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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Yasmina4 on Saturday 26 October 13 19:52 BST (UK)
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I have been fascinated by the story since reading in search of the tsar.
So what do you all think. Did she escape?
Sandra
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Since all the books, movie in 1950s and numerous articles were done there were DNA tests which disproved her claim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Anderson
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New book published 2012 disputes that.
The lost Romanov Icon and the enigma of anastasia provides an interesting read.
Sandra
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New book published 2012 disputes that.
The lost Romanov Icon and the enigma of anastasia provides an interesting read.
Sandra
... which is an historical novel :-\
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DNA tests proved that Anna Anderson was not Anastasia. And the bones found in two separate graves were conclusively proved to be of the Tsar, the Tsarina, their four daughters and their son. The first grave contained nine victims (Nicholas, Alexandra, three daughters, the doctor, valet, cook, maid) and the second two victims - the other daughter and Alexei.
But that doesn't stop people writing imaginative stories - some are very entertaining!
Nell
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The only DNA test done used an old fragment of Anna Anderson`s intestine from the hospital laboratory in America, where she lived after leaving Europe.
T hat someone should escape from the cellar in the Ypatiev House in Ekaterinburg, seems imposssible ,however it is such an enormous coincidence that "Anna Anderson" should have had several conditions which Anastasia had :- a Both had very bad bunions, really bad and they can be discerned on the childhood photographs os Anastasia where she wears little silk shoes. I don`t man ordinary bunoins but bunions like onions which deform the feet.Halux valgus. b) Anastasia `s ring finger on her left hand was stiff as a result of the sailor who carried the little Tsarevitch about, closing the carriage door on it when Anastasia had her hand in the way. The imperial family were on the way to a major religeous event( probablyEaster) and so carried on with the engagement. It must have been broken and so healed stiff. Identical injury to A.A`s finger.
c) Anna Anderson had T,B of the sternum and this was a common illness in the Romanov family and Anastasia( if it was her) could well have developed it when on her mysterious travels which took her to Gemany.
d) Anna Anderson said she remembered a German prince visiting her "father" the Tsar, during the first world war, this seemed unlikely as of course they were on opposing sides but there was a family connection with the Tsarina. Later when state papers were released it was found such a visit had indeed taken place, in an effort to start peace talks. This was a secret visit.
E ) The ears of A.A and Anastasia are the same shape.
I was first attracted to the story when given an old photograph album of reproduced family photos taken by Queen Alexandra, whichhad been sold for charity, I saw the four little girls in their gorgeous dresses and asked my mum about, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia . She told me the story and I`ve been doing research in an informal way ever since( some 68 years)
We will never know the truth and people like lord Louis Mountbatten- who had a vested interest in it NOT being Anastasia -did not help(.He was not all sweetness and light!!!)
But the Tsar was a weak person not really suited to rule over Russia, his German wife very unpopular, it was seen better that his much more able brother Grand Duke Michael should become Tsar.It was a case of saving the dynasty against one weak man , with four daughters and a very ill son who may not live to adulthood. Cruel but practical. They really thought they would regain the throne and a strong Tsar would be a better bet . This was why the Dowager Empress and the rest of the family dare not meet Anna Anderson, she might just have been her granddaughter .How painful would it be to deny someone you had met and recognised? Viktoria.
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There was more than 1 DNA test done-
http://www.freewebs.com/anastasiafranziska/dnatests.htm
http://anomalyinfo.com/articles/sa00021a.php
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Anna Anderson did seem to know an amazing amount about Anastasia's background.
I have been captured by the story for years. Sandra
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My mistake, but I was so interested for years before DNA testing and the physical similarities seemed reasonably conclusive. She looked so like her three sisters on many photographs which is
also a strange coincidence. The three girls were not really alike at first glance but she looked like them all from time to time though illness etc. But I feel there is a mystery there and as I said we`ll never really know. The DNA tests prove she could not have been Anastasia.But for two people to have the same three physical characteristics is really strange.
Anna Anderson stated that the family,or at least her, were not shot in the Ypatiev house. "No ,,Not there".Ah well, it`s kept me out of mischief for a good many years.! Viktoria.
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The 3 similar characteristics are an amazing coincidence.
As I understand it Mountbatten was related to the Greek royals .
Why was he so prominent in being set against Anastasia. I realize they would
Have been related thu Queen Victoria. But she surely was no threat to him? Sandra
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Well seemingly money and other assets had been deposited by the Tsar in The Bank of England including dowry money for Anastasia. That is a simple explanation, its complicated.
Louis Mountbatten stood to unherit a share through his mother Victoria(not Queen Vic) who was sister to the Tsarina Alix ( Alexandra) as a collateral descendant. But not of course if Anna Anderson was Anastasia.
