A difficult childhood made her learn the principles of survival at any cost. Only in one question was this lady scrupulous - in the division of the nonexistent inheritance of the Russian emperor.
Imperial blood played a fatal role in the fate of this woman. From an early age, she saw grief, absorbed the experience of disappointment. The result of the negative experience was a fighting character and goals divorced from reality. The biography of this woman could become a new page of Don Quixote's adventures, if everything were not so sad.
Childhood
She was born in April 1906 in the suburb of St. Petersburg Pavlovsk. Her father was Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov, the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, and her mother was a German princess. The noble family invited Empress Maria Feodorovna to become the baby's godmother, she agreed. At baptism, the girl received the name Vera.
Soon after the joyful event, the family moved to the Ostashevo estate near Moscow. Our heroine had seven older brothers and sisters. She grew up in an atmosphere of love and luxury. Enlightened and gifted with a talent for versification, papa from an early age instilled in his descendants a love of science and art. A large relative of the ruling dynasty was warned that his children would not receive the titles of grand dukes, because no one inspired Verochka with ambitious thoughts.
A series of misfortunes
The youngest daughter, everyone's favorite, had little understanding of what war was. One of her older brothers, Oleg, went to the front in 1914. In the same year, a telegram was brought to the hero's relatives, where there was a message about his death. A tomb was built near the house, where the young man was buried. This event made a heavy impression on the Grand Duke. He considered himself guilty of what had happened, because he raised his son as a patriot and a brave man. Vera saw how her beloved dad was suffering and tried to console him.
Now the girl preferred to spend time in her father's office. While he was busy with state affairs, or creativity, she played quietly nearby. In the summer of 1915, Constantine suddenly felt ill. Vera could hardly open the heavy doors and began to call adults for help. When they arrived, the unfortunate man was already dead. The lost family moved away from the ominous place.
Exile
The widow settled in the Marble Palace, where the best years of her life passed. She often thought of her deceased husband, but did not despair for the sake of the children. After the revolution, four of Vera's older brothers were arrested. Only the girls and the teenager Georgy remained at home. The news that her sons had been shot forced the Grand Duchess to flee with her remaining children abroad. Later, one of the guys who was saved from reprisals by the famous writer Maxim Gorky will join the family.
The Romanovs arrived in Sweden in 1918. It was not possible to find shelter and a table there. Relatives living in the German city of Altenburg gave shelter to the unfortunate. There Vera was educated and became interested in sailing. In 1930, left an orphan, the girl went to Berlin. She quickly managed to get to know emigrants from Russia and became one of the activists of the diaspora. In 1936 she was elected head of the Holy Prince Vladimir Brotherhood, which was engaged in charity work.
Run again
Vera Romanova was not afraid of the National Socialists, she could prove the presence of German roots. The princess made the princess suspect herself of complicity in the crimes of the Nazis by her actions after the defeat of the Nazis. To avoid meeting with Soviet troops, she fled from Altenburg on foot. The woman managed to find shelter in Hamburg, where the allies were stationed. Here she found work at the English branch of the Red Cross as a translator.
Vera Konstantinovna tried to find her compatriots who lived farther from Europe. It succeeded in 1951. The Tolstoy Foundation, founded by the daughter of the great writer Alexandra, operated in New York. This organization was engaged in helping emigrants and the anti-Soviet element, who went underground after the war. Vera Romanova was invited to America.
Great war of the middle-aged princess
Overseas, our heroine could make a brilliant career as a linguist or find herself a place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but she was not up to it. She knew before that the three children of the Grand Duke Cyril called themselves the legitimate heirs of the abolished throne of the empire that had ceased to exist, but this information did not harm her tender psyche. When the real threats receded, Vera discovered a keen desire to become an empress. She began to fight the impostors.
To be a legitimate ruler, the princess renounced her United States citizenship. A pre-war German passport, in her opinion, was better suited to the Russian queen. Vera Konstantinovna joined a number of monarchist organizations and became the head of the Association of the House of Romanov. She managed to gather around her supporters who recognized her right to the throne.
last years of life
Fighting for the illusory crown, Vera Romanova missed the chance to arrange her personal life. She never became a wife and mother. In search of simple human companionship, the old woman visited her sister, who left for Jerusalem and became a nun. Vera Romanova survived the Soviet Union, but she was never called to reign. American subjects appreciated the contribution of their mistress to the restoration of the monarchy, placing her in a nursing home, where Vera Romanova died in January 2001.
