Transcriber’s Notes
Hyphenation has been standardised.
Other changes made are noted at the end of the book.
[Illustration:
_International Film Service_
THE EX-CZARINA ALEXANDRA OF RUSSIA]
MY EMPRESS
TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF INTIMATE LIFE WITH THE EMPRESS OF ALL THE RUSSIAS
FROM HER MARRIAGE TO THE DAY OF HER EXILE
BY
MADAME MARFA MOUCHANOW
FIRST MAID IN WAITING TO HER FORMER MAJESTY THE CZARINA ALEXANDRA OF
RUSSIA
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD MCMXVIII
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY JOHN LANE COMPANY
Press of J. J. Little & Ives Co. New York
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I MY APPOINTMENT 11
II THE FIRST MONTHS OF THE CZARINA’S MARRIED LIFE 20
III BIRTH OF GRAND DUCHESS OLGA 33
IV THE CORONATION 46
V VISITS ABROAD 59
VI THE GRAND DUCHESS ELIZABETH 72
VII THE CZARINA’S FAMILY RELATIONS 82
VIII LIFE AT CZARSKOI SELO 94
IX THE COURT AND ATTENDANTS OF THE CZARINA 105
X THE CZARINA AND ST. PETERSBURG SOCIETY 117
XI THE CZARINA AND HER MOTHER-IN-LAW 129
XII THE CZARINA’S DAILY OCCUPATIONS 141
XIII THE JAPANESE WAR AND THE BIRTH OF THE CZAREVITSCH 152
XIV THE CZARINA, HER CHILDREN AND HER CHARITIES 164
XV THE FIRST REVOLUTION 176
XVI THE CZARINA’S FRIENDS 188
XVII THE GREAT WAR 200
XVIII DISASTERS AND THE SECOND REVOLUTION 211
XIX HOW THE CZARINA WAS ARRESTED 222
XX LIFE IN PRISON 236
XXI EXILE—I AM DISMISSED 249
ILLUSTRATIONS
The ex-Czarina Alexandra of Russia _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
The ex-Czar Nicholas II of Russia 20
Winter Palace, Petrograd 34
Alexander Hall in the Kremlin at Moscow 44
Throne Room in the Kremlin at Moscow 52
Old Banquet Hall of the Czars 70
Rasputin 80
The ex-Czarina of Russia and her Four Daughters 102
Grounds of the Imperial Palace at Tzarskoié Sélo 122
Grand Duke Michael 132
Grand Duchess Olga 144
The ex-Czarevitch 156
The ex-Czarina and her Son 168
The Grand Staircase, Winter Palace, Petrograd 178
Grand Duchess Elizabeth 188
Grand Duchess Anastasia 220
MY EMPRESS
CHAPTER I
MY APPOINTMENT
It is the custom, or rather it was the custom, at the Russian Court,
not to allow any Princess marrying into the Imperial family to bring
with her maids from her own country. I believe that this custom was
also observed at Foreign Courts, at least in former times. Therefore,
when it became known that the heir to the Russian Throne, as Nicholas
II. still was when he became the affianced husband of the lovely
Princess Alix of Hesse, was about to bring a bride to his parents’
home, speculations became rife, and much heart burning resulted among
people who considered themselves entitled to the honour of becoming
attendants on the future Empress of All the Russias.
Of course the choice of the maids destined to wait upon her was to a
certain measure dependent on the will of the Reigning Empress, and
the latter felt that it would not do to surround her daughter-in-law
with women unable to talk any other language than Russian. A list was
submitted to her of ladies who were supposed to be eligible for the
position, and, unknown to myself, my name was placed upon it.
The functions of first maid to a Czarina were far from being purely
honorific. Of course she was not supposed to do any menial work,
but, on the other hand, she had to show herself most discreet, to
avoid gossip of any kind, to have no intimate friends or relatives in
whom she might feel tempted to confide, and, moreover, considerable
responsibility rested on her shoulders, as she had under her care not
only the personal jewels of her Imperial mistress, but also those
belonging to the Crown (when these happened to be used), the control of
everything that was connected with the toilet and personal adornment
of the Princess in whose service she stood, the paying of her private
bills, and so forth. She had under her eight other maids, whose duties
consisted in attending to the wants of the Princess, but these took
no initiative, and were entirely dependent upon her, having to obey
her and to listen to all her instructions. One had to have a certain
rank or Tschin, as it is called in Russian, to be able to obtain
such an appointment, and probably the fact that my husband, who had
died a short time before the marriage of Nicholas II. and Alexandra
Feodorovna, had been a Colonel, had something to do with the fact that
my name figured on the list of the women considered eligible for the
position which I was to obtain.
As is well known, the arrival of the Princess Alix in Russia was
hurried on account of the illness of the Czar Alexander III., who knew
himself to be dying, and who wished to see his future daughter-in-law
before he breathed his last. The Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia,
the wife of the Grand Duke Sergius, who was the eldest sister of the
Princess, went to meet her at Warsaw, and brought her to Livadia, in
the Crimea, which she reached about three days before the demise of the
Emperor. She was met on her arrival with all the honours pertaining to
the bride of the heir apparent, but the circumstances which accompanied
her journey were such sad ones, that they could not help painfully
impressing her and adding to the natural melancholy of her character,
which was already at that time sufficiently pronounced to cause
anxiety to the people who surrounded her.
