A Princess in Exile

by Marie, Grand Duchess of Russia

Part two of the author's memoirs; the first part was published in 1930 under the title Education of a Princess.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir

306 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (Russian: 18 April [O.S. 6 April] 1890 – 13 December 1958), known as Maria Pavlovna the Younger, was a granddaughter of Alexander II of Russia and a paternal first cousin of Nicholas II, Russia's last Tsar.

In exile, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna lived briefly in Bucharest and London, then she settled in Paris in 1920. In 1942, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna moved to Argentina where she spent the years of World War II. She returned permanently to Europe in 1949 and died in Konstanz, Germany in 1958.

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Marie's first volume of memoirs and although there are great stories in this second volume it does suffer in comparison because everything post the revolution is about getting on with living. Marie did lots of interesting things, trying to start a fashion house and launching various lawsuits to try and stop the Soviet government selling off the contents of her father's palace - both were unsuccessful - and like many of her relatives she found herself just another ex-royal and the sheer number Romanovs (despite the cule in 1918/19) mitigated against any kind of brand recognition. She was lucky her ex-father-in-law, the king of Sweden, had a soft spot for her (and quite a few other exiled royals - there is probably an interesting monograph to be written on Gustav V help to former royals) despite Marie's less then flattering remarks about Swedish royals.

It is great fun but you can't help thinking this was made up of rejects from volume one.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book, especially the section False Dawn, describing her business, Maison Kitmir, and her relationship with Chanel. I could not put it down.

[Gerald Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her 2 books are a read that I enjoyed very much.