*** boys clothing: European royalty--Russia Tsarevich Alexis's early years











Figure 1.--Alexei beginning at about 5 or 6 years old was usually dressed in a sailor suit, except for memonial events. This continued until the War years.

European Royalty: Russia--The Tsaraevich Alexis's Early Years

The Tsar and Tsrina had four daughters, none of which could inherit the throne. Alexis' arrival was thus an enormously joyous occassion. It also meant that he was looked over like no ordinary child, even no ordinary prince. And Alexis was also surronded by an adoring mother and those four sisters. Thus being a boy poses real difficulties. He was no ordinary prince, but in line to become a virtualy absolute ruler of Russia, the largest land empire in Europe with enormous problems. And if that was not pressure enough, Alexis had hemophilia which made it virtually impossible to be a normal boy, even if he had not been a prince. Many normal boyhood activities were not allowed least he fall and injure himself. Alexis was given a minder, the sailor Derevenko who was devoted to him. His parents did attempt to create normal play activities for him. Tsarevich Alexei after his infant and toddler years was usually dressed in sailor suits. Except for ceremonial occasions, most of the photographs of him show him in sailor suits--until World War I. After he joined his father at the front he always appearedin an army uniform. Even after the Revolution and their internment by the Bolshevicks he seems to have worn the army uniform. The Tzarina was very religious and increasingly turned to misticism in a despeate attempt to protect the Tsaraevich. The Czar was less convinced, but deferred to his strong willed wife. In reality, Alexei's only hope for a modicum of a normal life was the druken mistic his mother turned to for help. Father Grigorii Rasputin was a peasant from Siberia who his mother was convinced had the ability ability to cure her precious son. With his presence, Alexei could leave a more productive life. Anytime he grew ill, Rasputin would be summoned to the palace, and seemed to cure him. Even with all the careful watchig over Alexis, tghefe wee several serious incidents.


Figure 2.--Alexei on an outing with his mother and two of his sisters. As always he wears a sailor suit.

Childhood

The Tsar and Tsrina had four daughters, none of which could inherit the throne. Alexis' arrival was thus an enormously joyous occassion. It also meant that he was looked over like no ordinary child, even no ordinary prince. And Alexis was also surronded by an adoring mother and those four sisters. Thus being a boy poses real difficulties. He was no ordinary prince, but in line to become a virtualy absolute ruler of Russia, the largest land empire in Europe with enormous problems. And if that was not pressure enough, Alexis had hemophilia which made it virtually impossible to be a normal boy, even if he had not been a prince. Many normal boyhood activities were not allowed least he fall and injure himself. Alexis was given a minder, the sailor Derevenko who was devoted to him. His parents did attempt to create normal play activities for him. And thanks to his sister Olga, we have family snapshots of Alexis and his boyhood activities. There were enumerable family outings. We see Alexis swimming and playing with carefully chosen boys on the family estate. We are not entirely sure how this came off. Derevenko was also by his side or close by to make sure he was safe.


Figure 3.--Alexei aboard the "Standart" in 1912. Note how his left knee was bent.

Clothing

As a little boy and toddler, Alexis wiore dresses snd than a variety of juvenile outfits. From a very ealy age e begam wearing sailor suitsahnd until Word War I he began wearing mostly sailor suits. Most of Alexi's boyhood photographs show him in sailor suits. I'm not sure why this was. Sailor suits were popular for European boys at the turn of the centurry, but they do not seem to have been a major fashion for Russian boys. His father does not seem to have worn sailor suits, at least commonly, as a boy. The choice of sailor suits for Alexei probably reflects his mother's choice. Sailor suits were a very popular fashion for boys in her native Germany. Alexei appears to have usually worn long pants sailor suits. Alexei appears to have worn sailor suits virtually all the time, except for ceremonial occasions.

