Dmitri Pavlovich was one of the few Romanov Grand Dukes to

survive the Revolution. His son and grandchildren will be

among the Palace's 20th century residents. Ironically, he

survived because of his involvement in the plot to murder

Rasputin. Sent in disgrace by Nicholas to join an Army unit

in Persia after the murder, Dmitri later escaped to England,

and from there to the United States. He is the only later

resident whose son has achieved political success.

Dmitri left no memoirs. The only information we have of him

is personal recollections and second hand accounts of his

activities. We can see him among the many photographs left

behind by the Imperial Family. He can be seen in film footage

escorting his cousin, Anastasia, during the dynasty's

tercentennial celebrations in 1913. He gave the impression of

being a carefree, bon-vivant Grand Duke for much of his life.

Impressions can be deceiving, though. His actions, at least

at certain times in his life, reveal a much more purposeful

and complex human being than he wanted the world to see.

Childhood

Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov, Grand Duke of Russia, was born in

1891, the only son of Princess Alexandra of Greece and Grand

Duke Paul (or Pavl) Alexandrovich. The beginning of Dmitri's

unstable childhood can be traced to the death of his mother

in childbirth. He was afforded the material splendor of a

Russian Grand Duke and the emotional poverty of a motherless

child. His widower father, brother of Alexander III, and

uncle to Nickolas II, became entangled in the matrimonial

scandals that plagued the later Romanovs. He and his older

sister, Marie Pavlovna. then became part of the household of

his aunt and uncle, Grand Duke Sergey and Grand Duchess

Elizabeth. These two were an interesting couple: Sergey was

the sadistic, anti-Semitic governor-general of Moscow, while

Elizabeth, or Ella, later became a nun. Ella and Serguey had

no children of their own, likely due to Sergey's reputed

homosexuality. Because no one else was available to him, and

because she was a loving person, Dmitri got whatever

nurturing he could from Grand Duchess Ella. They were to

remain close throughout her life.

Dmitri's father, the kindly Grand Duke Paul, was often absent

during his son's childhood, due to the afore mentioned

matrimonial difficulties. Paul greatly distressed his family

when, in 1902, he married a commoner and a divorcee, Olga

Karnovich, with whom he had three children. For a time, Paul

Alexandrovich was exiled to Paris, returning to his home in

Tsarskoe Selo during World War I, at the command of the Tsar.

His wife was eventually granted the courtesy title Princess

Paley, and died in 1929. In a sense, Dmitri was orphaned

twice over, due to PaulÕs absence and the unlikely

possibility that Sergei had any paterna influence over the

young Dmitri. It is uncertain if this vacuum was ever filled.

If it was, the only possibility is his first cousin, Nickolas

II. While their fathers were brothers, the Tsar was 23 years

his senior. We can only speculate that, because he often

lived in the Alexander Palace and other Imperial residences

with Nickolas and his family, Dmitri may have been like a son

to the last Tsar.

The premature deaths of those associated with him, beginning

with his mother, continued. In 1905, Sergey fell victim to a

bomb thrown by revolutionary terrorists led by Boris

Savinkov. Ella became a nun, founding a convent in Moscow.

She lived in relative obscurity, and makes appearances on the

historic canvass only twice more. In 1916, she appealed to

her sister, the Tsarina, to send Rasputin away. They parted,

for the last time, acrimoniously. In July 1918, one day after

the murder of the Imperial Family, the nun was thrown, along

with other Romanovs, alive down a mine shaft in Alapayevsk,

in Siberia. Her body was discovered by the Whites in the

Civil War, and transported to Jerusalem, where she was

buried.

The chief difficulty of any child who has known this type of

upheaval is in the forming of close attachments with others.

It would be easy to be blinded by the material privilege he

enjoyed. However, no amount of wealth can make up for a

childhood where the young person has every important figure

in his life disappear, and frequently through violent means.

To survive, Dmitri had to become almost numb regarding death,

and that phenomena led to his difficulties as a young man.

