Maria Romanova, the third daughter of Nicholas II, the last Tsar, of imperial Russia was born June 27th 1899.
Her birth was somewhat of a disappointment to the Tsar. He had hope for a son and heir. There were already two beautiful daughters,
Olga and Tatiana. Girls could not inherit the throne. Still Maria was a beautiful, healthy child. Both she and her mother,
Tsarina Alexandra were doing well.
Maria's youngest sister,Anastasia was born two years later. Nicholas would have to wait three more years after
that for a son. That son, Alexei when he finally came in 1904 suffered from hemophilia, a blood disorder where the blood fails
to clot properly. Hemophilia is inherited, The most famous case is found in the bloodlines of Queen Victoria. Alexandra was
Victoria's granddaughter. She inherited the carrier gene from her mother,Princess Alice, the Queen's third child.
Despite this Maria and her siblings led relatively happy lives. Alexei had episodes of serious illiness, but
the girls were generally healthy. Maria was chubby as a child. Her older sisters sometimes called her bow-wow, but as
she grew Maria blossomed into the family beauty. She had light brown hair and dark blue eyes that were known in the family
as Maria's saucers.She had a sweet nature and did not mind being bossed around by her fiesty younger sister,Anastasia. She
was said to be Nicholas's favorite daughter, although he adored all his children. Of Maria he once commented, 'I am afraid
of the wings growing.'
Although Maria was an adequate student who loved to paint and did it well, she never applied herself, Her favorite
subject was a husband and children. She once said she wanted twenty children. Generous and warm hearted, the beautiful Maria
would have made an excellent wife and mother.She never had the chance. Her family were taken captive and eventually murdered,along
with Doctor Botkin, Nicholas's physician and three servants. Rumors would abound for many years. Maria's younger
sister, Anastasia would become the most famous Romanov of all,due to the many claims that she had somehow escaped
the massacre. The most noted imposter was Anna Anderson. She kept up her pretext,(perhaps she believed it) for many years.
Genetic testing after her death proved her false.
Nine bodies were eventually recovered. Alexei and one of his sisters were missing from the gravesite. Most
experts think the missing Grand Duchess was Anastasia, though some claimed Maria, or even Tatiana. Olga was identified. Finally
in 2007 news came that the last two children had been found.
Although there will always be doubters and mystery will always surround The Romanov Family, perhaps they
will finally rest in peace.
TGB-2007
