Royal romances of to-day . re of these winter gardens are pools of water inwhich gold fish sport, and at times pretty fountainsplay into these pools. Whenever I have been in this wonderful palaceI have felt as if I were wandering through a dreamworld. Several times I have been through portionsof this palace and each time I have felt a new thrillof unreality. The occasion of my first visit was when the Tsarreceived the members of the first Duma, the occa-sion when I first saw the Tsaritsa, the DowagerEmpress and the little Grand Duchesses. The Tsarhad commanded all of the grand dames of theCour
Royal romances of to-day . re of these winter gardens are pools of water inwhich gold fish sport, and at times pretty fountainsplay into these pools. Whenever I have been in this wonderful palaceI have felt as if I were wandering through a dreamworld. Several times I have been through portionsof this palace and each time I have felt a new thrillof unreality. The occasion of my first visit was when the Tsarreceived the members of the first Duma, the occa-sion when I first saw the Tsaritsa, the DowagerEmpress and the little Grand Duchesses. The Tsarhad commanded all of the grand dames of theCourt to appear in full court costume, and the re-sult was a scene of unparalleled splendour, a spec-tacle imposing beyond imagination. The ThroneRoom and halls that were in use that day suggestedscenes from the magnificent days of the Empire ofFrance when beautiful women and emblazoned,uniformed men arrayed themselves in costumes ofglittering splendour. The old Russian court cos-tumes which were worn in the Winter Palace that. QOO J o W u W H Wu < < Pi w H :z; Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia 179 day were quite as splendid as any the French everconceived even in the days of greatest pomp andshow. On another occasion I was received at the Win-ter Palace by a well-known and powerful noblemanof the Court, who has been close to the Empress formany years in the dual capacity of high functionaryand friend. He is one to whom my high thanksare due for some of the material contained in thesearticles, for he not only told me some of the anec-dotes which are here related, but he verified muchof the material that I had collected from otherpersons and sources. Peterhof is the favourite residence of the Tsar-itsa and four of her five children were born of the several buildings of this palace boastsa charming romantic history. About half a cen-tury ago when the first Nicholas was soon to beEmperor of Russia, he paid a visit to the Germancourt. During the visit a tournament
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcu31924, booksubjectqueens
