Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia - Death and Funeral

Death and Funeral

George died suddenly, on 9 August 1899, at the age of 28. He had been out alone on his motorcycle and some hours later, when he failed to return, his worried staff sent out a search party. By the time they found him it was too late. A peasant woman had discovered him collapsed at the side of the road, blood oozing from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. She supported him in her arms until he died. The news reached Nicholas by telegram and he had the difficult task of telling his mother. She broke down and wept. He had seldom been out of her thoughts for the last few years and his death came as a terrible shock. His family were completely devastated. Nicholas was especially grief-stricken at losing his younger brother and childhood playmate. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia wrote, "Everyone was struck, as if by lightning, by this sad and unexpected news. Queen Victoria wrote to Nicholas II, "Pray accept the expression of my sincerest sympathy in this great sorrow, for I know the affection you had for your poor brother Georgy, whose life was so sad and lonely" "The Dowager Empress telegraphed Queen Victoria, "Thank you so much for kind sympathy in this terrible sudden bereavement...My poor dearest son died quite alone. Am heartbroken." On 14 August 1899, he was laid to rest in the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St.Petersburg, not far from his late father, Alexander III. During the service, his mother stood without tears, only deep suffering was imprinted on her face. When the coffin was put down into the tomb, Maria Feodorovna stood next to Xenia, holding her arm-in-arm and suddenly, looking at her daughter with widely open, unseeing eyes, she loudly said, "Let's go home. Let's go home, I cannot stand it anymore!" and she rushed out. When a board was laid down for leaving the tomb, she went away so quickly that it was difficult for others to keep pace with her. Nobody even had enough time to throw flowers on to the tomb. In the carriage she sobbed for a long time, pressing to her breast Georgy's hat that she took off the coffin's cover.