The Mountbattens were descended from Princess Alice, Queen Victoria`s daughter who married Ludwig IV of Hesse am Rhine. Somewhere along his line there is a scandal, a liason with a groom - can`t remember exact details but the children of this affair were accepted into the family alongside the legitimate children and Louis Mountbatten was descended from one of the illegitimate ones and it really bugged him. He fought hard to get our royal family to change their name to Mountbatten instead of Windsor. He engineered the meeting between Prince Philip and princess Elizabeth. The fact that it seems to be a happy marriage is all to the good.(Cor he was SO nice looking!)
There are quite a few books on the subject. It is a long time since I read them. Anastasia ( Anna Anderson) was not a very nice person by all accounts, ungrateful to those who helped her, imperious and demanding.
If only the Dowager Empress had agreed to meet Anna Anderson.
Viktoria.
Yet the little girl was charming, mischievous, a joker and full of fun.
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That was new to me, Mountbatten's line of descent. Wow! Very open minded weren't they.
I understand he wanted power. Phillip and Charles seem to have cared a lot about him. I do not get that feeling eminated from the rest of our royals. He was certainly a manipulator.
Not popular when he divided India. Surely he realized separation of the country the way he did was a recipe for disaster? Or was that the intention? Sandra
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I think he was fond of Philip, who was his nephew, and as that family were "disfunctional" he took him under his wing.Mountbatten had daughters and Philip was like a son to him.
I`m sure he had some excellent qualities, men who served under him seemed very loyal to him.
Edwina his wife was unfaithful ,with Pandit Nehru--that must have been galling but he was not in a position to cast stones! Lots came out later of course.
What happened to the Russian royal family they did not deserve, especially when you think of how Stalin behaved to his own people. Millions and millions killed and starvation worse than that for for the peasants under the Romanovs.
It is certainly an interesting subject.As I said -- it`s kept me out of mischief for a long time.
Kind regards. Viktoria.
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Have you read in search of the Tsar? That started me off years ago.
Another book was on the topic that Jesus died in Kashmir. The authors printed a photo of his grave there. Introduced us to the custodion who had taken the position handed down in his family for generations. Very convincing.The book also stated that Mary was buried in what is now Pakistan...in the town of Murree . That book was very well written too..
Sandra
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Louis Mountbatten stood to unherit a share through his mother Victoria(not Queen Vic) who was sister to the Tsarina Alix ( Alexandra) as a collateral descendant. But not of course if Anna Anderson was Anastasia.
The Mountbattens were descended from Princess Alice, Queen Victoria`s daughter who married Ludwig IV of Hesse am Rhine. Somewhere along his line there is a scandal, a liason with a groom - can`t remember exact details but the children of this affair were accepted into the family alongside the legitimate children and Louis Mountbatten was descended from one of the illegitimate ones and it really bugged him.
Louis of Battenburg (father to Louis Mountbatten) was the son of a Morganatic marriage.
His father Alexander of Hesse married Julie Therese Hauke ( A Polish Countess) who was a lady in waiting to the Tsarina Maria. She and her siblings were also ward's of the Tsar, after they were orphaned.
Julie was six months pregnant when the couple married. Their children were not allowed to be in the succession because their mother was not of high enough rank. They were titled Serene Highness rather than Grand Ducal Highness.And used the Battenberg surname rather than Hesse.
Lord Mountbatten, it seems had romantic feelings for the Tsarina Marie, and kept a photograph of her by his bedside. Maybe the reason he was so involved rather than money?
The present Queens children use the surname Mountbatten- Windsor. So that Prince Philip could pass on his family name to his children. Which, I think, is only right and proper.The Royal family took up the name Windsor in 1917, getting rid of Queen Victoria's Germanic surname.Which was not, unsurprisingly, popular.
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Yes , the marriage to Polish countess was a bar to them being in line but further back there was another scandal. The wife of an earlier Grand Duke had an affair resulting in several illegitimate children . They were however accepted into the family but barred from being in direct line. Such a long time ago since I read it all and I can`t remember who it was or the title of the relevant book.
The name Salersxian or something similar rings a bell. He was chamberlain to the Hesse family.He also was supposed to have fathered children with a grand Duchess and again the children were accepted into the family. I`ll have to look it up.Dates have completely gone.
They lived complicated lives didn`t they.
It may be a huge coincidence that a rather mysterious person named Larissa Feodorovna Tudor is buried in Lydd . On the marriage cert she is Larissa Haouk . ( O.K not Hauke)
She bore a strong resemblance to Tatiana it seems. There were always flowers on the grave each June 10th-- Tatiana`s birthday.
So many mysteries, so much confusion, so much to hide by the Bolsheviks so much hearsay that we can never know now. There are those who dispute that the 98.5 certainty of the DNA matches are absolute proof.
I just remember those lovely girls and the little boy. I envied the girls their dresses but when my Mum explained what had happened I went cold and have been fascinated ever since. Viktoria.
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had a very good friend ( now dead) whos husband was batman to lord mountbatten... and the tales she told. wow her house was full of pictures with her and her hubbie with the mountbattens and other members of the royal family too
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Wonderful anecdotes. Thank you for sharing. Sandra.