16th, Wednesday:
Olga's period began. Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Alexandra, then sat and worked with her and Anna Vyrubova. Maria had a music lesson*. Olga, Maria, and Anastasia had tea with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Alexei while Tatiana had tea alone upstairs. Tatiana had a religion lesson, a physics lesson, and a music lesson. Maria and Anastasia did homework and then went to visit Catherine Schneider. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich. Nicholas and Dmitri left to play billiards while Olga and Tatiana stayed with Alexandra. Tatiana went to bed at 10pm.
17th, Thursday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Nicholas and "The Hessians" [ambassadors?]. The sisters stayed in and sat with Alexandra, first in the bedroom and then moved to the mauve room—Olga and Tatiana did handiwork and Maria read. Tatiana had tea alone upstairs. Olga, Maria, and Anastasia had tea with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Alexei. Tatiana had a music lesson. Maria had a music lesson. Maria and Anastasia did homework before visiting Catherine Schneider. At 7:30pm, Olga and Tatiana went with Nicholas to St. Petersburg. They watched the opera Madame Butterfly at the Mariinsky Theatre—Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova performed. Both enjoyed it a great deal, though Tatiana in particular seemed to like it. Maria and Anastasia had dinner with Alexandra and Anna Vyrubova. Olga and Tatiana returned at 11:45pm. Tatiana went to bed immediately while Olga stayed** and had tea with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Anna.
18th, Friday:
Lessons. The sisters wore red blouses. At 1:30pm Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Nicholas. Tatiana and Anastasia went walking with Nicholas. Maria stayed home with Alexandra and Anna Vyrubova. Olga rode in a sleigh with Princess Elizabeth Obolenskaya and steered the horses themselves. Maria had a music lesson. At 4pm Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had tea in the maple room with Nicholas, Alexandra, Alexei, and Grigory Rasputin***. Rasputin claimed to have seen the sisters dressed in white when they entered the room due to the purity of their hearts. Father Alexander Vasiliev came towards the end of the meeting. Tatiana had a French lesson and then a music lesson. Maria and Anastasia had a French lesson together, then did homework. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas and Alexandra. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana went to bed at 9:30pm.
19th, Saturday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Nicholas, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, and Rear-Admiral Semyon Semyonovich Fabritsky. All above excluding Fabritzsky went for a walk around the lake. At 6:30pm the same then went to vsenoshnaya at the Feodorovsky Cathedral, the Cossacks sang again. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Olga Alexandrovna. Olga Alexandrovna left. Olga and Tatiana sat and worked with Alexandra and Anna Vyrubova.
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| The family's entrance to the Feodorovsky Cathedral, early 1913 |
20th, Sunday:
At 10:30am Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Nicholas went to obednya at the Feodorovsky Cathedral. All above then attended a grand breakfast in the Semi-Circular Hall. Olga sat with Nicholas, Baron Alexander von Korff[?], and Admiral Konstantin Dmitrievich Nilov. She also saw her crush Alexander Shvedov. Maria sat with Prince Viktor Kochubey and Count Paul Beckendorff. At 2pm Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia went to St. Petersburg with Olga Butsova. They called on Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna before going to Olga Alexandrovna's. At 4pm arrived: Nikolai Sablin, S.S Klyucharev, Nikolai Rodionov, V.V Kvoshinsky, A. Shangin "a cuiraissier," and Nikolai Kulikovsky. All above had tea, played games, and danced to a phonograph until 6pm. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia changed and had dinner with the above at 7:15pm. Also Princess Irina Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, Prince Andrei Alexandrovich, and unknown others. At 8:45pm the sisters were collected by Nicholas and taken to the Mariinsky Theatre where they watched the ballet Don Quixote—Anna Pavlova danced. They had tea on the train back to Tsarskoe Selo during which Maria sat with V.A Dedulin and an unknown other. They arrived home at 12am.
21st, Monday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Nicholas and Alexandra after which they walked with Nicholas. Maria had a music lesson. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had tea with Nicholas and Alexandra. Maria did homework. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas and Alexandra, then sat and knitted with Alexandra. They went to bed shortly after 10pm.
22nd, Tuesday:
Lessons. At 10am Father Alexander Vasiliev gave communion to Alexandra. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Alexandra and Catherine Schneider, then walked with Nicholas. At 4pm Olga did homework "as usual." Olga and Tatiana [possibly?] had tea with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich. Maria and Anastasia had tea with Catherine Schneider. Yulia Dehn visited Alexandra and brought her son Alexander. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had a dance lesson. Maria had a music lesson, then did homework. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Mikhail Veselkin.
23rd, Wednesday:
Lessons. Alexandra went out onto the balcony for the first time. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Alexandra, then went walking and sledding by the big hill with Catherine Schneider. Maria had a music lesson. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had tea with Nicholas and Alexandra. Maria did homework. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas and Alexandra. Nicholas read aloud in the evening. Olga and Tatiana went to bed early.
