Recollections of Imperial Russia

by Meriel Buchanan

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144 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2009

About the author

Meriel Buchanan was British memorialist. The daughter of the last British Ambassador to Imperial Russia, she wrote a number of articles and books about her experiences during that time, most notably: Recollections of imperial Russia ( 1923) and Ambassador's daughter (1958).

Meriel was the only child of Sir George Buchanan (1854-1924), and his wife Lady Georgina Meriel Bathurst (1863-1922). As her father was a career diplomat, Meriel early life was spent in the many countries where her father was posted: Hesse, Baden, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In 1910 the Buchanan family moved to Saint Petersburg, when Sir George Buchanan was appointed as the British Ambassador to Russia.

In her early twenties at her arrival in Russia in 1910, she had a prominent position as the daughter of the British Ambassador at the court of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. This allowed her to meet many important figures at the Imperial Court. She was particularly close to Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia who took her under her wing. Meriel was popular in social circles and carried out a flirtation with Duke Alexander Georgievich of Leuchtenberg, a great grandson of Tsar Nicholas I and a distant cousin of Tsar Nikolai II. Duke Alexander, was the son of George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg, and Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg. Both sets of parents were opposed to their romance. The Duke of Leuchtenberg refused his permission because Meriel, although daughter of a distinguished ambassador and possessing royal blood herself, was neither considered the equal of Alexander nor have a sizable fortune. Meriel’s parents realized the impossibility of the situation and were fearful of a diplomatic scandal. Meriel’s mother especially forbidding her daughter to associate with the young duke. Eventually, Alexander did not take their romance seriously.

Meriel Buchanan had literary ambitions and published two novels based on her experiences living in Eastern Europe : White Witch ( 1913) and Tania. A Russian story (1914).[5] During World War I, Meriel and her family remained in Russia. Her mother took of the organization of a hospital where Meriel worked as a nurse. Her father remained as the British Ambassador even after the fall of the Romanovs. The family left Russia in January 1918.

Meriel's two novels, published before the war, were not a success.[5] She then turned to non-fiction, writing a number of books about the Romanov family, the Russian nobility and her experiences living in Russia during the last years of the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, beginning with Petrograd, the city of trouble, 1914-1918, published in 1918.

She married in 1925 Major Harold Wilfred Knowling of the Welsh Guards (d 1954), and had one son : Michael George Alexander Knowling (b 1929). In 1958, the year before her death, she published an account of her father's diplomatic career under the title Ambassador's Daughte

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a bizarre little book. As the daughter of the last British ambassador to imperial Russia, Muriel Buchanan would have a lot to recollect. Alas, she decided that she didn’t want to do that but rather give us a history of each Tsar since Peter the Great and not including the one that she saw in real life. I skimmed - at best - to see if she was really going to miss the opportunity of a life time——and she did.

I love history, and that of imperial Russia is among my favorites, but I think ill get that from an historian rather than an ambassador’s daughter.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

n this memoir, Meriel Buchanan (9-5-1886 to 2-6-1959) links the history of Russia to powerful, lingering memories of her years living there. She was the daughter of the man who turned out to be the last ambassador to Imperial Russia. As a young adult, in her role as the ambassador’s daughter, she had regular access to the court of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, providing her with unusual experiences and impressions. She describes first hand the sights, sounds, and some of the activities she remembers from this elevated and sheltered vantage point. The family left Russia in 1918, and the author’s memories are filled with nostalgia and longing for the Russia she experienced.

I enjoyed recording this book for Librivox, although I encountered names that twisted my tongue in new ways as I tried to pronounce them acceptably. My theory is that there's much more to be told about this period in Russia, information this sheltered young woman wouldn't have been aware of. I don't fault her for this: after all, it's more memoir than history.

This is not a long book, and it is a good place to start. I am now--thanks to this book--on a quest to know more. That's not a bad legacy for a book.