Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia - Early Life

Early Life

Olga was the youngest daughter of Tsar Alexander III and his consort, Marie Feodorovna, formerly Princess Dagmar of Denmark. She was born in the purple, i.e. during her father's reign, on 13 June 1882 in the Peterhof Palace, west of Saint Petersburg. Her birth was announced by a traditional 101-gun salute from the ramparts of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and similar salutes throughout the Russian Empire. Her mother, advised by her sister, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, placed Olga in the care of an English nanny, Elizabeth Franklin.

The Russian imperial family was a frequent target for assassins, so for safety reasons the Grand Duchess was raised at the country palace of Gatchina, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Saint Petersburg. Olga and her siblings, however, were not accustomed to a lavish early lifestyle. Conditions in the nursery were modest, even Spartan. They slept on hard camp beds, rose at dawn, washed in cold water, and ate a simple porridge for breakfast.

Olga left Gatchina for the first time in the early fall of 1888 when the imperial family visited the Caucasus. On 29 October, their return train approached the small town of Borki at speed. Olga's parents and their four older children were eating lunch in the dining-car when the train lurched violently and came off the rails. The carriage was torn open; the heavy iron roof caved in, and the wheels and floor of the car were sliced off. The Tsar crawled out from beneath the crushed roof, and held it up with "a Herculean effort" so that the others could escape. There were 21 fatalities. Empress Marie helped tend the wounded, and made makeshift bandages from her own clothes. An official investigation found that the crash was an accident, but it was widely assumed that two bombs had been planted on the line.

The Grand Duchess and her siblings were taught at home by private tutors. Subjects included history, geography, Russian, English and French, as well as drawing and dancing. Physical activities such as equestrianism were taught at an early age, and they became expert riders. The family was deeply religious. Although Christmas and Easter were times of celebration and extravagance, Lent was strictly observed—meat, dairy products and any form of entertainment were avoided. Family holidays were taken in the summer at Peterhof and with Olga's grandparents in Denmark.

Empress Marie was reserved and formal with Olga as a child, and their relationship remained a difficult one. However, Olga, her father, and the youngest of her brothers, Michael, had a close relationship. Together, the three frequently went on hikes within the Gatchina forests, where the Tsar taught Olga and Michael woodsmanship. Olga said of her father:

My father was everything to me. Immersed in work as he was, he always spared that daily half-hour. … once my father showed me a very old album full of most exciting pen and ink sketches of an imaginary city called Mopsopolis, inhabited by Mopses . He showed it to me in secret, and I was thrilled to have him share his own childhood secrets with me.

During 1894 Olga's father became increasingly ill, and the annual trip to Denmark was cancelled. On 13 November 1894, he died at the age of 49. The emotional impact on Olga, aged only 12, was traumatic, and her eldest brother, the new Tsar Nicholas II, was propelled into a role for which in Olga's later opinion he was ill-prepared.