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On the 29th May (Old Style)/ 10th June 1897 the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia was born at the Farm at Alexandria Park, Peterof. Her sister, Olga, had been born eighteen months earlier.
People were slightly disappionted at the prospect of having another grand duchess. Russia needed and wanted an heir to the throne. But Alexandra was still young, and the family loved their two daughters, so the thought was put aside.
Tatiana had eight godparents which were: King Christian IX of Denmark, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, Grand Duke Michael Nikolaievitch, The Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke George Alexandrovitch, The Duke of York who was later King George V of England, The Duchess of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha and Princess Victoria of Battenberg.
Alexander Palace
Nicholas' Diary - 29th May
The second bright happy day in out family life: at 10:40 in the morning the Lord blesses us with a daughter - Tatiana. Poor Alix suffered all night without shutting her eyes for a moment, at 8 o'clock went downstairs to Amama's bedroom. Thank God this time it all went quickly and safely, and I did not feel nervously exhusted. Towards one o'clock the little on was bathed and Yanyshev read some prayers. Mama arrived with Xenia; we lunched together. A four o'clock there was a Te Deum. Tatiana weighs 8 3/4 pounds and is 54 centimetres long. Our eldest is very funny with her. Read and wrote telgrams.
Olga and Tatiana -1897
Xenia's Diary - 29th May
The Birth of Tatiana Nic!
At about 11 o'clock Mama recieved a telegram from Nicky saying that labour had begun during the night! Mama immediatly started getting ready to leave when another telegram announced the birth of a daughter. Mama's emotions were intense. Thank God everything went safely, and are both well.
From the station we went straight to the farm. Nicky and Alix are both delighted and happy it all went well! The dear little thing weight 8 3/4 pounds. Alix looks very well.
A year after the birth of Maria and after Nicholas nearly died of typhoid, Alexandra was pregnant yet again. In 1901, on June 5th (Old Style)/18th, Alexandra gave birth to her fourth child - another Grand Duchess - Anastasia.
Olga and Tatiana - 1900
Two years later Alexandra was pregnant again - but instead of the son and heir they had hoped and prayed for, God delivered Alexandra, Nicholas and the whole of Russia, another daughter - Maria.
Nicholas and Alexandra named their first two children after Tatiana and Olga the Larina sisters in Evegeny Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (as seen across in KR's Diary). Being only eighteen months apart in age they were close from the very beginning. One spring when they were little Olga started to feel ill and was diagnosed with typhoid fever; the doctor said it would be good to move to Peterhof because the fresh air would do her some good. For five long weeks Tatiana was not allowed to see Olga. One day the doctor said she would be allowed to see her for no more than five minutes. The little Tatiana was delighted and she went to the room and spoke very quietly to her sister. When the five minutes was up her nanny, Miss Eager led her back to the nursery. Tatiana said to the nurse she had not seen Olga. Miss Eager explained that she had indeed seen Olga and Tatiana broke down in tears. She was so surprised that the pale little child, who looked nothing like her sister Olga, was actually Olga. Miss Eager then had to comfort the child telling her that Olga would be very soon, back to normal.
KR Diary - 2nd June
I heard from the Tsar that his daughters are called Olga and Tatiana like Pushkin's Onegin.
They shared a bedroom at the Alexander Palace and were known as “the big pair”. Both loved to read, though Olga was more into the classics and Tatiana loved the fashionable French romance stories.
Tatiana had exotic features, deep widely spaced blue-grey eyes, a fair complexion and golden-brown or auburn hair.
Olga, Tatiana and Elizabeth of Hesse 1901
She was tall and slim, stylish, elegant and was in her time, undoubtedly the prettiest of the four sisters.
“Certainly she was different type from the others, even in her appearance, her hair being a rich brown and her eyes so darkly grey that in the evening they seemed quite black.”
~ Anna Vyrubova wrote in her memoirs.
Lili Dehn described her as “cameo like profile . . . A lovely rose maiden and pure as flower.”
She was always the leader and her siblings, including her older sister Olga, called her “the governess”, with her love of detail and organising. She painted well, spoke different languages perfectly, played the piano better than her other sisters, sang beautifully – but all without much passion and enthusiasm.
“You felt that she was the daughter of an Emperor” an officer of the guard once said about her.
Being social and making friends came naturally to Tatiana. Though there was no one her age she quickly developed friendships with the people around her; soldiers, sailors, guards, nannies, servants. She spoke to them asking about their families and quickly learnt the names of their children and wife’s.
“Of all the Grand Duchesses Tatiana was most popular with the people, and I suspect in their hearts she was the most dearly loved of her parents. Of all the girls Tatiana was the most social in her tastes. She liked society and longed pathetically for friends. But friends for these high born were difficult to find. The Empress dreaded for her daughters the companionship of over sophisticated young women of aristocracy, whose minds, even in the schoolroom, were fed with the foolish and often vicious gossip of a decadent society. The Empress even discouraged association with cousins and near relatives, many of whom were unwholesomely precocious in their outlook on life.”
~ Anna Vyrubova wrote in her memoirs.
She loved to write letters to friends around and outside Russia. But her closest friends without a doubt were her siblings. They all shared a large bathroom and took turns pouring large buckets of water over each other when they were having a bath.
Like her mother, Tatiana loved fashion. She noticed compliments and liked them, she was conscious of how a dress looked on her even though it was said that she would look good in anything, no matter how old the dress was. She ordered fashion magazines from all over Europe and clothes, jewelry, furs and perfume were a great interest to her.
Also like her mother, Tatiana was deeply religious and believed devotedly in Rasputin and his holy miracles, she even kept a notebook on his work, copy letters and telegrams. At Ekaterinburg she could be found reading the bible out loud with her mother. She took an interest in theology from a very young age.
She was also her mother’s favourite companion, because she was the one that understood her the most and she also enjoyed being in her company. She, because of this, was then usually the one chosen to do difficult favours. Tatiana was unselfish and took the time to do things for others whether it was reading to her mother, looking after Alexei when he was ill or taking a walk with her father. When Alexei was ill she would play with him for hours to give her mother a rest, she was often, as a joke, called Alexei’s second mother.
"Their rank meant very little to them, and they felt ill at ease when they were treated ceremoniously. Once at a committee I had to address "my President," the Grand Duchess Tatiana, officially, and naturally began, 'May it please Your Imperial Highness.' She looked at me with astonishment, and when I sat down again beside her 1 was rewarded by a violent kick under the table and a whispered 'Are you crazy to speak to me like that ?' In common with all the Household, I called the Emperor's daughters, in the Russian fashion, by their names and patronymic, and she thought it quite absurdly formal for me to have given her her full title! I had to appeal to the Empress to persuade her that on official occasions it was really necessary."
~ Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden
~ More Coming Soon ~
Olga and Tatiana in uniform.
Tatiana enjoyed needlecrafts such as knitting and sewing. Alexandra never wanted to see her daughters with idle hands.
Royal houses in Europe all wanted her for their sons, and it soon became known that she was wanted by the Windsors to marry the Prince of Wales. It is said that had she lived, she may very well have been the Queen of England.
