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On the website of the Alexander Palace in Tsarkoye Selo which promotes and explains the complete renovations of the family home of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra and their 5 children, I saw today photos of the visit to the Palace of Prince Michael of Kent, who is a direct relative of the Romanov Family and the cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Philip some years ago had provided DNA sampling to identify the remains of Nicholas and Alexandra and the children as he was related by blood to the Royal families of Greece, Russia and Denmark. The palace re-opened to the public two months ago after years of massive renovations. The palace was closed after the Imperial family where sent into exile and to their grisly death, however more than 6000 personal effects were carefully preserved in vaults for posterity. Now they have been put back in the palace rooms recreating what it was like in 1918. It is spooky to see all these very personal mementos on display, many of which were gifts long ago between the Royal Family in England to their cousins in Russia. One wonders what Prince Michael of Kent thought when he saw it all, exactly as it was then. The expression on his face says a lot. I wonder what the other Princes and Grand Dukes of the Romanov family members will think when they eventually come to visit the Palace. They attended the State Funeral for the Tsar and his family in the 1990’s in St-Petersburg.

Prince Michael of Kent and the curator of the Palace in the Mauve boudoir of Empress Alexandra. Everything you see in this room belonged to the Empress and her children.
The Maple Room of the Alexander Palace, another family room for Nicholas and Alexandra. Everything in that room was carefully preserved by the Bolcheviks. The walls and woodwork was recreated from the personal photograph taken by the family between 1905-1918, even piece of fabrics and original paint colours were preserved in the Soviet Archives. Prince Michael of Kent was visiting with a British delegations. Since the tragic events took place just over 100 years ago, the sad memories is still alive. Prince Michael of Kent is 79 years old.