I wrongly supposed Georgie was Queen Elizabeths Dad

I wrongly supposed Georgie was our Queen Elizabeth's Dad, because he was king George the VI, but in the film in the little bit he was in it Geaore VI was known as Bertie.

His older brother who abdicated giving him the throne Edward VIII was known in the film and in his youth as David.

I loved the film, so interesting, but occasionally it could have done with so captions on screen to tell you where you were, and a little more clarity about who was who.

My heart went out to poor little Johnny, I guess in that age he had a much better fate than many children with the same condition, but still it was so sad, him being shut out for an illness, I was so glad he had loyal Gorgie and Lala.

It was horrible the Russian family getting executed as well,





Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna was born on June 18, 1901. Her parents were Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia, and his wife Alexandra. Anastasia had three elder sisters: Olga, Tatiana, and Maria. Her only brother, Alexei (often translated as "Alexis"), was born in 1904.

For years Russia had been in upheaval. Anastasia's great-grandfather, Tsar Alexander II, freed the serfs and was known as the Tsar-Liberator, but in 1881 his carriage was bombed by a terrorist group called People's Will. Alexander was carried unconscious to the Winter Palace, where family members, including his thirteen-year-old grandson Nicholas, watched him die. Alexander II was succeeded by his son, Alexander III, Nicholas's father. Unlike his father, Alexander III believed in autocracy and opposed liberal reforms. He persecuted minorities, especially Jews.

Nicholas grew up to be a kind and gentle young man. He spoke French, English, and German, and was an excellent dancer and horseman. But he was given little training for his future role as tsar. His father was still in his forties when Nicholas reached adulthood, and no one expected Nicholas to inherit the throne for many years.

Nicholas's wife Alexandra was born Alix, Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, the daughter of Princess Alice of England and Grand Duke Louis of Hesse. Alexandra was seen by many as cold and remote, but she had started life as a warm, happy child nicknamed Sunny. When Alix was six her mother died and Alix became withdrawn. For the rest of her life she appeared cool and aloof to those who didn't know her well.

Alix was 12 and Nicholas 16 when they first met. Nicholas was smitten with Alix right away. When they were older they met again and fell in love, and in 1894 they became engaged.

Soon after their engagement Alexander III died and 26-year old Nicholas became tsar. He said at the time, "I am not prepared to be a tsar. I never wanted to become one." His first decree proclaimed Alix's new name, Alexandra Feodorovna. A week after Alexander III's funeral, Nicholas and Alexandra married.

Nicholas and Alexandra were caring parents who spent a lot of time with their children. Anastasia and her sisters were close, and sometimes signed themselves collectively OTMA (their initials). The family lived quietly in the Alexander Palace at Tsarkoe Selo. This "simple" palace had over 100 rooms but was smaller than the nearby Catherine Palace, built by Catherine the Great to outshine Versailles.

Anastasia as a Girl
Anastasia was the youngest, most intelligent and most michievous of the tsar's daughters. She was an excellent mimic and enjoyed pranks and practical jokes. Anastasia's childhood playmate Tatiana Botkin described her as "lively and rough . . . roguish." Her cousin Princess Xenia described her as "frightfully temperamental, wild and rough." Years later Tatiana Botkin and Princess Xenia met Anna Anderson. Both believed that Anderson was Anastasia.

But Anastasia had a gentle side. She was kind to her dogs: Shipka, who died of a brain disease, and Jemmy, a spaniel who died with the imperial family. And she was loving toward her sick brother. Few people outside the family knew that Alexei suffered from hemophilia, a disorder in which blood doesn't clot properly, causing internal bleeding. The smallest bump could cause Alexei agony, so he wasn't permitted play active games. Alexandra spent much of her time worrying about her son, who was unlikely to survive to adulthood.

Anastasia had light brown hair (sometimes described as reddish blonde) and blue eyes. Like her mother and sisters she was a beauty, although as a teen she became rather fat. She shared a bedroom with her sister Maria, whom she dominated. Their room adjoined Olga and Tatiana's. The girls' quarters were separate from their parents'. They were raised relatively simply, bathing in cold water, sleeping on hard camp beds. The beds went with them everywhere, even to Germany when the girls visited their Uncle Ernst. They slept in these same beds until the night they died.

Like her sisters, Anastasia spoke English and Russian. Because of their isolation from the outside world, the girls' Russian was somewhat childish.

Rasputin and the Revolution
Nicholas II's reign lasted for over 22 years. He continued his father's policies of suppressing reform and persecuting minorities. His critics said that he listened too much to his advisors. Socialist groups agitated for the overthrow of the tsar's regime and the creation of a classless society. The Revolution of 1905 began when government troops fired on a crowd of workers who were marching to petition the tsar. This "bloody Sunday" caused peasant revolts, workers' strikes and naval mutinies. The Duma, a national parliament, was established, but it was hostile toward Nicholas and he dissolved it after 10 weeks. Later Duma conventions met the same fate.

