- Rarely seen photos produced between 1915 and 1916 during Great War
- Shows family enjoying days out at beach and visiting wounded soldiers
- Just one year after last photos, royal family were exiled and later shot
- Deaths marked the end of a Romanov dynasty spanning three centuries
Huddled together on a day out at the beach or around the beds of soldiers wounded in the Great War, the pictures were taken shortly before their 300-year dynasty came to a tragic and abrupt end.
Within a year of the album's latest photos, the Russian revolution swept across the country, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and he and his family were exiled, before being murdered on Lenin's orders.
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Family outing: Tsar Nicholas poses with his four daughters (L-R) Maria, Anastasia, Olga and Tatiana
In one image, Tsar Nicholas II and his daughters Anastasia, Maria, Olga and Tatiana look solemnly into the camera, the Emperor stood proudly in full military uniform.
Another shows Maria, Olga and Tatiana paddling in shallow water at the beach - their younger brother Alexei, who would have been around 14 at the time, stood in front of his sisters.
In one image, Tsar Nicholas II and his daughters Anastasia, Maria, Olga and Tatiana look solemnly into the camera, the Emperor stood proudly in full military uniform.
Another shows Maria, Olga and Tatiana paddling in shallow water at the beach - their younger brother Alexei, who would have been around 14 at the time, stood in front of his sisters.
Day at the beach: (L-R) Maria and Olga and Tatiana Romanov pose at the beach with their brother Alexei
Father and daughter: Tsar Nicholas II and his daughter Anastasia (R), wearing false teeth
He passed down his love for photography to Maria, his third daughter, who was responsible for colouring most of the pictures.
Several of the images show the family dutifully attending wounded soldiers near the front line - but as the war raged on, civil unrest mounted around the country.
As the government failed to produce supplies, mounting hardship created massive riots and rebellions and by early 1917, Russia was on the verge of total collapse.
On 23 February 1917 in Petrograd, a combination of very severe cold weather and acute food shortages caused people to start to break shop windows to get bread and other necessaries.
He passed down his love for photography to Maria, his third daughter, who was responsible for colouring most of the pictures.
Several of the images show the family dutifully attending wounded soldiers near the front line - but as the war raged on, civil unrest mounted around the country.
As the government failed to produce supplies, mounting hardship created massive riots and rebellions and by early 1917, Russia was on the verge of total collapse.
On 23 February 1917 in Petrograd, a combination of very severe cold weather and acute food shortages caused people to start to break shop windows to get bread and other necessaries.
Visiting soldiers: The Emperor and Anastasia and Maria visit wounded troops during the Great War
Happy times: Within a year of the album's latest photos, the Russian revolution swept across the country, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and he and his family were exiled, before being murdered on Lenin's orders
In the streets, red banners appeared and the crowds chanted: 'Down with the German woman! !Down with the war! Down with the Tsar!'Order broke down and members of the Soviet Party demanded that Nicholas abdicate. Faced with this demand, which was echoed by his generals, deprived of loyal troops, with his family firmly in the hands of the Provisional Government and fearful of unleashing civil war and opening the way for German conquest, Nicholas had little choice but to submit.After his abdication on March 2, 1917, Nicholas II and his family were exiled to Tobolsk, where they initially lived in considerable comfort.
In the streets, red banners appeared and the crowds chanted: 'Down with the German woman! !Down with the war! Down with the Tsar!'Order broke down and members of the Soviet Party demanded that Nicholas abdicate. Faced with this demand, which was echoed by his generals, deprived of loyal troops, with his family firmly in the hands of the Provisional Government and fearful of unleashing civil war and opening the way for German conquest, Nicholas had little choice but to submit.After his abdication on March 2, 1917, Nicholas II and his family were exiled to Tobolsk, where they initially lived in considerable comfort.
Nicholas passed down his love for photography to Maria, his third daughter, who was responsible for colouring most of the pictures
Many of the unique photos were taken by Tsar Nicholas himself, who was an insatiable photographer
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Toll of the war: Tsar Nicholas II and daughters Anastasia and Maria Romanov visit wounded soldiers in the Great War
There they were callously murdered along with three servants and their doctor.The horrific story of the Romanovs' execution spawned the long-running myth that one of the children had survived and was living in secret somewhere in Russia.Hundreds of claims were made that either Anastasia or Alexei had somehow escaped the Bolshevisks' death squad.
