1909

1909

Paul returned to St. Petersburg in January 1909 to attend the funeral of his last brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, and once again he and Dmitry were able to spend time together and enjoy one another’s company, a situation which was, so far as Dmitry was concerned, marred only by the continued presence of his stepmother. He completed the winter and spring terms at the cavalry school, and then began his summer as a guest of Nicholas and Alexandra. But it was strictly a working holiday, because he also served briefly as an officer of the 2^nd “Tsarskoe Selo” Guards Rifle Battalion. Dmitry was the honorary colonel of that particular battalion, and had been since 1905 when, as a boy of thirteen, he had received that position after the death of its previous holder, Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich. The succession was by no means automatic, and, in fact, had been a mark of particular favor on the part of Nicholas II, who clearly felt for the boy who had now lost both his father and his guardian. The gesture aroused some jealousy among the other, more senior, grand dukes, but was undoubtedly greatly appreciated by its recipient. Now, at age seventeen, Dmitry relished this period of actual service with the battalion, knowing it would be short lived (he was due to transfer to the Horse Guards very soon). When Marie asked him to visit her that in

Sweden

and meet her newborn son, he declined, being unwilling to cut short his time with the Tsarskoe Selo Guards Rifles.[1] Nicholas_II_1909

But a compromise was reached, and he set off for his sister’s new homeland later that summer. During the visit, he wrote a letter home to Nicholas.

Nicholas II in the uniform of a private soldier, 1909
[Romanov Collection, Beinecke Rare Book Library, Yale University]

6 August 1909, Stenkhammar

     Dear Uncle,

     I am permitting myself to bother you with a letter, because I want to ask if I, along with my sister, might visit you in Peterhof. Marie received an invitation to come toward 15 August. We plan to leave

Sweden

on the 8^th, and go directly to Aunt in Moscow (to pray to God with her in the monastery). We’ll stay there about four days, and then, if you allow it, I will come [along with Marie].
     I only got to see the King and Queen once while I was here. That was on 7 August (new style), which was Her Majesty’s birthday. We spent that day in Stockholm rather than Tulgarten, because the strike and the expected disorders prevented the King from leaving the capital. Almost everyone is now back to work in the city, though the factories are still on strike. The Swedes were all terrified when the strike began, and zealously raised the alarm, but they are nonetheless afraid to take decisive action.
     Time passed pretty quickly in Stenkhammar. It was “cozy and nice”. The weather didn’t favor us at first. There was lots of rain, but now it’s fine.
     And now, in order to avoid being like Aunt Ella, I need to end this letter. Forgive the intrusion.
     I kiss Aunt Alix’s little hand. My heartfelt greetings.

     Your Dmitry

     “Uncle, give me black trousers”.

     This letter, though short and respectful, still contains much that is of interest. Ella had become a nun that year, something which displeased both Dmitry and Marie, and Dmitry’s rather sardonic reference to her piety (as well as her long letters) indicates that Nicholas, too, found Ella a bit eccentric – otherwise the young man would not have risked offending him.
     Addressing Alexandra as “Aunt Alix” and figuratively kissing her “little hand” were both proper enough to be perfectly safe. And though it was likewise safe to ask Nicholas for an invitation to Peterhof, the young Grand Duke was still careful to apologize for the “intrusion”.
     The remarks about the labor unrest in

Sweden

and the government’s rather tepid reaction to it, hint at Dmitry’s lively interest in current events and admiration for strength and action.
Unfortunately the quote about “black trousers” remains obscure, though it was clearly intended as an inside joke, to be shared privately between Nicholas and Dmitry. [2]

Dmitri at Nicholas and Alexandra's home in the Crimea, 1909

[Romanov Collection, Beinecke Rare Book Library, Yale University]

Whatever Nicholas’s answer about Peterhof, Dmitry would soon be together with his idol in the Crimea. This time he had the great honor of accompanying “Uncle Nicky” and “Aunt Alix”. He was their guest rather than Ella’s responsibility. His presence in Yalta, according to A.I. Spiridovich, created quite a stir among the ladies, who found him wonderfully handsome, but the eighteen-year-old object of their admiration preferred, for his part, to stay very close to Nicholas. Where the Emperor went, wrote Spiridovich, the Grand Duke invariably followed.
    Back in St. Petersburg, when Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich organized a series of plays about the history of the Russian theater, it was Dmitry, not Alexandra, who attended them with Nicholas.
     The young Grand Duke, now a full-fledged student at the cavalry school, remained in St. Petersburg throughout the autumn, and Nicholas, too, seems to have stayed close to home, at least until December, when his absence prompted the following letter:

     Petersburg, 3 December, 1909

     Dear Uncle,

     Allow me to offer you my heartiest congratulations on the 6^th. What a pity you aren’t in Tsarskoe. I could have congratulated you in person [3].
     Time passes awfully quickly in Petersburg, but the winter still can’t go by without a death. They have buried poor George Mecklenburgsky. No longer, at palace receptions, will he say to me: “God keep you, dear fellow.”
     I have a frightful quantity of classes. The whole day is crammed with them, but, of course, it goes without saying that lessons at the dear officers’ school are purely a pleasure. The officers on the course are all very likeable. Naturally there are some bad ones, but these are very few.
     The school’s jubilee is coming up, and I wanted to ask your permission to take part in the festivities as an [ordinary] officer-student.
     If that’s possible, it would please me very much.
     Petersburg life is much more peaceful this year. I speak in reference to the whole worthy family of Countess Hohenfelzen. We see each other pretty rarely, and that’s just fine with me.
     And now, in order to avoid being like Aunt, who loves to write folio pages, allow me to take my leave.
     Warm regards to Her Majesty.

     Your Dmitry

     There is, of course, a tone of mild sarcasm in regard to the “pure pleasure” of the lessons, but it is nonetheless clear that Dmitry was genuinely enjoying his time at the cavalry school and felt that he fit in. His request to participate in the school’s jubilee not as a Grand Duke but as an ordinary enrollee reinforces that inference, and shows that fitting in was, in fact, exactly what he wished to do.
     The criticism directed toward “the whole worthy family of Countess Hohenfelzen”[4] was probably expected to meet with the approval of both Nicholas and Alexandra, and may even have been a subtle reinforcement of Dmitry’s preference for them as his “family” of choice.
     Finally, one notices at once the more formal greeting to Alexandra (“Her Majesty” rather than “Aunt Alix”), though it is difficult to say what prompted it.

To be continued........

[1] Eight wonderful photos of Dmitry with the 2^nd Guards Rifle Battalion, including two from 1909, can be found in the book: La Garde Imperiale Russe, 1896-1914, Lavauzelle, Paris, 1986. The authors are Patrick de Gmeline and Gerard Gorokhoff
[2] editor's note: jokes about wearing "black trousers" also appear in the Tsar and Empress's correspondence to indicate either a situation in which someone was to be dealt with firmly or perhaps that the person dealing with them was in a bad or dark mood. Dmitri may have been jocularly asking for a scolding for something he'd written, but if any readers can offer a different interpretation for his use of the phrase, please contact the author at WLee77@aol.com.
[3] Editor's note: Nicholas ordinarily was at Tsarskoe at this time of year. It is not clear where he was in 1909; the family may have remained in the Crimea longer than ususal for the Empress's health.
[4]Countess Hohenfelzen/Princess Paley had three children by her previous marriage, Alexander, Olga, and Marianne Pistolkors. All three resided in St. Petersburg and were close in age to Dmitry, whom they knew.

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