Tragic Facts About The Imperial Romanovs, The Last Tsars
For centuries, the Romanovs were one of the most powerful dynasties in the world...and yet they will forever be remembered for how it all came crashing down.
Over 100 years ago in 1918, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and all five of their children were executed. But what were they like underneath their aristocratic masks, and what led them to their chilling final moments?
1. Empress Alexandra Was Queen Victoria's Favorite
Empress Alexandra, the matriarch of the Romanov brood, was the last Tsarina of Russia. Yet she had surprising beginnings. Born Princess Alix of Hesse and the Rhine in 1872, she was actually a granddaughter of Queen Victoria—and Victoria's favorite grandchild to boot. But for all that Alexandra's life looked like a fairy tale, it quickly turned into an absolute nightmare.
2. She Had A Ruinous Secret
Growing up, Alexandra’s family hid a dark secret. The men of their royal line tended to suffer from the often fatal condition of hemophilia, an illness that prevents blood from clotting.
When Alexandra was barely a year old, her hemophiliac brother Frederich died after a nasty fall, and Alexandra herself was a carrier of the brutal disorder.
Yes, this is absolutely foreshadowing. Only, that wasn't the only tragedy coming her way.
3. She Went Through A Childhood Trauma
In 1878, an outbreak of Diptheria entered Alexandra's home. It left horror in its wake. Both Alexandra and four of her siblings fell ill alongside her father, Grand Duke Louis IV. Throughout, her mother Princess Alice refused to leave her children's sides and managed to nurse Alexandra and some of her siblings back to health. But this came at a great cost.
4. She Lost Her Mother In A Brutal Way
Eventually, Alexandra managed to survive her brush with mortality, but the people she loved most weren't so lucky. In December, Alexandra's tireless mother also caught the disease, and it hit her hard. She eventually succumbed to it alongside Alexandra’s most beloved sister, Marie. All this was enough to make any young girl turn bitter, but Alexandra's transformation was ferocious.