24th, Thursday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Nicholas and Alexandra. Alexandra went out onto the balcony. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Nicholas went walking. At 4pm all above went into St. Peterburg. They first called on Xenia Alexandrovna to congratulate her on her name day, then to the Anichkov Palace for Maria Feodorovna's Christmas party. At 5:30pm they had tea with Maria Feodorovna, Xenia Alexandrovna, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, Andrei Alexandrovich, Prince Nikita Alexandrovich, Prince Oleg Konstantinovich, Olga Alexandrovna, and Duke Peter of Oldenburg. They received gifts. The above minus Maria Feodorovna and Xenia Alexandrovna then went to Olga Alexandrovna's house for dinner. At 8:15pm Maria and Anastasia went home with Catherine Schneider, and Olga, Tatiana, and Nicholas went to the Alexandrinsky Theatre. They watched a play called The Assembly. They returned to Tsarskoe Selo a little after 12am.
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| Maria and Olga with Nicholas, early 1913 |
25th, Friday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Alexandra before going out onto the balcony. At about 3pm Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia went sledding with Nicholas, continuing for a while after their father went inside. Maria had a music lesson. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had tea with Nicholas and Alexandra. Maria and Anastasia had a French lesson. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas and Alexandra. Olga went and prayed with Alexei. Nicholas read aloud.
26th, Saturday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Olga Alexandrovna. Alexandra sat on the balcony for half an hour. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia went walking and sledding with Nicholas and Olga Alexandrovna. The above had tea with Alexandra. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia went to vsenoshnaya at the Feodorovsky Cathedral with Nicholas and Olga Alexandrovna—the Cossacks sang. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had dinner with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Olga Alexandrovna. Olga Alexandrovna left. Maria and Anastasia went upstairs. Nicholas read aloud.
27th, Sunday:
Lessons. At 10:30am Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia went to obednya at the Feodorovsky Cathedral with Nicholas—the Cossacks sang again. A grand breakfast was held in the Semi-Circular Hall for officers of the Svodny regiment. Maria sat with V.A Dedulin. At 2:30pm Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia walked with Nicholas for an hour. Alexandra went out onto the balcony. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had tea with Nicholas, Alexandra, Irina, Prince Feodor Alexandrovich, Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich, Prince Georgy Konstantinovich, and Princess Vera Konstantinovna. All above then watched a cinematograph. Maria and Anastasia had dinner with Alexei. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Irina.
28th, Monday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Alexandra—Nicholas went to Gatchina to hunt. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia went sledding with Catherine Schneider. Maria had a music lesson. At 4:22pm Olga and Tatiana went to St. Petersburg with Olga Butsova. They went to a Christmas party hosted by Maria Feodorovna. At about 5:30pm Maria and Anastasia had tea with Nicholas and Alexandra. Olga and Tatiana went to Olga Alexandrovna's house for dinner, then went with her and Irina to the circus. Maria did homework. Maria and Anastasia had dinner with Nicholas, Alexandra, and an unknown count. Olga and Tatiana returned at 12am and immediately went to bed.
29th, Tuesday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Nikolai Sablin. In the afternoon, the sisters went skiing with Nicholas and Nikolai while Alexandra sat on the balcony and Alexei played in the garden. Maria and Anastasia had tea upstairs with Catherine Schneider. Olga and Tatiana had tea with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Nikolai Sablin. Maria had a dance lesson, then a music lesson. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas, Alexandra, Nikolai Sablin, and Anna Vyrubova. They sat downstairs until 10:30pm when they went up to bed.
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| Anastasia sledding down a hill, early 1913 |
30th, Wednesday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Alexandra. They then went skiing with Catherine Schneider. Alexandra went out onto the balcony. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had tea with Nicholas and Alexandra. Maria had a music lesson, then did homework. At 7:30pm Olga and Tatiana went into St. Petersburg with Nicholas. They went to the theatre and watched the opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia. Maria and Anastasia had dinner with Alexandra and Anna Vyrubova. Olga, Tatiana, and Nicholas returned at 12:30pm.
31st, Thursday:
Lessons. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had breakfast with Alexandra and Anna Vyrubova. Alexandra went out onto the balcony. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia went skiing with Catherine Schneider. Nicholas returned to Tsarskoe Selo with Dmitri Pavlovich at 4:30pm. Olga had tea with Nicholas, Alexandra, and Dmitri. Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had tea upstairs with Catherine Schneider. Maria had a dance lesson. Tatiana had a music lesson. Maria had a music lesson, then did homework. Tatiana wrote letters. Maria and Anastasia had dinner upstairs. Olga and Tatiana had dinner with Nicholas, Alexandra, Dmitri Pavlovich, and Paul Alexandrovich. At 10pm Olga and Tatiana looked at photo albums with Dmitri [possibly in the maple room?]. Olga and Tatiana went to bed at 11pm.
*It's probable that lessons attended by Maria were then also attended by Anastasia.
**Questionable interpretation based on what was mentioned by Olga, Tatiana, and Nicholas in their diaries.
*** Interestingly, Maria doesn't mention seeing Rasputin though all the others do.
References:
Azar, H. (2015) Journal of a Russian Grand Duchess: Complete Annotated 1913 Diary of Olga Romanov, Eldest Daughter of the Last Tsar. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.Azar, H. and Nicholson, A. (2017) Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913-1918. Yardley, P.A: Westholme Publishing.
Azar, H. and Madru, A. (2017) 1913 Diary of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. Amazon Publishing.
Дневник Николая II 1913. (2007). Available at: http://www.rus-sky.com/history/library/diaris/1913.htm. (Accessed: 9 February 2022)
lastromanovs (2020). 685-1-187-1. Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/149552988@N02/49329853362/in/album-72157712516456013/. (Accessed: 9 February 2022)
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