The Washington herald., 1911-01-03
COURT MEMORIES
OF A PRINCESS

Princess Catherine Radziwilrs recent
publication. Memories contains many
OF the courts of st. Peters,
berg and Berlin. The princess. who be-
longs to a noble Russian family. and
whose husband was related to the
Hohenzollerns. has had unusual oppor-
tunities to make observations. She
writes in a liberal spirit and Is exceed
ingly outspoken. or particular interest
is the comparison she draws between the
Russian Dowager Empress Maria Feo-
dorowna and her daughter-in-law-ac COM
parison which is by no means flattering
to the present Czarina. She writes:
Rarely has a foreign princess been
received with such enthusiasm as was
Grand Duchess Maria Feodorowna.
From the very moment she put her foot
on Russian soil she won the Hearts Of
all. Her charming smile. the kindly way
in which she returned the ovations of
the masses. laid the foundation of a
popularity which has increased from day
to day
During the life of Alexander II the
position Of the grand duchess was very
difficult. The Gar had in 1880 married
his mistress, Princess Dolgorouki, and
the Czarevitch and his consort were in
disgrace because they held aloof from
the morganatic wife of the ruler. In
many ways the grand duchess was made
to feel her father-in-law's bitterness
against her. Two days before he was
assassinated, Alexander II sent for her
and reproached her violently because
she had gone on a sleigh ride with Gen
Tscherewfn. the minister of the interior.
Tscherewin had long been friend of
the young couple. and the suspicious of
the Car were entirely unfounded, but
his remarks to his daughter-in-law were
of the most insulting nature"
After the accession Princess Radziwil
very often met the Empress Maria and
was pleasantly surprised at her oper
and charming manners. She spoke in
the most open and natural way of hel
children and was fond of discussing books
she had read.
Usually the imperial couple led a very
quiet and simple life at Gatchina. ant
it was only for his wifes sake thai
Alexander III took part in the gayeties
of the winter season. Empress Maria
loved society and was passfonately fond
of dancing. while Alexander III hated
that kind of pleasure, but submitted
with admirable patience and was
happy to see the Czarina dancing until
nearly dawn. Once, however. he thought
a court ball lasted too long and sent the
musicians away one at time, and
when the last one had disappeared the
ball ended.
OF the last days of Alexander III, Prin-
cess Radzfwill writes: "One evening in
March. 1894. I was grieved to hear that
the Car was seriously i'll. Nobody had
ever heard of anything being the matter
with his health, and not even his nearest
relatives knew that he was suffering from
fatal disease. The first violent attack
was called influenza, and nobody thought
any danger. In reality, the Car had
been III ever since the railroad catastro-
phe at Borki, but it was not his way to
complain. and in Russia people are not
fond Of talking of sickness in the imperial
family. 1t was soon impossible to hide
the secret. however. On a beautiful day
in March I saw him for the last time.
He had suddenly grown twenty years old
er and his complexion was sallow.
He exchanged a few words with me.
When I told him We were about to go
abroad in a few days. he said he did not
understand why people always wanted
to travel I replied that We went away
to avoid the dangerous spring air of St.
Petersburg. and thoughtlessly added: \
AM sure YOUR IidJcSty, LOO. WOuiO De
benefited by a trip to the southern eli
mate
He smiled sadly. and said: But I can
not always do what l like the most
''On November l. 1894. Alexander III
died at Livadia."
At this time the Princess Radziwill was
at Berlin, where she had a very interest.
ing talk with Empress Friedrich about
the fiancee Of Car Nicholas II. Princes:
Alix Of Hesse. She tells of this as fol
lows:
II visited Empress Friedrich, and. O
course, We talked about the death O
Alexander III. I said that the peopl
of Russia were alarmed with the prospec
Of having a Czarina of liberal opinions
and 1 was greatly surprised to find tha
Empress Friedrich did not agree wit
me at all. She did not say very much
but remarked that one must not plac
too much confidence in the sayings O
people who did not know the princess
character. Then she added: The Prin
cess Alix is despotic by nature. and viii
| take her position as the consort Of al
autocrat more seriously than most peo
pie suspect. She is So convinced of he
own conviction that she will never listel
to the advice of others. Besides, she il
absolutely devoid Of tact. and very oftel
hurts the feelings Of those whose affec
| tions she ought to try to win
when I expressed my surprise tha
the granddaughter of Queen victori;
and the daughter of Princess Alice shoul,
possess such a character. Empress
Friedrich smiled sadly and said. 'Dit
you ever see daughters resemble thei
motherT
Princess Radziwill then emphasizes
that Gar Nicholas II and his consor
are very unpopular in the Russian couyl
as wen as with the Russian people. n
simple. childlike gayety and joy whiCl
was characteristic Of the court of Alex
| ander III have disappeared. The gentl
and amiable Maria Feodorowna n
longer occupies the seat of honor, an,
| with her the charm has gone. At tn
coronation, as we'll as at the entry Of tn
imperial couple at Moscow. the people re
| manned absolutely silent when the Ca
and CZarina appeared, but when the.
caught sight of the Empress Maria's car
/ riage the crowd broke out in enthusias
tic shouts that continued for some time
Empress Alexandra is very beautiful
and she has a perfect figure. but her ex
preston Is heartless, cold. and arrogant
Much Of the imperial couples lack o
popularity Is due to their heartless be
havior at the coronation, when 800
people were crushed to death. The sam
| evening the imperial couple attended
BAN at the French embassy, while tn
Dowager Empress stayed away from al
| festivities, and as soon as she hear
the news Of the disaster, spent all he
time In the hospital attending tn
pr,rno~~ paA~3xyt1, fe ,,ndo,,hto6Ix, rio.,