There they were callously murdered along with three servants and their doctor.The horrific story of the Romanovs' execution spawned the long-running myth that one of the children had survived and was living in secret somewhere in Russia.Hundreds of claims were made that either Anastasia or Alexei had somehow escaped the Bolshevisks' death squad.
The horrific story of the Romanovs' execution spawned the long-running myth that one of the children had survived and was living in secret somewhere in Russia
(L-R) Maria, Olga and Tatiana Romanov, the daughters of Tsar's Nicholas II pictured just one or two years before they were exiled and later shot on orders of Lenin
Since her death, women posing as the Russian princess Anastasia have repeatedly come forward, among them Anna Anderson who first appeared in Berlin in 1920, two years after the Russian royals were executed.Anderson, who also went by the names Tschaikovsky and Manahan, later moved to the USA and was portrayed for decades as the escaped daughter of the last Romanov emperor.But in 1991, when the remains of the Russian royals were unearthed, DNA testing proved that the bodies were indeed those of the Tsar, Tsarina and their children.
Since her death, women posing as the Russian princess Anastasia have repeatedly come forward, among them Anna Anderson who first appeared in Berlin in 1920, two years after the Russian royals were executed.Anderson, who also went by the names Tschaikovsky and Manahan, later moved to the USA and was portrayed for decades as the escaped daughter of the last Romanov emperor.But in 1991, when the remains of the Russian royals were unearthed, DNA testing proved that the bodies were indeed those of the Tsar, Tsarina and their children.
Olga Romanov is pictured lying in bed in this photo taken not long before she was murdered along with the rest of her family
Olga Romanov, (R) seen on the beach during the Great War, died with her sisters when Bolshevik fighters carried out orders to execute the royal family
THE END OF A DYNASTY: THE LAST MOMENTS OF THE ROMANOVS REVEALED
After Tsar Nicholas abdicated on 15th March 1917, he and his family were moved from house to house as the revolution and ensuing civil war raged around them.By May 1918, they had been installed at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg which was under Bolshevik control.The house was owned by Yakov Yurovsky, a dedicated Marxist and Bolshevik with close links to the Cheka - the secret police force run by the revolutionaries.At around 2.15am on the morning of the 17th July 1918, Yurovsky and a squad of Bolsheviks burst into the bedrooms of the Russian royals and ordered them into the cellar.Minutes later, the soldiers, each armed with a revolver and led by Yurovsky, followed them into the room.According to Yurovsky, he ordered them to stand. Characteristically, the Tsarina did so 'with a flash of anger'.'Your relations have tried to save you,' he is believed to have said next. 'They have failed and we must now shoot you.'The Tsar rose from his chair and only had time to utter 'What...?' before he was shot several times in the chest.The Tsarina died next, killed by a single bullet fired by commissar Peter Ermakov that entered her head just above the left ear, followed by her haemophilliac son Alexei, who was just 13-years-old when he died.The last to perish were Anastasia and her sisters, saved, initially by the valuable diamonds hidden in their bodices.The girls were then bayoneted by the Bolshevik fighters before being finished off with a shot to the head.
THE END OF A DYNASTY: THE LAST MOMENTS OF THE ROMANOVS REVEALED
After Tsar Nicholas abdicated on 15th March 1917, he and his family were moved from house to house as the revolution and ensuing civil war raged around them.By May 1918, they had been installed at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg which was under Bolshevik control.The house was owned by Yakov Yurovsky, a dedicated Marxist and Bolshevik with close links to the Cheka - the secret police force run by the revolutionaries.At around 2.15am on the morning of the 17th July 1918, Yurovsky and a squad of Bolsheviks burst into the bedrooms of the Russian royals and ordered them into the cellar.Minutes later, the soldiers, each armed with a revolver and led by Yurovsky, followed them into the room.According to Yurovsky, he ordered them to stand. Characteristically, the Tsarina did so 'with a flash of anger'.'Your relations have tried to save you,' he is believed to have said next. 'They have failed and we must now shoot you.'The Tsar rose from his chair and only had time to utter 'What...?' before he was shot several times in the chest.The Tsarina died next, killed by a single bullet fired by commissar Peter Ermakov that entered her head just above the left ear, followed by her haemophilliac son Alexei, who was just 13-years-old when he died.The last to perish were Anastasia and her sisters, saved, initially by the valuable diamonds hidden in their bodices.The girls were then bayoneted by the Bolshevik fighters before being finished off with a shot to the head.
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