The arrival of Anastasia in 1901 was, inevitably, greeted with deep dismay. In November 1894, when Princess Alexandra of Hesse married the new tsar, Nicholas II, royalty gossips around the world were all agog.She may have landed the biggest dynastic catch and the richest man in the world, but as far as theRussian public was concerned, Alexandra’s primary duty as Empress of Russia was to produce a son and heir.Instead, the birth of four daughters in quick succession, although a private joy to their doting parents, was a bitter public disappointment that increased with every daughter born: Olga in 1895, Tatiana in 1897, Maria in 1899.
For they were born into a Russia where sons were essential for the survival of the dynasty and daughters were deemed of little consequence.
But in truth, the Romanov sisters have never been considered as anything more than the pretty set dressing to the much bigger and more dramatic story of their parents and their tragic haemophiliac brother. The many charming and informal pictures that the sisters took of each other – and Anastasia in particular was an avid photographer – show something of the happy and unpretentious personalities behind the public image. Yes, their faces are familiar, but little has been known about the four Romanov sisters beyond the chocolate-box image of them produced for public consumption by the tsarist publicity machine. It is impossible to resist the lure of those touching, and now iconic,images of Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia in their pretty white lace dresses and large picture hats.They are timeless and seem to represent not just the lost world of old tsarist Russia but also the ruthless and arbitrary brutality of the revolution that destroyed them. You only have to look at any of the illustrated books on the Romanovs to see how incredibly photogenic they were. I wanted, with a passion, to tell the story of those four lovely, much photographed but historically neglected sisters. They were constantly in my head after I visited Ekaterinburg in the summer of 2007 to research my first Romanov book, Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs.Sense of place is very important to me as a writer, and I was particularly gripped by it when I went to Western Siberia.Walking the streets of the city, and more importantly, going out into the Koptyaki Forest where the family’s bodies were dumped after they were murdered in July 1918, left an indelible impression on my mind and my creative imagination. I have always been haunted by the story of the four Romanov sisters. I wanted, with a passion, to tell the story of those four lovely, much photographed but historically neglected sisters…”
“Walking the streets of Ekaterinburg, and more importantly, going out into the Koptyaki Forest where the family’s bodies were dumped after they were murdered in July 1918, left an indelible impression on my mind and my creative imagination.
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