The mortal remains of Alexander III. were brought back with much pomp
to St. Petersburg, where instead of making the solemn entry which
Russian Imperial brides generally do in the capital, in golden coaches
surrounded with elaborate ceremonies, the Princess Alix arrived in a
mourning carriage, smothered in the folds of her crêpe veil. No one
noticed her, and the general interest of the public was concentrated
on the Empress Dowager, whose grief was pitiable to witness. The young
girl about to take the latter’s place on the throne of Russia felt
quite lost and lonely amidst her new surroundings, and no one seemed
to care for her, or to trouble as to what was going to befall her. At
that time many people believed that her marriage would be postponed
until after the mourning for Alexander III. was over, and hoped that
something might yet occur to prevent its ever taking place. The
alliance was not popular, and neither Court society nor the nation felt
pleased at the idea of a German Princess coming to share the throne of
their new Sovereign. He was known already to be absolutely lacking in
character, and many persons feared that through the influence which
his wife might come to acquire over his mind, the Grand Duke Sergius,
who was married, as I have already related, to the sister of the
Princess Alix, would become paramount at the Russian Court. And the
Grand Duke was the most hated and the most unpopular personage in the
whole country.
Family intervention, however, decided otherwise, and, partly thanks to
the efforts of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who had arrived in
St. Petersburg to be with the Empress Marie in her hour of sorrow, it
was decided to solemnise the nuptials of the new Czar as quickly as
possible; therefore the twenty-sixth of November, 1894, the birthday
anniversary of the widow of Alexander III., was chosen for it.
All this time I had not seen my new mistress. She was supposed to
be too busy to have leisure to become acquainted with her future
household, and it was only some three days before the one selected for
the wedding that I was at last presented to her in the Palace of the
Grand Duke Sergius, where she had resided since her arrival in St.
Petersburg.
My first impression was that of a tall, slight girl, with straight
long features, a classical profile, and a lovely figure, which gave no
indications of the tendency to stoutness that was to spoil it later on.
She had fair hair that shone like gold in the sun, whilst at times it
appeared quite dark, according to the light which played upon it. The
mouth was the most defective feature in an otherwise almost perfectly
beautiful face. It had a determined expression, which even then could
be unpleasant, and the chin was decidedly heavy. But the general
impression she produced was that of a superb woman. The deep mourning
which she wore suited her, and heightened the natural whiteness of her
lovely complexion, and I remember thinking that I had never yet seen
any one more beautiful than this girl about to become my Empress.
She said very little to me, and what she did say was uttered in a low,
constrained voice. She seemed to have a nervous dread at the idea
of being compelled to have strangers about her, and she asked me to
ascertain from the maid from whom she was about to part her customs and
habits, so as to be able to direct the women who were to attend on her
in the future. But when I asked her to allow me to begin my duties at
once, she objected, saying that it would be time enough on her wedding
day.
This proved inconvenient in many respects, because it was most
difficult to attend to the many details connected with a complicated
toilet, such as a bridal one invariably is, let alone an Imperial one,
and to make decisions for an utter stranger. According to etiquette the
Grand Duchess (the Princess Alix had been given this title on the day
she had entered the Greek Church) had to dress in the Winter Palace,
where not only her eight maids, but all the ladies in waiting on the
Empress Dowager, those of her own future household, and the jewels she
was to wear, were awaiting her. To a room set aside for the purpose by
etiquette had been brought the gold toilet service of the Empress Anne,
which is always taken out for such occasions and for such only, and
it was spread on a table before which the Princess was asked to sit.
The diamond Crown used for Imperial weddings was then brought to the
Empress Dowager, who, according to the rules of the ceremony, had to
put it on the head of the bride. But an unforeseen incident occurred.
The hairdresser, who was to adjust the crown and the bridal veil, could
not be found; no one knew where he was, nor could any one take his
place. At last it was discovered that an over-zealous police official,
believing his ticket of admission invalid, had refused to let him enter
the Winter Palace. A whole hour went by before this was discovered, and
the marriage was delayed for that length of time, to the wonder of the
thousands of people assembled to witness it, in the various rooms and
halls of the Imperial residence.
During this weary hour the Princess sat motionless before her looking
glass, hardly saying a word, but with tears in her eyes which, however,
she bravely tried to conceal. People buzzed around her, trying to
attract her attention, but she did not seem to heed them, and merely
waited and waited, with that patience which, as I discovered later on,
was a distinctive feature in her character. At last the hairdresser was
brought in, hot and excited, and he quickly fastened the diamond diadem
on the head of the young bride, whom we proceeded to array in the long
mantle of cloth of gold, lined with ermine, which she was to wear
over her white gown. When she was ready and stood before us, previous
to the starting of the procession for the chapel, we all uttered an
exclamation. None among us had ever gazed at anything more lovely than
she appeared to our eyes, and indeed I have never, in the years that
followed, seen Alexandra Feodorovna look so splendid as on that grey
November morning which saw her married to the Czar of All the Russias.