They much outlived their brother: how the fate of the sisters of Nicholas II

The last Russian emperor Nicholas II had three siblings. Three younger brothers died before the death of Nicholas himself, but his sisters managed to leave Russia embraced by the Civil War, and they lived a long life abroad. Being the closest surviving relatives of the last monarch of Russia, they and their children have long been considered as possible heirs to the Russian throne.

Ksenia Alexandrovna Romanova was the eldest of the daughters of Emperor Alexander III and was born in 1875. Outwardly, she was incredibly similar to her mother - Empress Maria Fedorovna. At 19, she married the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, who was her cousin uncle. In this marriage seven children were born, six sons and one daughter. During the First World War, Ksenia conducted active charity work, being the creator and director of the hospital for the wounded. But the family well-being of Ksenia Alexandrovna did not last long. Even before the outbreak of World War I, the couple formally broke up due to the betrayals of Alexander Mikhailovich.

Ksenia, together with her mother, children and other members of the Romanov family, in 1919 left Crimea for Great Britain on the ship Marlboro. After leaving abroad, the couple did not live together, although Ksenia did not agree to an official divorce and retained a reverent attitude towards her husband until the end of her days. She, along with her mother, the nee Princess Dagmar, settled in Denmark. In 1928, after the death of Maria Fyodorovna, Ksenia moved to England. The King of Great Britain, George V, who was her cousin on her mother’s side, provided her and her children with free use of the suburban residence in Windsor. There she lived until her death in 1960. Ksenia Alexandrovna was buried in France, next to her beloved husband, whom she survived for 27 years. Ksenia Alexandrovna left many heirs: 7 children, 12 grandchildren and even more great-grandchildren. Her sons Dmitry and Vasily headed the Association of Romanov clan members.

The second sister of Emperor Nicholas II, Olga Alexandrovna Romanova was born in 1882 and was the youngest child in the family. Her first marriage to the Duke of Oldenburg was unsuccessful: the couple lived together for 15 years, but they did not have children. Olga for many years persuaded Nicholas II to approve of her divorce, but her brother and family were against it, since persons of imperial blood should not have been divorced. And only in 1916 she finally managed to persuade the king. After the divorce was filed, she married Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky, who came from a family of landowners and had no noble descent. In this happy marriage two sons were born: Tikhon and Guri. Olga closely communicated with the children of Nicholas II, and Anastasia was her favorite niece. This fact subsequently played an important role in exposing the impostor Anna Anderson, who declared herself to be the surviving Anastasia. Olga met with her in Berlin in 1925 and stated that this was not her niece.

Interestingly, Olga refused to leave Russia in 1919, when her mother, sister and other relatives left Crimea. After her second marriage, relations with her mother and sister were greatly deteriorated. The Dowager Empress and Ksenia Alexandrovna condemned her for an unequal marriage and expressed her constant claims in this regard. After the departure of the Romanov family, she and her husband lived in the Cossack village of Novominskaya, in southern Russia. Contemporaries noted that Olga, despite her origin, was a very simple person and communicated with the military and ordinary people on equal terms, she herself was engaged in housekeeping. But after the defeat of the white troops, she still had to go abroad. In 1920, Olga Alexandrovna, together with her husband and two young sons, reached Denmark through Belgrade and Vienna. The family lived there until 1948, and then emigrated to Canada, in a suburb of Toronto. Olga was engaged in painting, sold her paintings and was engaged in charity work. Her sons were brought up in Russian traditions, received an excellent education in Russian gymnasiums in Europe. Son Guri worked as a teacher of Russian language and Slavic culture in Ottawa, and his second son, Tikhon, after moving to Canada, worked in the Ontario Road Department. Olga Alexandrovna had 4 grandchildren. She, like her sister Ksenia, died in 1960, is buried in Canada.

Interestingly, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is the grandniece of the sisters of Nicholas II, as she is the granddaughter of their cousin George V.

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