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Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family found in a remote Urals museum

By 0 and 0 and 0
08 May 2013

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A zoo on the Tzar's estate would be closed after the 1917 revolution, but on that day the ruler wrote in his diary: 'Took the elephant to our pond with Alexei today and had fun watching him bath'. Picture: Zlatoust City History Museum

Another picture taken by the emperor dated 1916 shows Tsarevich Alexei - heir to an autocratic throne that would be abolished the following year - posing on a tree in winter with his beloved pet spaniel Joy. 

These images of the Russian royal family, captured in photographs taken by the Tsar himself or his children, mostly date from the years of the First World War, and some very soon before the Romanov dynasty crumbled, to be rapidly replaced by Communism. 

Found in a vault in Zlatoust, the album shows the private moments of the royals as the storm clouds gather over a dynasty that had ruled for more than three centuries. 

The smoking picture shows the youngest princess Anastasia, then 15, evidently imbibing from a cigarette with every encouragement from the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. At the time there was not the same stigma attached to smoking and in fact a year earlier Anastasia had written to her father: 'I am sitting here with your old cigarette that you once gave me, and it is very tasty'.

She - like Alexei - would soon be central characters in the mystery of what became of the Romanov family. 

Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family

The smoking picture shows the youngest princess Anastasia, then 15, evidently imbibing from a cigarette with every encouragement from the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. Pictures: Zlatoust City History Museum

For decades there were claims that the pair had survived the 1918 shooting that took the lives of Russia's last royal ruler, his former empress Alexandra, and their other three children, Olga, Tatiana and Maria. 

In the event, DNA evidence gathered from bones found near Yekaterinburg gives credible evidence that both were indeed killed in the shooting at the Ipatiev House, where the family were held by Lenin's forces. Anastasia and her brother were, however, buried separately from the rest of the family. 

The images of Alexei show a surprisingly strong boy given that his haemophilia saw him portrayed as sickly.

Indeed it was his serious illness that led his mother to rely on debauched holy man Grigory Rasputin, a relationship that did much to undermine royal credibility as the country became embroiled in an ugly war and revolutionary fervour. 

Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family


Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family


Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family

These images of the Russian royal family, captured in photographs taken by the Tsar himself or his children, mostly date from the years of the First World War, and some very soon before the Romanov dynasty crumbled, to be rapidly replaced by Communism. Pictures: Zlatoust City History Museum

In one of the earlier pictures in the set, the four carefree Romanov princesses are seen in 1914 enjoying the royal yacht 'Standart' on the Black Sea. 

The same year at Peterhof, the Tsar is shown relaxing on rocks in a picture almost certainly taken by one of his children using a camera he had imported from Britain. And in another picture, the Tsar, Alexei and the boy's tutor are seen walking an elephant near their palace in Tsarskoye Selo.

A zoo on the estate would be closed after the 1917 revolution, but on this day the ruler wrote in his diary: 'Took the elephant to our pond with Alexei today and had fun watching him bath'.

With war breaking out in 1914, the heir is shown in a military game with his tutor's two smaller children. In 1916, as he commanded Russian forces in the First World War, the Tsar is seen playing with his son on the banks of the Dnieper River close to Mogilyov. Here - where the smoking picture was taken - Russian military headquarters was based during the war, and Nicholas insisted on having his family around him. 

Other pictures show the older princesses visiting wounded soldiers in military hospitals. 

Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family


Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family


Private pictures of Russian Royal family, Grand Duchess Tatiana

Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family


Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family

Top to bottom: Grand Duchess Olga and Tatiana, Grand Duchess Olga pictured looking through family album; Grand Duchess Tatiana; clockwise Grand Duchess Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia; Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna on board of Russian Royal Yacht. Pictures: Zlatoust City History Museum

The images have been released in a year which marks the 400th anniversary of the Romanov's coming to power in Russia. 

'The emperor was very fond of photography and passed his passion for it to his wife Alexandra and children,' said Milena Bratukhina, an historian at the Zlatoust Museum where the album was hidden in Soviet times.

It remains unclear how it got to Zlatoust.  One theory is that the album - which has 200-plus pictures, many never seen before - was taken from the royals by a revolutionary called Dmitry Chudinov, nicknamed Kassian, who was an escort when the exiled royals were brought westward from Tobolsk in Siberia to Yekaterinburg on their final move before they were shot. 

He was from Zlatoust and it is known that he appropriated some royal possessions. The album could have been among them.

Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family


Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family


Remarkable private pictures of the Russian royal family


Private pictures from Russian Royal family album, Tsar Nikolai II

Comments (80)

They would have provided more beautiful future to Russia, which Sztalint gave,.
Erik Raft, Hungary, Veszprém
22/05/2013 00:49
19
1
I really enjoyed seeing these very rare photos of Czar Nicolas II and his family. My grand-uncle, Prince Pyotr Dmitrievich Sviatopolk-Mirski, worked closely with the Czar.

Princess Maria Sviatopolk-Mirski
Stratford-London E15/UK
Princess Maria Sviatopolk-Mirski, London (Stratford) / UK
13/05/2013 09:34
19
2
Thank you! Thank you! for publishing these. Will you be publishing the rest? Many would love to see tham. Congratulations on this wonderful find.
Patricia Garrett, Texas, USA
12/05/2013 23:18
20
0
I wish there were real colour photos of the Romanov family.
Aubrey Leong, Singapore
11/05/2013 08:16
9
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Amazing new photos!! Olga looking at a family album is particularly moving.
Love the profiles of OTMA.
Thanks for publishing - would be great to see more!!
Martin Wiggs., Ware, England, U.K.
11/05/2013 00:05
18
0
Wonderful, intimate photos of a family who were incredibly close and loving. For those who have not read Robert K. Massie's "Nicholas and Alexandra" it is a must for those interested in the family. Tatiana was always in my opinion very beautiful and elegant, her looks are rather exotic.
Mary, Vancouver, BC, Canada
10/05/2013 08:07
18
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Please publish all of the photos. It would be wonderful to see them all. What an amazing discovery within the museum's vault!
Roy Tomlin, Virginia, USA
10/05/2013 05:51
16
1
STUDIED Russian History the pictures were great show more
LARRY, BOCA RATON FLORIDA
10/05/2013 04:51
12
0
Thank you for these amazing and very special photographs! A publication would be really desirable! Best greetings and wishes for success!
Silvan Mani, Switzerland
10/05/2013 03:28
20
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Amazing find! The profiles photos of the girls imo were taken imo for the making of Fabergé Easter egg given by Nicholas II to Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna for 1914. The likeness of the photos and the portraits found in the egg are exact. The egg was purchased by King George V for Queen Mary in 1933 and is in the Royal collection
Anne, Phila. US
10/05/2013 01:46
19
0
Please publish all of the photos. Thank you.
Jasen Carlsen, Victorville, CA
10/05/2013 00:15
21
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Amazing photos, especially the profile picture series of the young grand duchesses! Would love to see more of those!
Katia, Finland
09/05/2013 23:36
16
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Please, please, please publish all the rest of the photographs. There are so many of us who would like to see them and have no access to them. Thank you.
Chris Humphrey, Austin, Texas USA
09/05/2013 23:29
19
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These photos are UNREAL! WONDERFUL! Would you please publish them all? It would be such a treat and record for history to have these long lost photos finally available for historians and the public.
Laura Mabee, Ontario, Canada
09/05/2013 23:24
23
0
Beautiful photos! Would you be able to publish all of the photos? It would be amazing to see all of them. Thank you!
Val Carlsen, California, USA
09/05/2013 23:24
12
0

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