Sailor suits

Most of Alexi's boyhood photographs show him in sailor suits. I'm not sure why this was. Sailor suits were popular for European boys at the turn of the centurry, but they do not seem to have been a major fashion for Russian boys. His father does not seem to have worn sailor suits, at least commonly, as a boy. The choice of sailor suits for Alexei probably reflects his mother's choice. Sailor suits were a very popular fashion for boys in her native Germany. Alexei appears to have usually worn long pants sailor suits. Alexei appears to have worn sailor suits virtually all the time, except for ceremonial occasions. Photographs show him in silor suits of course aboard the royal yacht. But he also is seen in sailor suits for outdoor outings, intimate times with his parents and sisters, for his lessons as well. The Cazarina appears to have been partial to white sailor suits, as least the middy blouse. Alexei dis often appear in dark pants--especially as an older boy, but usually a white middy blouse.

Preferences

We are not sure what Alexei thought of his sailor suits or if he wanted to wear other types of clothes. Except for ceremonial dress, he appears from the age of 6 or 7 years to have either worn sailor suits or army uniforms. I know of no other royal prince who was dressed in such similar outfits during their boyhood. One account indicates that Alexei had simple tastes. He reportedly refused to speak anything but Russian and favored Russian-styled outfits.

Sailor hats

The Tsaraevich, as he almost always wore sailor suits, wore sailor hats as a boy. He does not appear to have worn the broad-brimmed sailor hats wore by European boys, but rather the soft caps with streamers worn by Russian sailors. Only on ceremonial occasions does he comminly appear in other caps. This did not change until the War began and he wore army uniforms.

Changes

Alexis because he most commonly wore sailor suits and caps, he had a lot of them. The suits were provided by the Imperial tailor, Kitayov. In just 1 year, the Imperial family ordered 11 pairs of pants for his sailor suits. Most (7) were black pants of English fabric and silk lined. The others (4) were cloth (probably white) and unlined. They also ordered 12 middy blouses and 2 pea jackets. Alexis' sailor caps were ordered from M.I. Skosyrev.


Figure 4.--Alexei's and his mother aboard the Standart. She was not yet aware of how badly his leg was hurt.

Mother

The Tzarina was very religious and increasingly turned to misticism in a despeate attempt to protect the Tsaraevich. The Czar was less convinced, but deferred to his strong willed wife. In reality, Alexei's only hope for a modicum of a normal life was the druken mistic his mother turned to for help. Father Grigorii Rasputin was a peasant from Siberia who his mother was convinced had the ability ability to cure her precious son. With his presence, Alexei could leave a more productive life. Anytime he grew ill, Rasputin would be summoned to the palace, and seemed to cure him.

Incidents

The most serious incident concerning the Tsaraevich occured in 1912 when Alexis was 8 years old. The family decided to go on their traditional vacation on the royal yacht Standart. Yet this time without Father Grigorii. The outing proved to be almost fatal. It eventually turned out to be one of the most active summers of the Tsareavich's pre-War life. A week into this voyage, while coming back on a trip to the shore, Alexei injured his knee jumping into the boat after going back to get a conch shell. The doctor was with them in the launch, and examined the boy on the way back to the Standart. It at first looked fine, and Alexei said it didn't hurt. As usual, he was not exactly telling the truth. The actual situation was the boy was enjoying himself so much fun with his friends who came with him, that he thought he could handle the bump on his own. Alexis was a little fighter. He was wrong and it almost cost the boy his life.

Derevenko woke Alexei the next morning and noticed that the boy was covered in sweat. It appeared that he was in pain. When Derevenko asked Alexei how he was feeling, Alexei said he was fine. Then Derevenko left the room. About 15 minutes later Alexei emerged from his room and they were ready for a photo shoot that was scheduled. When Alexei emerged from his room, he walked normally, despite the excruciating pain he was in. He went where the photographer told him to go, and yhey took the first picture (figure ?). Then the Photographer had him move again, and had his mother join him. The photographer asked Alexandra to look down at Alexei as though she was comforting him. She did that and they took that picture (figure ?). Then the photographer suggested that they go to the bridge for some pictures. At this point Alexei was beginning to black out. Pierre Gilliard, who was present, noticed how Alexei's leg was bent. He remembered about what had happened and put two and two together. As the others headed toward the bridge, Alexei remained, leaning against the railing. His mother asked him to hurry up. Then Gilliard told Alexei to wait for a second. Alexandra asked Gilliard what was going on, then Alexei muttered, "It's all right, I'm coming." Then as he started to walk toward them, he passed out, and injured his elbow as well. That evening they had to tie Alexei up and gag him so the crew wouldn't hear his screaming.

