page_title: Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia
section_title: Killing of Rasputin
hierarchical_section_title: Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia / Killing of Rasputin
context_page_description: Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia was the only daughter and eldest child of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia. She was also the only niece of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and the wife of the wealthiest man in Imperial Russia, Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, one of the men who murdered Grigori Rasputin, "holy healer" to her cousin, the hemophiliac Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia, in 1916.
context_section_description: Both Felix and Irina were aware of salacious rumors regarding Rasputin and his association with the worsening political situation that brought rioting, protests and violence. Yusupov and his co-conspirators, Vladimir Purishkevich and Dmitri Pavlovich, decided that Rasputin was destroying the country and must be killed. Felix started paying visits to Rasputin in an attempt to gain his trust. It has been speculated that Felix told the healer that he needed assistance to overcome his homosexual impulses and enjoy a satisfactory marriage to Irina or, alternatively, that it was Irina who needed Rasputin's "cure."
  On the night of the murder, 16/17 December 1916, Rasputin was invited to Felix's apartment at the Moika Palace. He was told that Irina would be in residence and Rasputin would have an opportunity to meet her. Rasputin had often expressed interest in meeting the beautiful 21-year-old princess. Irina, however, was on a visit to the Crimea. Irina had been aware that Felix had talked about eliminating Rasputin and it was originally intended that she participate in the murder. "You too must take part in it," Felix wrote to her before the murder. "Dm(itri) Pavl(ovich) knows all about it and is helping. It will all take place in the middle of December, when Dm(itri) comes back." In late November 1916, Irina wrote to Felix: "Thanks for your insane letter. I didn't understand the half of it. I see that you're planning to do something wild. Please take care and do not get mixed up in any shady business. The dirtiest thing is that you have decided to do it all without me. I don't see how I can take part in it now, since it's all arranged... In a word, be careful. I see from your letter that you're in a state of wild enthusiasm and ready to climb a wall... I'll be in Petrograd on the 12th or 13th, so don't dare do anything without me, or else I won't come at all."
  Felix responded on 27 November 1916: "Your presence by the middle of December is essential. The plan I'm writing you about has been worked out in detail and is three-quarters done, and only the finale is left, and for that your arrival is awaited. It (the murder) is the only way of saving a situation that is almost hopeless.... You will serve as the lure.... Of course, not a word to anyone." A frightened Irina suddenly backed out of the plan on 3 December 1916: "I know that if I come, I shall certainly get sick... You don't know how things are with me. I want to cry all the time. My mood is terrible. I've never had one like it before... I don't know myself what's happening to me. Don't drag me to Petrograd. Come down here instead. Forgive me, my dear one, for writing such things to you. But I can't go on any more, I don't know what's the matter with me. Neurasthenia, I think. Don't be angry with me, please don't be angry. I love you terribly. I can't live without you. May the Lord protect you."
  Again, on 9 December 1916, she warned Felix, reporting a foreboding conversation she had had with their 21-month-old daughter: "Something unbelievable's been going on with Baby. A couple of nights ago she didn't sleep well and kept repeating, "War, nanny, war!" The next day she was asked, "War or peace?" And Baby answered, "War!" The next day I said, "Say, 'peace.' " And she looked right at me and answered, "War!" It's very strange."
  Irina's pleas were in vain. Her husband and his co-conspirators went forward with the plan without her. After the killing, Nicolas exiled both Yusupov and Dmitri Pavlovich. Felix was exiled to Rakitnoye, a remote country estate in the Rakityansky District that had been owned by the family since 1729. Dmitri was exiled to the Persian front with the army. Sixteen members of the family signed a letter asking the Tsar to reconsider his decision due to Dmitri's weak health, but Nicholas II refused to consider the petition. "Nobody has the right to kill on his own private judgment," wrote Nicholas II. "I know that there are many others besides Dmitri Pavlovich whose consciences give them no rest, because they are compromised. I am astonished that you shou
caption: Felix and Irina with their daughter in 1916
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