state.
Maria marries Louis Mountbatten. Prince Philip becomes a sort of son for her. She converts to the Church of England. Maria and Louis have their own son. He becomes a Royal Marine Commando killed at Dieppe in 1942.
Anastasia accompanies her older sister on her honeymoon to America. she meets 14 year old Nelson Rockefeller in New York. It is love at first sight for Nelson and he vows he will someday marry The then 21 year old Anastasia. In 1930 he succeeds. Anastasia having spent the twenties writing and partying in Paris.
 
An interesting situation would be the relationship between Nicholas and the former Kaiser Whilhelm. Two former Emperors both in exile. I could imagine Nicholas and more his wife blaming the loss of their homeland on Whilhelm.

Here is another Olga twist:
Olga Romanov-MacArthur!
 
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