The Tsarina

On the post below I had asked a question...Do you know which Queen adored her youngest son with her whole being---and because he was sickly, it caused her quite a bit of anguish? Thanks Ann, for answering the question. It was the Tsarina Alexandra of Russia. Here is a famous picture of her with her son, Alexei, as he plays with his mama's pearls. Alexei was the most wanted and cherished baby, who just happened to be heir to the Russian Throne. It broke Alexandra's heart when she found out that he had the dreaded bleeding disease---hemophilia. How that little boy suffered in pain...and surely Alexandra suffered just as badly as she sat near him, stroking him, during his illnesses. Her son's sickness was just another heartbreak in a life of continuing sadness. It didn't help either when she found out that she was the carrier of the gene that caused the illness. It had been passed down from her grandmother, Queen Victoria. Alexei was one of many in Victoria's family to suffer from the same disease. Alexandra really did not forgive herself for that.

The Tsarevich Alexei was the youngest of five. He had four older sisters. The most famous sister is Anastasia. If you're at all interested in this fascinating royal family, there's a link below for The Alexander Time Machine. It's a massive website--one of the nicest I've seen--filled with every tidbit you could ever imagine about this family, including floor plans of where they lived, pictures of their rooms and letters.

Finished my critique of the anthology and sent it back the writer. Also reviewed some writing for my friend in England and gave her some advice. She is working on multiple submissions.

I'm on vacation this week and so far it's been nice. No, I didn't go anywhere, but sometimes that's the best kind of vacation. We had a heat wave here in the Eastern US for a large part of the week and I spent a couple of days with my son and his friend at the pool. It was heavenly. I hate heat waves except if it's a day I can go to the pool. I picked a good week for it!

Picked up my royal books at the library and I've been immersed in a rare royal memoir. It's called "The Heart Has Its Reasons" and its the memoir of the Duchess of Windsor and its been out of print a long time. It's nice to read her side of the story for a change...to see things through her own eyes. It's pleasant and I'm enjoying it, however, she leaves out a lot. I can't say I blame her. She had a ghost writer, but I can tell she put quite a bit of her own work into that manuscript.

And who will I write about next? I can't decide if it should be a Queen or a Princess. I think I'll sleep on it.