Meanwhile Alexandra was preoccupied with her attempts to help her sick son. She turned to Rasputin, a controversial holy man. Rasputin (1872-1916) had been born Grigori Yefimovich, the son of a Siberian farmer. As a young man Grigori was a drunken rake, so fellow villagers nicknamed him Rasputin, or "dissolute." One day Rasputin claimed to have received a vision from God. He became a wandering monk, apparently adept at healing.

Rasputin did seem to have the power to help Alexei. One on occasion in 1912, when the tsarevich was on the verge of death, Rasputin sent a telegram saying, "The Little One will not die," and Alexei recovered. Rumors circulated about Rasputin's wild life when he was away from the imperial family, but Nicholas, Alexandra and their children trusted him completely, and he was always on his best behavior with them. Few people knew about Alexei's illness, so few understood why the imperial family chose to associate with the dirty, disreputable "mad monk."

World War I began in 1914, and Nicholas personally took command of the Russian army the following year. In his absence Alexandra ran the government with Rasputin as her advisor. Many ministers resigned or were fired, and their posts filled by supporters of Rasputin. The government started to crumble. In 1916 a band of conspirators, including members of the imperial family, invited Rasputin to supper. According to the conspirators, they gave Rasputin poison, but it had no effect. They shot him and still he did not die. At last they tied him up and threw him into a river, where he drowned. Rasputin was gone, but the damage he had done to image of the imperial family was irreparable.

Disgusted by war losses and food shortages, workers in Petrograd and Moscow rioted. Mutiny spread through the military. On March 15, 1917 Nicholas was forced to abdicate.

Captivity and Execution
At the time of the abdication Anastasia and her siblings were suffering from measles. While they were confined to their beds the palace was taken over by soldiers. The imperial family were now prisoners. When the children recovered they went outside each day with their parents to walk in the park, where they were harassed and jeered.

The imperial family had little peace during their months of captivity. Once, while sewing, Anastasia leaned repeatedly over a table. As she did so she moved back in forth in front of two colored lamps. Soldiers outside the window saw the lights flicker and thought she was sending signals to some outside accomplice. They burst in and searched the room, but of course found nothing.

Eventually the imperial family was moved to Siberia. Their guards were rude and threatening. Anastasia and her sisters were not permitted to lock their bedroom door at night. Guards even followed the girls into the bathroom.

The imperial family lived at Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg for 78 days. Their last day was July 16, 1918. Late that night, the family was awakened and told to get dressed. After midnight they were taken to the cellar where, believing they were to be photographed, they stood in two rows. Anastasia, carrying her dog Jemmy, stood with her sisters, their doctor, and three servants.

Suddenly armed men burst into the room and began firing. Anastasia's parents and sister Olga died at once, as did Dr. Botkin and two servants. But bullets bounced off Anastasia, Tatiana and Maria and ricocheted around the room. Unbeknownst to the men, the girls had sewn diamonds into their clothes so that they could smuggle them from place to place. This was what caused the bullets to bounce off them, but to the soldiers it appeared miraculous. Astounded and scared, they kept firing. Tsarevich Alexei was on the floor, groaning but alive, so one soldier shot him in the head.

It was a chaotic scene. The cellar was filled with smoke. Anastasia was seen huddled against the wall, covering her head with her arms. Eventually Tatiana and Maria died. A maid who did not die from the gunshots was bayoneted. By some accounts, Anastasia was also bayoneted many times. There is much confusion about how Anastasia died. Some people refuse to believe that she died at all.

The Romanovs Remembered
The remains of the imperial family were exhumed in 1991. Portions of nine skeletons were found, and DNA testing confirmed they included Nicholas, Alexandra, and three of their daughters. Two bodies remain missing. The consensus is that they are those of Alexei and one of his sisters, possibly Anastasia.

On July 17, 1998, eighty years after the assassination, the imperial family and those who died with them were buried in the St. Catherine Chapel of St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Russian president Boris Yeltsin and members of the Romanov family attended the funeral, but senior members of the Russian Orthodox Church refused to attend due to lingering doubts over the identity of the remains.

As tsar, and even after he abdicated, Nicholas II was the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. After the assassination, he and his family were revered by many as martyrs and numerous miracles were attributed to them. The family was canonized as royal martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1981. In 2000, the Archbishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church voted unanimously to canonize Nicholas, Alexandra, and all of their children as passion bearers, a minor form of sainthood that recognizes the Christian humility and patience with which they endured their captivity.