Baby in the Palace - PART I

noble features, the large blue-gray eyes of his mother and the auburn hair, with golden highlights, for which his father was famous. His tastes remained very simple and down-to-earth, and when his interest in practical jokes ceased, it became evident that he was unimpressed by his own importance, and extracted no false satisfaction from it. He disliked excessive pomp and ceremony, and had the simple, courteous manner of his father. Just like the Tsar, he knew how to enjoy life the way it was, delighting most of all in his family, and adding his especially quiet, affectionate manner to the already radiant circle of the Tsar’s home. Everyone who saw him, loved him. One of his favorite things to do was ride out into the city with his tutor, Pierre Gilliard, and no bodyguards:

We [Gilliard, the author, and Aleksei Nikolaievich] used to start out immediately after lunch, and often stopped at villages to watch the peasants work. Aleksei Nikolaievich liked questioning them, and they always answered him with the frank, kindly simplicity of the Russian moujik [peasant] , not having the slightest idea whom they were speaking to. The railway lines in the suburbs of St. Petersburg had a great attraction for the boy. He took the liveliest interest in the activities of the little stations we passed and the work of repair on the track, bridges, etc.

The palace police grew alarmed at these excursions, which took us beyond the guarded zone, especially as our route was not known beforehand. I was asked to observe the security rules in force, but I disregarded them, and our drives continued as before. The police then changed their procedure, and whenever we left the park we were certain to see a car appear and follow in our tracks. It was one of Aleksei Nikolaievich’s greatest delights to try and throw it off the scent, and now and then we were successful.

Aleksei’s relationship with Gilliard had begun together with their lessons. Gilliard, who had been tutor to the Tsarevich’s four elder sisters for some time already, had come to be entrusted with the tremendously important task of educating the future Tsar as well. He soon found that in the classroom, as in daily life, Aleksei displayed “very quick wits, and a keen, penetrating mind. He sometimes surprised me with questions beyond his years, which bore witness to a

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic