Anastasia Nicholaievna Romanova

"[On the parties she took OTMA to at her home] The girls enjoyed every minute of it. Especially my dear got-daughter Anastasia. Why I can still hear her laughter rippling all over the room. Dancing, music, games-why she threw herself wholeheartedly into them all."

"My favorite goddaughter was she indeed! I liked her fearlessness. She never whimpered or cried, even when hurt. She was a fearful tomboy. Goodness only knows which of the young cousins had taught her how to climb trees, but climb them she did, even when she was quite small. It was not generally known that she had a weak back and the doctors ordered massage. Anastasia or "Shvibzik," as I used to call her, hated what she labeled "fuss." A hospital nurse, Tatiana Gromova, used to come to the palace twice a week, and my naughty little niece would hide in a cupboard or under her bed, just to put off the massage by another five minutes or so. I suppose the doctors were right about the defective muscle, but nobody, seeing Anastasia at play, would have believed it, so quick and energetic was she. And what a bundle of mischief!"

"But she was a Shvibzik indeed. As she grew older, she developed a gift for mimicry. Ladies who came to see my sister-in-law never knew that somewhere unseen in the background, their Empress's youngest daughter was watching every movement of theirs, every peculiarity, and later it would all come out when we were by ourselves. That art of Anastasia's was not really encouraged, but oh the fun we had when we heard duplicated the fat Countess Kutuzova, one of my mother's ladies-in-waiting, complaining of a heart attack brought on by the appearance of a mouse. Very naughty of Anastasia, but she was certainly brilliant at it!"

"My father comes home for dinner and usually tells some story about the Imperial family. One day it is Anastasia to whom my father had said: 'Anastasia Nicholaievna, you are made of gold.' To which she retorted: 'Not at all, I'm made of ordinary leather." "When I saw her for the first time, upon my arrival in Tobolsk, I could hardly believe my eyes, so rotund and healthy looking had the usually frail Anastasia become. But her inner disposition had not changed a bit. She was still the obstinate, naughty and irrepressibly cheerful Anastasia; and in the days of exile her gay and boisterous temperment proved of immeasurable value to the rest of her family. But she also had a biting tongue and an astonishing supply of somewhat shady anecdotes, goodness knew where she collected, which, at times, shocked my father. But shocking or otherwise, Anastasia made everyone laugh, and certainly no greater service could be rendered by anybody in those days of gloom and despair. Nor can Anastasia's antics at the time be regarded being nothing more than childish tomfoolery. Always keenly intelligent she could not be blind to the dangers that threatened all of us, and avid as she was for all kinds of pleasure and entertainment, she suffered greatly from the dullness and privations of exile. Undoubtedly much of Anastasia's ostensibly irresponsible nonsense was a clever- one is tempted to say heroic-effort to aid her parents and other companions in exile in maintaining their courage and good spirits."

“This was not due to her beauty, for Anastasia was less beautiful that her sisters. She was small in size and her features were irregular. Her nose was rather long and her mouth quite wide. She had a small, straight chin, which lacked almost entirely the usual curve below the lower lip. But her eyes – blue, luminous eyes, always sparkling with humor – were truly beautiful. It was from her father that she had inherited those eyes. I have never met a person who was introduced for the first time that did not comment on the beauty of his eyes.” “At first she impressed one as a picture of innocence and model behavior. Very straight-laced and prim she appeared when she entered the room, holding herself as erect as all her sisters did, her head slightly bent forward, a very grave expression in her blue eyes. But usually, the more serious she looked, the more certain it was that some mischievous idea was brewing away in her head, and in a few minutes, the fun would begin.”

"Once, in Tsarskoe Selo, my father found her alone in the dining room of the palace, tired and perspiring, yet hopping energetically on one leg around the table. 'What are you doing?' my father asked her. 'An officer on the yacht told me that to hop around a dining-room table on one leg helps one to grow,' Anastasia explained with great seriousness, without for a moment interrupting her strenuous exercise."

"Anastasia was very roguish and almost a wag. She had a strong sense of humor and the darts of her wit often found sensitive spots. She was rather an enfant terrible, although this fault tended to correct itself with age. She was extremely idle, though with the idleness of a gifted child. Her French accent was excellent, and she acted scenes from comedy with remarkable talent. She was so lively, and her gaiety so infectious, that several members of the suite had fallen into the way of calling her 'Sunshine,' the nickname her mother had been given at the English Court." 

 "I have just finished a lesson with Olga Nicholaievna; by myself again, I am expecting her sister Tatiana. The door opens and instead I see a very small girl coming towards me. She is carrying under her arm a big picture-book, which she ceremoniously put down on the table in front of me; then she gives me her hand and says in Russian: "I would like to learn French too." And without waiting for my answer, she climbs on to a chair, kneels on it, opens her book, and asks me, putting her tiny forefinger on a huge elephant: "What's this called in French?" Then I am confronted with a whole succession of lions, tigers, and well, almost all the creatures in the Ark. I join her in the game, very pleased with her great seriousness about this first lesson. Then the door opens again, and this time Tatiana comes in. The little girl, whose finger has just lighted on the boa constrictor, claps the picture-book shut and jumps up. She holds out her hand to me once more, and in a very low voice says: "I'll come again tomorrow." Then she runs out of the room, clasping the book to her chest. This was how I first made the acquaintance of Anastasia Nicholaievna, who was then four and a half. I need hardly say that no lesson took place on the next day. During the following months I saw more and more of her. She would come running into the schoolroom as soon as she knew I was alone, and would tell me all about the important happenings in her life. She had a child's picturesque turn of phrase, and the melodious Russian gave her voice a soft, almost wheedling note. Sometimes she even got me to let her sit and listen when I was teaching one of the older girls. She would sit on the carpet for preference, and watch every-thing in devout silence, for she knew that at the first interruption she would be banished from the schoolroom--which at that time she evidently regarded as a sort of forbidden paradise. But these good intentions were seldom strong enough to resist the terrible temptation of making a voyage of discovery under the desk, and such adventures usually ended with a humiliating expulsion from the room, causing a flood of tears The years passed, and in 1910 Anastasia became my pupil. She was then eight and a half, and I have seldom seen such zeal for learning in a girl of that age. She had a remarkable memory and made amazingly good progress. It was like a game to her to learn by heart anything she wanted; and as she had an excellent French accent, she recited it very successfully, whether prose or poetry. Grammar, alas, was never her strong point, even in Russian, and disaster occurred when we came to participles. Facing this difficult part of speech, she developed the instinctive fear of a young colt with which one is trying to jump a fence it thinks too high. Again and again I led her up to the obstacle, but every time at the last moment she shied back."

"In the autumn of 1913 I was appointed house-tutor to the Tsarevich and moved over into the palace. About this time I noticed that Anastasia's zeal for learning was less and less in evidence; in fact she became distinctly lazy. My colleagues and I were in despair, for till then we had always been very satisfied with her. I tried in vain to fight against the pronounced indifference she showed during the lessons, but it only turned them into tearful scenes without producing any results: right to the end she remained a lazy pupil. This did not in the least spoil our good relations, however, and since I had got to know her as a very little girl, I was on more familiar terms with her than with her sisters. Because of her age she was much closer to her brother, and was far more interested than her elder sisters in his life and even in mine. She would come running into my study just to get a "yes" or "no" in answer to a question she wanted to ask me. Sometimes she came to me with scarlet cheeks, trembling with emotion, to tell me in her comical French about all the little upsets of her life. Often, too, there was great joy she wanted to share with somebody at once and couldn't keep it to herself a moment longer." 

 "Ingenuousness and utter simplicity were the most characteristic qualities of Anastasia Nicholaievna. As a small child she was very mischievous, spotting at once the comical traits in people's characters and afterwards imitating them very skillfully, so that it was irresistibly funny. But as she grew older, this rather irreverent habit became less common." 

 “I never noticed in her the smallest trace of mawkishness or dreamy melancholy, not even at the age when girls fall a prey to such tendencies. She was the imp of the whole house, and the glummest faces would always brighten in her presence, for it was impossible to resist her jokes and nonsense. She was very boisterous, and sometimes a good deal too temperamental. Every impulse, every new sensation was something she immediately had to indulge to the full; she was aflame with life and animation. Even at sixteen she still behaved like a headstrong young foal that has run away from its master. In her play, in her realizing her wishes, in her schemes, in everything she did, there was the same impetuousness and youthful enthusiasm - except, alas, in her lessons. I have mentioned that when she was younger this failing caused many scenes. When I rebuked her then, I felt she positively hated me, and her eyes went quite dark; but her rage vanished as quickly as it had come. A quarter of an hour later all was forgotten, and happy smile would appear on her cheeks, where the tears were still drying. She took calmly any punishment she felt was justified, but was deeply injured by any unfairness, and fought against it with every fiber of her being. For all her weaknesses you were bound to love this child, because you could not escape from her irresistible charm, made up of freshness, enjoyment of life, ingenuousness and simplicity."

 "At the end of the farce the husband has to turn his back, open his dressing-gown as if to take it off - Anastasia wore an old one of mine - and then exclaim: 'But I've packed my trousers; I can't go.' The night's applause had excited the little Grand Duchess. The piece had gone with a swing and they were getting through the 'business' so fast that a draught got under the gown and whisked its tail up to the middle of her back, showing her sturdy legs and bottom encased in the Emperor's Jaeger underwear. We all gasped; Emperor and Empress, suite and servants, collapsed in uncontrolled laughter. Poor Anastasia could not make it out. All were calling for a second performance, but this time she was more careful. Certainly I shall always remember the night; it was the last hearty unrestrained laughter the Empress ever enjoyed."

"Olga was still in bed when little Anastasie was born. Anastasie means "the breaker of chains," or "the prison opener," and in the icon sacred to her she is always represented with broken fetters behind her. The little Grand Duchess was called by this name because, in honour of her birth, the Emperor pardoned and reinstated the students who had been imprisoned for participating in the riots in St. Petersburg and Moscow during the winter. Alas! many of them were soon after in a state of revolution."

 "The Grand Duchess Anastasie Nicolaivna was baptised when she was a fortnight old. I was not present at the ceremony as the Grand Duchess Olga had not yet quite recovered from the fever. But the ceremony was exactly the same at that observed for the baptism of the Grand Duchess Marie. Many people have expressed surprise that one of the little Grand Duchesses was not called Victoria or Alexandra. The Russian Church only allows names which exist in the language. Victoria does not exist, though Victor does; Alexandra is considered very unlucky for the Romanoff family."

On our return to Tsarskoe Selo the Empress manifested symptoms of whooping cough. I t speedily spread to the nurseries and the four children. The Russian nurse and I contracted it. I had told the children they were to be most careful not to cough on anyone, or that person might take the disease from them, and they were very obedient. One day the little Grand Duchess Anastasie was sitting in my lap, coughing and choking away, when the Grand Duchess Marie came to her and putting her face close up to her said, "Baby, darling, cough on me." Greatly amazed, I asked her what she meant, and the dear child said, "I am so sorry to see my dear little sister so ill, and I thought if I could take it from her she would be better." Was it not touching?"

"Presently the two little Grand Duchesses, Marie and Anastasie, began to scream, and I ran into their room; I found them both standing in their beds looking terribly alarmed. They told me there was a strange man in their room who had frightened them. Now the rooms were in a suite, and they could be entered only from the dining-room, or from the second bedroom, and this bedroom in its turn could only be entered from the room in which the little Princess lay ill. It will therefore be seen that no one could have entered their room without our knowledge. The doctor and the little Princess's own faithful servant-man had been in the dining-room all night. I thought the night-light might have thrown a shadow which frightened the children into thinking there was someone in the room. I therefore changed its position, but still the children were afraid, and said he was hiding over by the curtain. I lit a candle, and taking little Anastasie in my arms, carried her round the room to prove to her that there was absolutely nothing to frighten her. The doctor came in and tried to soothe Marie, but it was useless; she would not be soothed and Anastasie refused to return to bed, so I took her in my arms and sat down to try to comfort her. She buried her face in my neck and clung to me trembling and shaking. I t was dreadful to me to see her in such a fright. The doctor being obliged to go I lighted a candle and left it on a little table close to Marie's bed, and sat down near it, that I might be beside both children. Marie kept talking about the dreadful person, and starting up in wild horror every now and then. The doctor came in and out, and told me the strange doctor had come and had given the little sufferer an injection of caffeine; her heart seemed stronger and he began to have hope. When next Marie began to talk about the mysterious stranger I said, "A strange doctor had come to help Dr. H. to make cousin Ella quite well, and perhaps he might have come to the door in mistake, or you might have heard him speak, but there is no one in the room now." She assured me that the stranger was not a doctor and had not come through that door at all, and did not speak. Suddenly she stood up and looked at something which I could not see. "Oh!" she said, "he is gone into cousin Ella's room." Anastasie sat up on my knee and said, "Oh! poor cousin Ella; poor Princess Elizabeth!" She fell asleep almost immediately after, but it was some time before I could loosen the clasped arms, and little Marie slept also quietly. As soon as possible I laid her in her little bed and returned to the sick room. The strange doctor said to me when I entered the room, "The little child is no better." I asked him what was wrong, and he said, "Paralysis of the heart." He had given her many injections, both of caffeine and camphor, but to no avail. We gave her stimulants constantly, and for a little she appeared to improve, and we hoped we might save her. Suddenly she sat up in her bed, and looked from one to the other of us with wide, frightened eyes. She cried out suddenly, "I'm dying! I'm dying!" Miss W. coaxed her to lie down again. The child turned to me, and said anxiously, "Send a telegram to mama." I promised it should be done, and she added, "Immediately." We sent upstairs and called the Grand Duke and the Empress, who came down without loss of time. The telegram was sent to Coburg to the mother. Alas! it was too late; when her answer was received the child had already passed away. We continued to fan the feeble spark of life, but moment by moment it declined. She began to talk to her cousins, and seemed to imagine she was playing with them. She asked for little Anastasie, and I brought the wee thing into the room. The dying eyes rested on her for a moment, and Anastasie said, "Poor cousin Ella! Poor Princess Elizabeth!" I took the baby out of the room."

 "In the nurseries we had a few children's parties, but nothing very much. Little Anastasie was delighted with the stir and bustle of city life and deeply interested in all she saw. The children developed a love for those little toy balloons which are sold in the streets. When they were very good I used to send out and get them one each. But Anastasie used sometimes to want me to stop the carriage and buy them from the men, and this, of course, could not be allowed. So I always said simply that I could not, without advancing any reason. She evidently thought force would have to be used to induce him to part with them, for one day she saw some little children walking on the Palace Quay, each one with a balloon. She drew my attention to them. "Look, look!" cried she; "little children with balloons; get out, take them from them and give them to me." I explained why that would not do, so she said, "Well, get out, and ask them nicely and politely, and perhaps they will give them to me."

"It was very sad to me to witness the wrathful vindictive spirit that the war raised in my little charges. One of the illustrated papers had a picture of the baby children of the Crown Prince of Japan. Marie and Anastasie came running across to see the picture, and wanted to know who those queer little children were. I told them, and with a look of hatred coming into her sweet little face Marie slapped the picture with her open hand. "Horrid little people," said she; "they came and destroyed our poor ships and drowned our sailors." I explained to her that it was not these little children, who were only babies younger than Anastasie. So she said, "Yes; those little babies did it. Mama told me the Japs were all only little people."

"Someone in speaking to me of the four little girls lately said to me, "Olga has grace, wit, and good looks; Tatiana is a regular beauty; Marie is so sweet-natured, good and obliging, no one could help loving her; but little Anastasie has personal charm beyond any child I ever saw."

"I had got from England a preparation for the children's hair, and was rubbing it into little Anastasia's head one evening. She objected, and I said, 'It will make your hair grow nicely, darling,' so she submitted. Next evening I went to get the kappuka from the cupboard and mademoiselle ran off in the next room. She returned dragging by its leg and awful dolly, a regular fetish, minus a wig, one eye, and an arm. She gravely took a little piece of sponge and began to rub the kappuka into the creature's head. I remonstrated; telling her I had to send to England for the stuff and did not want it wasted. She looked at me most reproachfully, and said, 'my poor Vera! She has got no curls; this will make her hair grow.' Of course she got her way."

"Marie and Anastasia were also blonde types and very attractive girls. Marie had splendid eyes and rose-red cheeks. She was inclined to be stout and she had rather thick lips which detracted a little from her beauty. Marie had a naturally sweet disposition and a very good mind. All three of these girls were more or less of the tomboy type. They had something of the innate brusqueness of their Romanov ancestors, which displayed itself in a tendency to mischief. Anastasia, a sharp and clever child, was a very monkey for jokes, some of them at times almost too practical for the enjoyment of others. I remember once when the family was in their Polish estate in winter the children were amusing themselves at snowballing. The imp which sometimes seemed to possess Anastasia led her to throw a stone rolled in a snowball straight at her dearly loved sister Tatiana. The missile struck the poor girl fairly in the face with such force that she fell senseless to the ground. The grief and horror of Anastasia lasted for many days and permanently cured her of her worst propensities to practical jokes."

"Aleksey was often given tin soldiers, miniature tanks, etc. He liked to play with them and Anastasia who was three years his senior and a naughty child, used to tease him breaking the even rows of soldiers after which she stood in the posture of a victor on the battle field. At first Aleksey got very offended but then he stopped paying attention to his sister's tricks." 

 "I spent the evening with the Empress in the mauve boudoir, and she told me how glad she was to have me near her. "I know the Grand Duchesses want you to be somewhere close to their room, so I've decided that the red drawing-room will be the best place for you to sleep. Come with me. Anastasie is waiting for us," she said. The red drawing-room was a fine room; everything in it was upholstered in scarlet, and scarlet and white chintz covered the easy chairs. A bed had been arranged on one of the couches, and the two Grand Duchesses, with tender solicitude, had seen to the minor details themselves. Anastasie's nightgown lay outside the coverlet, Marie had put a lamp and an ikon on the table by the bed; and a snapshot of Titi, taken from their collection of photographs, had been hastily framed, and occupied a place next to the holy ikon. How dearly I loved them all... how glad I was that I was privileged to share their danger! The Empress left me with Anastasie, as she wished to see Count Benckendorff, so Anastasie and I sat down comfortably on the red carpet, and amused ourselves with jigsaw puzzles until she returned. The Empress came back from her interview with Count Benckendorff in a state of painful agitation, and, directly Anastasie had gone to bed, she told me that the reports were worse." --- The Empress decided that Marie should sleep with her. "You, Lili, will sleep in the room with Anastasie, and have Marie's bed. Don't take off your corsets... one doesn't know what may happen. The Emperor arrives between 5 and 7 to-morrow morning, and we must be ready to meet him. Come to my room early, and then I'll tell you the train." 

