Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, and family - letters and photographs sent to her former nurse, Millicent Crofts
£3,750
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 14 February 2018 at 10:00 GMT
Description
A large number of letters dating from around 1913 until around 1939, mainly handwritten, with several family photographs, including a silver gelatin print of Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia as a baby, a photograph dated 1879 to the reverse showing Grand Dukes Cyril Vladimirovich and Boris Vladimirovich with their mother, a nurse in traditional Russian dress and several children in a tent on the beach and 2 family group photographs (quantity)
Footnote
Note: Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia was an uncle of Tsar Nicholas II . This archive comprises letters sent from his children and grandchildren to their former nurse, an Englishwoman, Miss Millicent Crofts.
Many of the letters are sent from Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna and Elena's three daughters (Marina, Elizabeth and Olga, Princesses of Greece and Denmark). Whilst the letters from the three daughters tend to be lighter in tone, letters from Elena herself speak heavily of anxieties regarding the present state of Europe, worries about her family and have a sense of nostalgia for the past. One letter sent from Athens dated December 1916 reads: "I must profit of a scarce occasion to write to you as, now, on account of the blockade, we can't send letters by post anymore…it does not feel like Christmas somehow there is no peace and goodwill on earth. I am so sorry not to be able to send you a little present this year but unfortunately I have got no money myself as I can't get it from Russia and we have got to be very economical…Our poor Greece is being so shamefully and injustly treated…they [the children] were very frightened the day the French bombarded Athens…" Another letter dated November 1917 reads: "…The news from Russia is indeed dreadful and you can imagine how anxious I feel for all my dear ones there…" It continues to report on the whereabouts of Russian family members, and Elena comments: "The past seems to be quite swept away, nothing of what we knew and loved exists anymore…"
However, the family also experiences joy, as Elena's daughter, Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark writes on a postcard dated 1921: "Here is a view of our house…Our lovely counsin Philip is to be christened on Sunday; he is very sweet and you would love him." - the baby in question is the current Duke of Edinburgh.
The archive shows the great resilience of a family who had been through very turbulent times: Grand Duchess Elena married Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark in 1902. Although she was not living in Russia at the time of the 1917 Revolution, she naturally was anxious about her family there. Further troubles hit the family as the Greek monarchy lost the support of the now Communist Russia and the ensuing political crisis forced Greek royals into exile. Whilst her daughters made very successful marriages (Princess Marina married the Duke of Kent and became aunt to Queen Elizabeth II), Elena's letters show her moving between France and Greece, where she died in 1957.
The collection also includes letters sent from Elena's brothers: Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia. Although there are fewer of these letters, the sense of nostalgia remains. In 1935, Andrei writes from Paris: "Now, in these days when all that was dear to us has passed, the golden days of childhood are a refuge to remember…A very hard time we have now, very hard…" Whilst a 1914 letter from Boris speakes of anxieties regarding the First World War: "We have all courage and hope that soon this awful war will come to a happy end for us all."