Anastasia: The autobiography of H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna of Russia — John Shaqi
Anastasia: The autobiography of H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna of RussiaSmith, Eugenia
History
Anastasia: The autobiography of H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna of Russia
Smith, Eugenia
Anastasiia Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess, daughter of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 1901-1918
I recall little of our stay. There was a constant flow of Mother’s
relatives and hordes of royal children. We four sisters had only one
bedroom to ourselves and Father had one small room where he could
receive people. I remember Mother’s sister Irene (Amity) and her
husband Prince Henry, the Kaiser’s brother. She completely won us over
with her tender affection, and referred to us as “the dear children.”
She was closer to Mother than were any of Mother’s other sisters.
It seemed that we were always being summoned to meet a new cousin,
aunt, uncle or a friend. One of the relatives had a homely nose, but
fortunately I do not remember who she was.
Father went to Potsdam as guest of the Kaiser and Kaiserin. It gave
me a queer feeling when I first realized the Kaiser’s deformity. I
remember seeing him ride his horse in his Hussar uniform. He stuck his
reins into his belt; with fingers resting partly on his hip he cleverly
manipulated the reins. He seemed to lean his weight heavily to one
side. Aunt Irene explained to us about his left arm. She said: “When
Prince Wilhelm was born, the doctors and his father rejoiced because
the child was a boy. But the little infant had not yet shown signs of
life. They did everything to get him to breathe. They slapped him,
tossed him into the air, swung him by his feet,--there was a full hour
of working over him. At last he gave a feeble cry. His mother, ill
at the time, did not know of the overly rough treatment of her baby.
Later when she found out, she was in despair, she blamed the doctors
and the nurses for the injury her child had received. For his left arm,
which had been pulled out of the socket, became paralyzed and later
shrivelled.”
Many of our relatives were in deep mourning for King Edward VII of
England (Uncle Bertie), who had passed away in the spring of 1910.
Kaiser Wilhelm had been hunting with Father in the Oranienburg forest
near Berlin, and upon their return, in the presence of the widow, Queen
Alexandra, and of the new King George V and Queen Mary, he looked
at all the ladies in black dresses and white collars and remarked:
“Everyone is dressed in black because the old rooster has died.” He
knew Queen Alexandra was partly deaf and could not hear his remark;
but there were many others who did, including the beautiful Princess
Alice and her husband, Prince Andrew of Greece, who had come with
Cousin George from England. We all bore disapproving expressions at his
remark, and one relative whispered, “Wilhelm must be mad.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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