They liked to write letters and usually signed them with their common signature OTMA, the acronym of the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia.These four beautiful young women and their younger brother, Alexis, the Tsarevich and Heir to the Russian throne were the children of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the last tsar and tsarina of Russia.
Their world was a private one, shared by few outsiders. They spent much of their short lives in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, the Lower Dacha at Peterhof and Livadia, their palace in the Crimea. Here they were fussed over by nannies and educated by tutors. The enormous parks that surrounded the palaces became their private playground, where they enjoyed walks with their beloved papa, and played the same games enjoyed by most other children their ages. They were the centre of their loving parents’ universe.
They had entered this world for but a brief moment—the eldest daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaievna was twenty-two when she died, and the youngest, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna was merely seventeen … Alexis was not to see his fourteenth birthday.
They were to share the same terrible fate of their parents at Ekaterinburg in July 1918. Their only fault in the eyes of their murderers was their imperial birth. They were born in the purple. This is their story.Born in the Purple is an upcoming OTMAA biography by Paul Gilbert of Royal Russia. The book’s publication is slated for 2013 - the 400th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty.
UPDATE: The publication of this book has unfortunately been cancelled as of May 14, 2012.
The video that gives me emotions every time.
An Axis Powers Hetalia fan video of Anastasia with the human personification of Russia.
My dear sweet darling Papa!
I am sitting on the sofa next to Alexei having dinner with M. Gilliard, while Maria is running round like a fiend. I am already allowed to go to the infirmaries again, but the weather is so foul and cold that I am not going out.
[Dr] Ostrogorsky came to see me this morning, but Maria and I were still in bed, so Maria hid under the blanket when he came to examine me, and when he had finished I quietly drew back the blanket and Maria had to crawl out, which made her very embarrassed. But as soon as he shut the door I was tipped out onto the floor. We hadn’t done anything very interesting during the day.
May the Lord be with you. I kiss you 10000000000 times. Your loving and truly devoted daughter, Caspian Nastaska.
(ANASTASIA rushes to the tray, trips over her suitcase, it opens and papers spill out.)
OLGA: Anastasia!
(OLGA helps clean up the mess ANASTASIA grabs the papers from OLGA.)
Anastasia, what’s this?
ANASTASIA: Nothing.
OLGA: That’s not nothing. It looks like my… You…
(Source: playscripts.com)
March 12/ 1918
Spent the whole day indoors. There were pancakes for lunch, ate nine.
March 16/ 1918
Everything is the same. Today at lunch I ate 16 pancakes. The were giving them for the last time. There was a service at 9 o’clock. The weather was cold and windy. Had a bath.
Love is stronger.In memory of Nikolay II
This is so beautiful and moving…
Grand Duchesses Maria and Anastasia-“The Little Pair.”
These photographs were taken c. 1908, 1915, and 1916, respectively.
I have always been very fond of all of the Grand Duchesses, but I love Maria and Anastasia particularly because they seem to have lived life to the fullest extent possible. Neither of them took life too seriously, unlike their elder sisters. Maria’s kind, cheerful nature and her genuine concern for those around her won over even some of the guards at Ekaterinburg, one of whom confessed that he often hoped that the girls would find a way to escape. Anastasia’s wit and candor made an impression on everyone she met, even when she was a little girl. No one who met the youngest Grand Duchess ever forgot her, which is perhaps why she, out of all of her sisters was surrounded by so many fantastic stories for many years after their deaths.