Eight years after the formal burial of Russia’s last imperial family, Dowager Empress Marie joined them in perpetuity. She had been laid to rest in her native Denmark after her death in 1928, but her wish had been to remain beside her husband, Alexander III. “Having fallen deeply in love with the Russian people, the empress devoted a great deal of effort for the benefit of the Russian fatherland,” Orthodox Patriarch Alexis II said at the reinterment ceremony. “Her soul ached for Russia.”
The family circle at the cathedral was still not quite complete, though. Only the remains of three of Nicholas and Alexandra’s children had been found in the forest grave, once again giving rise to the hope that perhaps the others had survived. But the executioner’s record was clear on this: two of the corpses were burned near the burial place of the rest. DNA analysis of charred bone and tooth fragments found at the site proved conclusively in 2011 that they belonged to Tsarevitch Alexis and his sister Marie. The siblings still await burial with the rest of their family.
Meanwhile, history took one of its strange turns in 2000 when Russia’s last emperor and empress—once reviled as “Bloody Nicholas” and “the German Bitch”—were canonized, along with their five children, as saints.
Dedicated with love and appreciation
to the Foote/Rupp/Maloney clan—
Always in there pitching!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am deeply indebted to my editorial team at Random House, Ryan Doherty and Anne Speyer, for their thoughtful guidance and encouragement, and to Ann Marie and Robert Lynch, as well as Bill Millard, for their generous research assistance.
I am also most grateful for the love and encouragement of my family and friends. I feel truly blessed.
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BOOKS BY MICHAEL FARQUHAR
A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History’s Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors
A Treasury of Great American Scandals: Tantalizing True Tales of Historic Misbehavior by the Founding Fathers and Others Who Let Freedom Swing
A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History’s Greatest Hoaxes, Fakes, and Frauds
A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans: Pirates, Skinflints, Patriots, and Other Colorful Characters St
uck in the Footnotes of History
Behind the Palace Doors: Five Centuries of Sex, Adventure, Vice, Treachery, and Folly from Royal Britain
Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Farquhar is the bestselling author of A Treasury of Royal Scandals, A Treasury of Great American Scandals, A Treasury of Deception, A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans, and Behind the Palace Doors. He is co-author of The Century: History as It Happened on the Front Page of the Capital’s Newspaper. His work has been featured in a number of publications, including The Washington Post, where he was a writer and editor for ten years, specializing in history. He has appeared as a commentator on such programs as the History Channel’s Russia: Land of the Tsars and The French Revolution. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Secret Lives of the Tsars Page 32
