Working on Ruby Memory has allowed me to learn so much about the Romanov daughters: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. I’ve read their compiled diaries and letters (what survived, anyway…I’m sure a lot more was lost than was saved). I’ve pulled up as many images of them as I can find. I’ve tried to find writings of people who knew them not just as princesses, but as regular young women. Because, when it comes down to it, that’s what all four sisters were…young women who had the misfortune to live in one of the most tumultuous and brutal eras of their country. All five siblings paid for the mistakes of others. That’s not right, but it’s also not the point of this post.
Tonight, I’m going to focus on Tatiana, the second oldest of Tsar Nicholas II’s daughters. She has been insanely interesting to write, mainly because I think there are a load of misconceptions about her. First and foremost, people’s initial impressions of her even today say she comes across as cold and aloof. In fairness, the vast majority of photographs of her show her with a neutral or somewhat severe expression. Her mother, Tsarina Alexandra, photographed in a similar way. The resemblance between the two women is striking.
Her writings tell a different story. While I wouldn’t call Tatiana the most outgoing of the sisters (in fact, I would probably call her the most reserved of the siblings), she was far from a cold person. She didn’t miss a single nuance of the goings-on around her, though I do think she was fairly choosy about who she verbalized that kind of thing to. From what I can gather, it took a while to earn her trust, but once you had it, she turned into an entirely different person. In that respect, she’s somewhat similar in personality to me. I know I can come across as very introverted and quiet, and I am, though I do shift quite a bit once one gets to know me.
In that sense, she had an advantage over her mother. Alexandra had an extremely difficult time opening up to people, and honestly, I almost wonder if she had some form of social anxiety. Records also show that she was a migraine sufferer, so I can imagine that was a delight to deal with on top of everything else. I know when I’m having one of my episodes, the LAST thing I want is to stand for a photo, or God forbid, engage in anything that resembles social interaction until the headache dissipates a bit. She almost always shows what I would consider a strained expression in photographs. Sometimes I do wonder if some of what we see in those images is physical discomfort. I don’t see that much with the sisters, though they were probably photographed enough to where it didn’t bother them.
Photographs do exist of Tatiana smiling. There aren’t a huge number of them, but they are out there. I will say the expression completely changes the way she looks. She was a beautiful woman on her worst day, and smiling lent a lightness to her features that’s usually absent in photos. I think I can give a bit of insight as to why so few smiling photos exist of her, when there are tons for her sisters.
I think Tatiana may have been a little self-conscious as to how she looked when she smiled, especially in pictures. I’m the same way. I HATE being photographed. I don’t think Tatiana hated it, but at the same time I don’t think she found the process terribly enjoyable either. In a lot of formal photos, she looks almost…bored? Like she’d rather be doing something else? One sees that somewhat with her elder sister Olga as well, though not quite to the same extent.
I also think that Tatiana wanted to socialize much more than she did. Being royalty, her circle was severely limited, and I think if one were to ask her what she thought of that, one would get a candid response that she did not find it pleasing. Again, would I characterize Tatiana as super gregarious? No…that title would fall to her youngest sister, Anastasia. But I do think she would have welcomed friends from the outside.
I think part of the strain that shows up on Tatiana’s features has to do with the fact that she was the emotional anchor for her mother. I can only imagine what that would have been like. I almost wonder if Tatiana was in a near-constant state of hypervigilance, with her always consciously or unconsciously monitoring her mother’s feelings, and reacting accordingly. That mental load would be exhausting at the best of times. Compound that with Alexei’s illness and Alexandra’s reactions to it, Tatiana would have always been on the lookout for a potential breakdown.
Even though all four sisters are characters in Ruby Memory, I try to maintain realistic versions of them. I’ve tried to type how each of them would have spoken, and they did have unique speech patterns and thoughts. History tends to remember them as a unit, OTMA, the four daughters of the last Tsar of Russia. I am trying to treat them as individuals, each with their own dreams, thoughts, fears, and quirks. Because, let’s face it…they were people, with all of the good, bad, and goofy that comes along with being human.
I only hope I am doing them justice.
