The girls were addicted to perfumes, and when they bathed at night, the water was perfumed and softened with almond bran. They always used Coty. Tatiana favoured Jasmin de Cors; Olga, Rose Thé; Marie constantly changed her perfumes, but was more or less faithful to Lilas, and Anastasia never deviated from Violette.

Lili Dehn, The Real Tsaritsa (1922)

The Imperial Family in the Livadia Palace by Daria Buravtseva

"In my work ... I set the task of showing a long-gone era, and people whose fate personifies the tragedy of the Russian Empire. One day I was traveling the Crimea and visiting palaces, wandering through museum halls filled with Crimean air and scorching sun. At that moment, a long-gone era appeared before me as if it were yesterday.

I wanted to show the Romanovs not as the royal seven, but as living happy people. I had a desire to show that history is multifaceted and consists not only of tragic moments but is also full of happy moments in the lives of historical figures."

Grand Duchesses Maria, Tatiana and Anastasia Nikolaevna.

~ ♔ ꧁ OTMA ꧂ ♔ ~

❧ “In the darkness of the mystery which surrounds the fate of these innocent children it is with poignant emotion that I recall them as they appeared, so full of life and joy, in those distant, yet incredibly near, days before the World War and the downfall of Imperial Russia.”

❧ “Olga was perhaps the cleverest of them all, her mind being so quick to grasp ideas, so absorbent of knowledge that she learned almost without application or close study. Her chief characteristics, I should say, were a strong will and a singularly straightfor, ward habit of thought and action.”

❧ “Tatiana was almost a perfect reincarnation of her mother. Taller and slenderer than her sisters, she had the soft, refined features and the gentle, reserved manners of her English ancestry. Kindly and sympathetic of disposition, she displayed towards her younger sisters and her brother such a protecting spirit that they, in fun, nicknamed her "the governess."

❧ “Marie had splendid eyes and rose-red cheeks. She was inclined to be stout and she had rather thick lips which detracted a little from her beauty. Marie had a naturally sweet disposition and a very good mind.”

❧ “Anastasia, a sharp and clever child, was a very monkey for jokes, some of them at times almost too practical for the enjoyment of others. I remember once when the family was in their Polish estate in winter the children were amusing themselves at snowballing. The imp which sometimes seemed to possess Anastasia led her to throw a stone rolled in a snowball straight at her dearly loved sister Tatiana. The missile struck the poor girl fairly in the face with such force that she fell senseless to the ground. The grief and horror of Anastasia lasted for many days and permanently cured her of her worst propensities to practical jokes.”

- Anna Vyrubova (friend and personal confidante of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna)

Lynne Frederick as Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia

Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

Romanov Rare Footage Analysis:

This footage was taken while the Romanov family was visiting Romania in 1914. In the foreground we see Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna bouncing up and down in a silly way. One might wonder why she is doing this. To find out we have to analyze this piece of rare footage.

Anastasia seems to be talking to someone in a white dress and a hat on. That person is who i believe to be Princess Marie “Mignon” of Romania (later Queen of Serbia). In the background of this footage we also see Queen Elisabeth of Romania (far right with baby Prince Mircea of Romania being held by someone), Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (talking with people), and Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna who we see towards the end of the clip holding what looks like a Brownie Box Camera which the Romanov family used to take pictures.

Now what are Anastasia and Mignon doing? My belief is that Mignon went to greet Anastasia by naturally curtsying (which was the correct protocol) and Anastasia also did the same thing at the same time. I think Anastasia was doing several small curtsies afterward to kind of make a joke out of the moment (hence the giddy bouncing we see in the footage). OTMAA always felt embarrassed or shocked when close members of their family, or anyone at all, treated them with their normal official rules that the protocol demanded (aka curtsying or using official titles). Anastasia probably wanted to break the ice in that moment or make a funny joke of the curtsying at the same time thing. Also we can see the two girls having a good laugh so that could also be why Anastasia is bouncing so much. In the end of the footage we see Tatiana come up to the two girls with her camera ready and it looks like she is going to take a picture of them. The following photo could be the one she took but I’m not sure that it is.

Here are some other photos from the day that this footage was taken:

NEW dress belonging to OTMA has been discovered

A BRAND NEW, never-before-seen dress belonging to one of the Grand Duchesses has been discovered by the Hermitage Museum and exhibited for the first time.

It has not yet been identified who the pink and red dress belongs to. The sisters used to have their first name and patronymics stitched into the waist of their dresses in order to differentiate between them. Similarly, the dress maker is not yet known, though it is highly likely that it was produced in the workshops of either Olga Bubenkova or August Brizak, two of the Romanov family’s favourite designers.

The dress, alongside many other pieces of clothing and personal items, can be seen at the Hermitage Museum’s new exhibit, ‘OTMA & Alexei’.

Sources and photos: Дети последнего российского императора. Выбор куратора, Hermitage Museum, RomanovsOneLastDance 

The grand duchesses's favorites perfumes, 1910s.

Olga, La Rose Jacqueminot by Coty.

Tatiana, Jasmin de Corse by Coty.

Maria, Lilas Pourpre by Coty.

Anastasia, Violette Pourpre by Coty.

Members of the House of Romanov, the last reigning Dynasty of Russia.

From the first Romanov Russian Tsar Michael I (reigned 1613-1645) until the last Emperor Nicholas II (reigned 1894-1917). Including the 18 members of the house executed from 1918 until 1919; Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (13 June 1918). Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duchesses Olga Nikolaevna, Tatiana Nikolaevna, Maria Nikolaevna, Anastasia Nikolaevna, and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich (17 July 1918). Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich, Prince Igor Konstantinovich, and Prince Vladimir Paley (18 July 1918). Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich, Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, and Grand Duke George Mikhailovich (28 January 1919).

Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova in captivity in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia, April 1917. 💔💘

She was a poetical creature, always yearning for the ideal.

Lili Dehn on Grand Duchess Tatiana, The Real Tsaritsa (1922)

A rather unusual, but moving modern icon of the Imperial passion-bearers

The Russian Imperial Family in Romania, 1914.

Alexandra with Olga and Tatiana.

❧ The four children of Tsar Nicholas II who remained at Tobolsk while their parents and sister Maria set off for Yekaterinburg, May 1918

From left to right: Anastasia, Tatiana (back), Alexei, and Olga ☙

Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanov at the Livadia Palace, 3rd May 1914.