 "Neither the Grand Duchess nor I could sleep, and we lay awake in the darkness talking in low tones. Occasionally I was silent, but, when this was so, Anastasie never failed to ask "Lili, are you asleep?" During the night we got up and looked out of the windows. A huge gun had been placed in the courtyard. "How astonished Papa will be!" whispered Anastasie. We stood for a few minutes watching the weird scene. It was so bitterly cold that the sentinels were dancing round the gun in order to keep warm. Their figures were sharply defined against the arc-lights - it seemed like some new Carmagnole; in the distance we heard shouts of drunken voices and occasional shots - and so the night passed. At 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning we went downstairs to the Empress's bedroom. She was awake, and as she opened the door she whispered: "Hush... Marie is asleep: the train is late... Most probably the Emperor won't come until ten." The Empress was fully dressed, and she looked so sad that I could not help saying impulsively: "Oh, Madame, why is the train late?" She smiled wanly, but did not reply. As we went back to our bedroom, Anastasie said in agitated tones: " Lili, the train is never late. Oh, if Papa would only come quickly... I'm beginning to feel ill. What shall I do if I get ill? I can't be useful to Mamma... Oh, Lili, say I'm not goint to be ill." I tried to calm her, and I persuaded her to lie down on her bed and sleep; but the poor child was actually sickening for the measles. Anastasie was the sweetest-natured girl: she adored her mother, and delighted in running hither and thither on her errands. The Empress always alluded to Anastasie as "my legs!" 

 "At last the Empress decided to tell the Grand Duchesses about the abdication... she could not bear this painful task to devolve upon her husband. She therefore made her way to their apartments, and was with them alone for a long time. Anastasie seemed to sense what had happened... and after her mother had left them she looked at me, and said, very quietly, "Mamma has told us everything, Lili; but, as Papa is coming, nothing else matters. However, you have known what was going on . . how could you keep it from us? Why, you're usually so nervous how is it you are so calm?" I kissed her, and said that I owed all my fortitude to her mother. She had set such an example of courage that it was impossible for me not to follow it."

"Perhaps Anastasia Nicolaevna would have grown up the prettiest of the sisters. Her features were regular and finely cut. She had fair hair, fine eyes, with impish laughter in their depths, and dark eyebrows that nearly met. These combined to make the youngest Grand Duchess quite unlike any of her sisters. She had a type of her own and was more like her mother's than her father's family. She was rather short even at seventeen, and was, then decidedly fat, but it was the fatness of youth. She would have outgrown it, as had her sister Marie. Anastasia Nicolaevna was the originator of all mischief, and was as witty and amusing as she was lazy at her lessons. She was quick and observant, with a keen sense of humour, and was the only one of the sisters who never knew the meaning of shyness. Even as a baby she had entertained grave old men, who were her neighbors at table, with her astonishing remarks."

"...Our little ones were invited to tea with the Emperor's children. Igor went too. Little Anastasia was thrilled with him, kept calling him a nice little boy and gave him flowers when they said goodbye..."

"Whenever I talked with her, I always came away impressed by the breadth of her interests. That her mind was keenly alive was immediately apparent."

[On Anastasia at age eleven] "The youngest - Anastasia was still a child. When she was very small, she promised to turn into quite a beauty - but this was never realized. Her face was less regular than her sisters, but very lively. If you happened to be sitting next to her at table, you had constantly to be ready for some unexpected question. She was bolder than her sisters and very witty."

"...Anastasia, whose character was not yet formed, of course, would certainly be very capable, but was the only one of the Grand Duchesses who was capricious."

Anastasia, one day, climbed onto the nursery table and jumped off. The governess said, "You must not do that, it is too high; you can jump off the sofa if you want to jump, but not off the table." Paying no heed to what had been said to her, Anastasia again climbed on the table and jumped off. So her governess gently slapped her. Anastasia sat down and thought a moment, then said, "it is not nice to get a slap, but it is better to climb on the table and get a slap than to jump off the sofa [and not get a slap]," and she promptly climbed up on the table once more and jumped again. The governess tied her in a chair with a sash. Anastasia did not like this so she said, "it is better to climb on the table and get a slap but it is better not to climb on the table than to be tied in a chair like this!"