When the Stabndart finally reached the dock in Poland, they immediately received a telegram from Rasputin. Gilliard was the first to read it. It said that he knew Alexei was hurt. It also warned against using morphine, because Alexei was allergic to it. Gilliard rushed to Alexei's room when he finished reading it. When he arrived, the doctor was by Alexei's bed holding a syringe. In it was morphine. Gilliard got there and ordered them not to use it. Rasputein's cable also said that Alexei will be well soon, and for them not to worry. By the next morning he was well.


Figure 5.--The royal family at the September 1912 celebrations of Napoleon's defeat at Boradino.

Over the next week as the family traveled to, and settled into their Polish Hunting Lodge (Spala). Alexei, however, grew very weak. His mother believe he was growing weary from all of the activity, so she took him for a ride through the countryside. During this trip Alexei began experiencing great pain, so they returned to the lodge. Everytime they would hit a bump or a turn in the road, Alexei would yell in pain. Once they arrived back at the lodge a doctor examined him. His diagnosis was severe internal bleeding. The doctor believed it would be fatal and informed the parents. The family quickly lost all hope, and sent for a priest to pray over Alexei.

They were determined not to release the true cause for Tsarevich's impending death. They concocted a fictious story. The Russian people the World would read how the Tsaraevich Alexei received fatal wounds as a result of a terrorist bombing. They and the entire world would unite in prayer for the child. It was an unprecedented event. Father Grigorii contacted the family and told them not to worry. He told them that God had heard his prayers, and those of the whole world. The family took comfort in this letter. He told the doctors to just leave Alexei alone, so they did. Within a week, Alexei began to recover from what had been a hopeless condition.


Figure 6.--The Tsaraevich and his parents in a photograph taken at Alexandra Palance in 1913.

Alexei took a while to truly get back into shape again. He was told far in advance of any ceremonies he'd have to be present for. Both him and his parents planned ahead for these ceremonies.

Boyhood

Despite the royal trapings and hemophilia, Alexei was not disimilar from other boys his age. Following the public celebration of the anniversary of Napoleons defeat at Borodino, there was a gala. Present at this party were the royal family, their main court (Gilliard, Botkin, Dr. Derevenko, and others), as well as many foreign dignitaries. During the evening, Alexei, and a friend of his located a few full glasses of vodka. They decided to try them out, and minutes later they were quite intoxicated. Pierre Gillard talked to them for a moment before he realized what had happened. Then he went and fetched Alexei's mother. She did not believe him, so he pointed at them. They were laughing, and acting very strange. She went to them, and took them out of the hall. Nothing much came of that incident, with the exception of the fact that Alexei, and his friend had a teriffic great hangover the next day.

Before the War

Alexei during the last 2 years of peace continued his life as before. He enjoyed life and everything it had to offer a boy. He tried to be what everyone expected of him. He still suffered through every episode of his disease until Father Grigorii would be summoned to heal him.


Figure 7.--The Tsaraevich and one of his tutors. Apparently Alexei also wore sailor suits for his lessons.

Two particularly important events occured in 1913 and 1914 before the War turned Alexei's world upside down. The first was was a reaffirmation of the old order, the Tri-Centennial celebration of Romanov Rule. The celebrations lasted for months. There were endless parties, and functions going on throughout this time. Then something else happened to Alexei. Russia acquired a charter for the Boy Scouts of America. And guess who was the first one to join. Of course it was Alexei. He really enjoyed this organization. It was a good way for him to socialize with other boys his age. It also gave him some practice with the leadership skills that he would need to be fullfill his birthright and become the next Tsar.






HBRC








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Created: June 6, 1998
Last updated: 2:13 AM 8/16/2009