Exile was not the only source of concern for the family, however. With the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, several of Theodora's relatives were murdered in Russia. Shortly after these events, the Grand Ducal family of Hesse, to which Theodora was closely related through her mother, was overthrown along with all the other German dynasties during the winter of 1918–1919. Finally, the family went through some health problems, several of them contracting the flu in 1920.