One spring the nursery was taken to an orchard near the Palace to pick some apples, and, as a reward, they were promised some baked apples with their tea. When the baskets were full the apples were sent to the palace and the children were taken off to listen to a military band. While the band was playing, Anastasia suddenly produced an apple which she had hidden and began to eat it. The governess took it away from her and told her not to eat it, as it would make her ill. A few moments later, Anastasia produced another apple and said to her governess, "if you take this apple away from me I will scream and then the people will think you are being wicked to me." So the governess said, "Anastasia, be sure as you eat that apple, you will be punished when you get home." Anastasia was not frightened by the threat and calmly proceeded to eat the apple. When the [children] returned to the palace Anastasia was put straight to bed and at tea time, all the other children had baked apples but none was given to her. The other children thought to tease her by asking her if she did not want some of their lovely baked apples. "No, indeed," remarked Anastasia, "because you don't know how good that apple was I had in the garden." The following day Anastasia asked to be taken to the orchard. Her governess asked her why she wanted to be taken there again and Anastasia, throwing her arms around the governess' neck, said: "Because it was such fun eating that apple!"

When Anastasia was very young she was swimming with her father and sisters in the sea. Suddenly a huge wave came over them. All the young Grand Duchesses emerged from the water except Anastasia. The tide had carried her down. Frantically, they searched for her. Finally, Nicholas found her and pulled her ashore by her long hair.

When swimming, an officer pointed out a mole on Anastasia's left shoulder blade and said that if she ever got lost they would know how to find her because she had been "branded by the mark. Of course, Anastasia thought it to be hilarious.

When the saluting cannon on the Imperial Yacht fired at sunset, Anastasia liked to retreat into a corner, sick her fingers into her ears, widen her eyes, and loll her tongue in mock terror.

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (Anastasia's aunt) remembered a time when Anastasia was teasing so ruthlessly that she slapped the child. The little girl's face went crimson, but instead of crying, she ran out of the room without uttering a sound.

Gibbes was waiting for a while for the little pair to come and start lessons. However, the previous night, there was a "fancy dress" party. In a few minutes, in came the little Imp all black from soot and she was carrying chimney sweep tools…a little ladder, etc. Gibbes, pretended not to notice and asked, "So, did you go to the party Anastasia Nicholaievna?" and she just laughed and said nothing. A moment later the double doors burst open and in came the giggling Olga, Tatiana and Maria, with a furious Alexandra yelling "Anastasia! Go and get cleaned up this INSTANT!” Olga, Tatiana, and Maria trying to restrain giggles, Anastasia got up and came back a while later with a big red scrubbed face. The lesson continued as normal but the little latter remained on the desk.

Once when playing hide-and-seek with Dr. Botkin's son, Gleb, Anastasia was caught from her hiding place behind the curtain because her shoes were showing. On the next turn, she put her shoes underneath a curtain so it would look like she was hiding there, then stood at the top of the staircase to watch Gleb get fooled by her clever plot!

Once, Anastasia made a necklace of crackers so that she could "eat one whenever she wanted".

One day in 1912 at Livadia, the four Grand Duchesses crept into their father's Study on the upper floor of the White Palace at Livadia in his absence. The Emperor was unusually protective of his privacy, and almost always locked the room when he was gone, but on this day he had forgotten, and the temptation proved too much. While the girls were exploring, their mother began to call for them. As her voice became louder and more insistent, they panicked. Marie ran for the window, and told her sisters to lower her out; she was dangling by her arms mid-way down the side of the Palace when Alexandra apparently walked into the room, and her sisters let go so as not to get caught. She fell to the garden, some fifteen feet below, with a thud; luckily, she landed in some shrubbery, and was only bumped and bruised, but their adventure had been discovered and they were forbidden to go out for several weeks thereafter.