Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia (; – 20 April 1960) was the elder daughter and fourth child of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and Dagmar of Denmark. She was the sister of the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II.
She married her father's cousin, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia, with whom she had seven children. She was the mother-in-law of Felix Yusupov and a cousin of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia who, together, killed Grigori Rasputin, holy healer to her nephew, the haemophiliac Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia. During her brother's reign she recorded in her diary and letters increasing concern about his rule. After the fall of the monarchy in February 1917, she fled Russia, eventually settling in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Xenia born on at the Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.4 She was the elder daughter among the six children of the Tsesarevich Alexander and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna of Russia (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark).
After the assassination of her paternal grandfather Tsar Alexander II of Russia (), when Xenia was five years old, her father ascended to the Russian throne as Emperor Alexander III. It was a difficult time politically, plagued with terrorist threats. For security reasons, Alexander III moved with his family from the Winter Palace to Gatchina Palace. There Xenia and her siblings enjoyed a relatively simple childhood: sleeping on cot beds, waking at 6 am, and taking cold baths every morning. Their rooms were simply furnished, albeit comfortable.
Like her brothers, Xenia was educated by private tutors, with special emphasis on the study of foreign languages.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.12 Apart from her native Russian, Xenia studied English, French, and German. She learnt cookery, joinery, and making puppets and their clothes for their theatre. She also enjoyed riding and fishing on the Gatchina estate,Van der Kiste and Hall, p.18 drawing (for which she supposedly had a particular talent), gymnastics, dancing, and playing the piano.
Her entire family enjoyed family holidays at the home of her Danish maternal grandparents, Fredensborg Castle.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.15 On such a visit she met her cousin and lifelong friend, Princess Marie of Greece, daughter of King George I of Greece and of his Russian-born wife, Queen Olga. The Danish composer, Valdemar Vater, paid Xenia a tribute by writing the "Polka Mazurka".Van der Kiste and Hall, p.17
Early marriage
Xenia and her paternal first cousin once removed Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia, her eventual husband, played together as friends in the 1880s. Alexander, usually called Sandro, was also a friend of her brother, Nicholas. In 1886, 20-year-old Alexander was serving in the navy. Eleven-year-old Xenia sent him a card when his ship was in Brazil, "Best wishes and speedy return! Your sailor Xenia". In 1889, Alexander wrote of Xenia, "She is fourteen. I think she likes me."
At age 15, though Xenia and Alexander wanted to marry, her parents were reluctant because Xenia was too young and they were unsure of Alexander's character. The Tsarina Maria Feodorovna had complained of Alexander's arrogance and rudeness. It was not until 12 January 1894 that Xenia's parents accepted the engagement, after Alexander's father, Grand Duke Michael Nikolaievich of Russia, intervened.
The couple were very attached to each other. In a letter to their brother George, Xenia's brother Nicholas wrote: "They have become quite impossible, presumably from prolonged yearning and being so used to each other. They spend the whole day kissing, embracing and lying around on the furniture in the most improper manner. Xenia in particular is completely impossible." George responded: "They almost broke the ottoman and generally behaved in the most improper way. For instance, they would lie down on top of each other, even in my presence, in what you might call an attempt to play Papa and Mama."
The couple finally wed on 6 August 1894, when Xenia was 19, in the SS Peter & Paul Chapel of the Peterhof Palace.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.37 Xenia's younger sister, Olga, wrote about the joy of the wedding, "The Emperor was so happy. It was the last time I ever saw him like that."Korneva and Cheboksarova, p.196 They spent their wedding night at , and their honeymoon at Ai-Todor (Alexander's estate in Crimea). During the honeymoon, Xenia's father, Alexander III, became ill and died on 1 November 1894.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.41 After his death, Xenia's eldest brother inherited the Crown and became the new Tsar Nicholas II.
Grand Duchess Xenia continued her public displays of affection after her wedding. Tsar Nicholas wrote to his fiancé: "Of one thing she [Xenia] is not shy. That is in kissing her husband. Whenever she can, she flies at him, her arms around his neck."
Charitable works
Xenia contributed strongly to charitable works. She was a member of the Women's Patriotic Association. From 1903, Xenia was patron of the Creche Society of St. Petersburg, which looked after poor working-class children while their parents were at work. She took a particular interest in hospitals for patients with tuberculosis in the Crimea, perhaps influenced by her brother George who suffered from the disease.
She was also patron of the Maritime Naval Welfare Association, which took care of widows and children of naval personnel. Xenia founded the Xenia Association for the Welfare of Children of Workers and Airmen. In addition, she was patron of the Kseniinsky Institute, a St. Petersburg boarding school for 350 students.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.73-74
Russo-Japanese War
On 25 January 1904, Xenia recorded in her diary that war had been declared between Russia and Japan.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.56 The previous December, Xenia had told the War Minister, Kuropatkin, that there would be no war and that her brother did not want war. The War Minister said the whole matter might be outside the control of Russia. As war broke out, there was unrest in Russia.
