Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg (1900-1979), reflects on his Romanov relatives . . . [Note: Emperor Nicholas II was his maternal uncle through marriage and paternal second cousin]: 

“The Tsar was my father’s first cousin…and the Tsarina was my aunt on my mother’s side. Another aunt, Elizabeth, had married the Grand Duke Serge. So our Russian connections were very close. We used to see each other quite often either in Germany, or in Russia. I loved my Russian family and I loved Russia too.

These old family photograph albums bring back memories of all the happy times we had together in that almost unbelievable world before the Revolution. In this photo with my cousins I was just ten…my little cousin the Tsesarevich Alexei is in the carriage. He was heir to the Russian throne and was younger than me by about four years and in very poor health sometimes… he was a haemophiliac, which was a great worry to us all.

…Olga, Marie, Anastasia and Tatiana were all very beautiful. I remember I had always secretly hoped to marry Marie.

Russia was an autocracy at that time, the Tsar had absolute power and was answerable only to God. Yet anyone less like an autocrat than my uncle Nicky would be hard to imagine…he was a very, very kind-hearted simple charming man. But at the same time he was rather weak and indecisive.

He was never happier than when he was outside playing with his children. I remember he would purchase us all chocolate-ices, and after, settle down with a long book to read quietly in peace

And now, all that was finished. All the happy memories were things of the past…

My uncle had lost his throne – he, my aunt, and all my cousins were under arrest. We were shocked and dismayed but we didn’t dream of the terrible things which were yet to come… I don’t think anyone could of.

We had very little news of the family after the Bolsheviks took over. We all hoped they would be safe but we feared the worse. It was a very long time before we heard of all the details…which were quite….horrible… They were all shot together. Alexei and one of his sisters did not die immediately…Even their doctor and their helpers were murdered with them. Soon after, my aunt Elizabeth who had loved children and orphans and nursing people back to health so much, was also murdered by being flung down a mineshaft and buried alive.

These sad deeds cast a shadow over the whole of our family, for a very, very long time…”

© Paul Gilbert. 21 February 2025