On a cold Sunday in January 1905, over 150,000 peaceful people approached the Winter Palace under the leadership of Father Gapon. The people wanted to present the Tsar with a petition. The St. Petersburg police had asked for help from the army, which fired into the crowd, resulting in 143 casualties. The day would be known as "Bloody Sunday" and mark a turning point in the relationship between the Tsar and his people.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.59 In February, Xenia's uncle Sergei, was killed by a bomb in Moscow. Xenia wanted to be with her aunt Ella, but was told the situation was too dangerous.
Xenia was exasperated on hearing of Russia's military defeat in Korea.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.60 She had been angry about the start of the war and recorded her thoughts on the end, "and ended even more stupidly!" Xenia was in the Crimea at their home at Ai-Todor with her husband and children, when news of the mutiny of the Black Sea fleet reached them. In October, her brother was forced to agree to the establishment of a Duma as a concession to the people. Some of Xenia's family saw it as "the end of Russian autocracy".Van der Kiste and Hall, p.61 Her husband Sandro had resigned his position at the Ministry of Merchant Marine. Xenia and her family spent Christmas at Ai-Todor as it was not safe to travel north, or from their estate. A Christmas service was held in the house, with the priest being driven there and back "in a closed landau under an escort of cavalry".
World War I and the collapse of the empire
The outbreak of war caught Xenia and her mother unaware: Xenia was in France while the Dowager Empress was in London.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.86 They arranged to meet in Calais, where the private train of the Dowager Empress was waiting to take them to Russia, being confident that the German Kaiser Wilhelm II would let them through. Arriving in Berlin, they found the line to Russia had been closed. Hearing that the Yusupovs were also in Berlin, the Dowager Empress ordered that they join the train. An ugly situation ensued in Berlin until finally the train was allowed to travel to Denmark,Van der Kiste and Hall, p.87 and then on to Finland.
Arriving back in Russia, Xenia threw herself into war work, providing her own hospital train and opening a large hospital for the wounded. She also chaired the Xenia Institute, which provided artificial limbs for the maimed. In 1915, learning that Nicholas intended to take command of the armed forces, she accompanied her mother to Tsarskoe Selo in an attempt to dissuade him. The Dowager Empress had recorded her lack of confidence in him in this role in her diary,Van der Kiste and Hall, p.91 and this was borne out. Xenia returned disheartened to the Yelagin Palace.
In February 1916, Xenia travelled to Kiev after an illness to see her mother and sister Olga. Her sister finally had her shell of a first marriage dissolved by the Tsar and was married in November 1916 to Nikolai Kulikovsky in the presence of the Dowager Empress in Kiev.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.93 Xenia was absent. On 28 October 1916, increasingly depressed by Russia's predicament, Xenia wrote to her mother, speculating what her father would have done. Xenia, her mother, and her sister Olga urged Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich to write to the Tsar warning him about the influence of the Tsarina in government affairs. Nicholas did not even open the envelope. The Tsarina read it and accused the Grand Duke of "crawling behind [his] mother and sisters."
Realising the danger, Xenia and her family moved to Ai-Todor in the Crimea. From there, Xenia heard of Rasputin's murder and was embarrassed by the episode.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.94 She wrote to her mother in Kiev, "Sleep little. There is rumour that Rasputin is murdered!"Van der Kiste and Hall, p.95 Xenia's son-in-law Felix Yusupov had been one of the murderers. At the beginning of 1917, Xenia hoped her mother could make her brother see sense about the collapsing situation in Russia. She wrote in despair, hoping she would persuade him.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.97 Her mother felt she could not do anything and that she had no intention of returning to St. Petersburg from Kiev.
On 19 February 1917, Xenia was back in St. Petersburg at her palace. On 25 February, she wrote in her diary, "There are disturbances in the city, there was even shooting into the crowd, [they] say, but everything is quiet on the Nevsky. They are asking for bread and the factories are on strike."Van der Kiste and Hall, p.98 On 1 March 1917 she wrote of rumours circulating that Nicholas's train had been stopped, and that he had been forced to abdicate.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.100 The Dowager Empress wrote to her about her meeting with Nicholas in Mogilev, "I still can't believe that this dreadful nightmare is real!"Van der Kiste and Hall, p.103 Xenia tried to see her brother but was refused permission by the Russian Provisional Government. Seeing no future where she was in St. Petersburg, Xenia left for Ai-Todor on 6 April, her 42nd birthday.Van der Kiste and Hall, p.105
Exile from Russia
Xenia arrived at Ai-Todor where she joined her mother, husband, and sister on 28 March 1917. At the end of November, Xenia wrote to her brother Nicholas in Tobolsk in Siberia, "The heart bleeds at the thought of what you have gone through, what you have lived and what you are still living! At every step undeserved horrors and humiliations. But fear not, the Lord sees all. As long as you are healthy and well. Sometimes it seems like a terrible nightmare, and that I will wake up and it will all be gone! Poor Russia! What will happen to her?"Van der Kiste and Hall, p.124In 1918, while in Crimea, Xenia learnt that her brother Nicholas II, his wife, and their children had been murdered by the Bolsheviks. Her other surviving brother, Michael, had been murdered (by shooting) a month earlier outside Perm.