Young Adulthood

Nickolas and Aleksandra were very fond of young Dmitri. In

fact, evidence exists that they wanted him to marry their

eldest daughter, Olga Nickolaevna, and pass on the throne to

them jointly, in the likely event Aleksey did not survive

childhood. The willingness of Nickolas to tamper with the

order of succession is well documented. In fact, his 1917

abdication on behalf of Aleksey was illegal under existing

law.

The impediment to implementing this alternate succession plan

was not Dmitri, but Olga. We know she was serious and very

religious. By then, Dmitri had grown up, but not matured.

While Olga and her sisters are frequently characterized as

immature, her refusal could be evidence to the contrary. His

love of high living and comparatively loose ways very likely

shocked the more straight-laced Olga. They were first

cousins, once removed, a connection she may have felt was not

healthy for any children they would have together. As the

daughter of two deeply in love individuals, she may have

wished for the same for her marriage. Regardless of her

reasoning, we do know that Olga was steadfast in her refusal

to enter into a dynastic marriage. She also refused the of

suits her cousin Boris Vladimirovich and Prince Carol of

Romania.

Olga's refusal did not estrange him from his Imperial

cousins. He continued to flirt with the other Grand Duchesses

and enjoyed a high degree of intimacy with the Family.

Aleksandra, in her diaries, despaired of his involvement with

a fast social set. All of these indicate a great closeness,

at least on the part of Nickolas and Aleksandra. With his

likely difficulties in forming attachments, what were his

feelings toward them in 1916?

There are many unanswered questions regarding his involvement

in the plot to kill Rasputin. We do know he swore to his

father on a cross that he did not kill Rasputin. This agrees

with the published accounts by Yussupov of the murder. It is

unlikely that Dmitri was ignorant of the Tsarevich's medical

condition. If Rasputin's involvement with the Family was as a

healer or spiritual advisor, it would also be unlikely that

Dmitri, or any of the others associated with the plot, would

have sought to kill him.

If Dmitri was the carefree person he portrayed in public, we

must ask ourselves, why involve himself in a murder plot?

Involve himself, he did. The conspirators were thus shielded

from the law, as Grand Dukes were answerable only to the Tsar

for their actions. Dmitri, then, reveals himself as more

purposeful than his image. But, what was his purpose?

History shows, Rasputin ventured out of the narrow confines

that would have made his association with the Imperial couple

acceptable. He sought, and obtained, political influence, at

least with Aleksandra. There are two theories, both

compelling, which could explain Dmitri's motives. The one put

forth by Yussupov is that Rasputin was murdered out of

Russian patriotism. They thought that, with Rasputin dead,

the Tsar could reclaim his slipping prestige. While it seems

foolish in hindsight, this motive is possible concerning

Dmitri. His cousin was away commanding his Army, and his wife

and children were being smeared almost daily in the tabloids

with lurid, if untrue, stories involving Rasputin. Dmitri

knew Nicholas well enough to know that he would not listen to

the familyÕs advice. He remained close to Ella, an outspoken

Rasputin critic. His cousinÕs reputation suffering, and with

the only mother he had ever known urging RasputinÕs removal,

(and being rebuffed by her sister, Aleksandra), would that

have been sufficient motive for Dmitri?

The other theory, never published, but divulged by Maria

Pavlovna after her brother's death, was that Rasputin was

preparing to go to the Tsarina with damaging information

about the flamboyant Prince. The patriotic motive, she told

friends, was a cover for the true reason, and was concocted

after the fact. The dead men tell no tales theory does have

certain appeal. However, there are several problems with it.

This theory presumes a high degree of loyalty on Dmitri's

part to Felix Yussupov. Yet, the two did not remain friends

in exile. It has already been established that the type of

attachment this would involve was difficult, if not

impossible, for Dmitri as a young adult. Second, it assumes

that the brilliant Rasputin was foolish enough to sit on

information, and extremely damaging information, at that, and

do nothing to protect himself. This is entirely at odds with

the documented evidence we have that Rasputin destroyed

careers with a mere whisper to his Tsarina. Third, a member

of the Duma was the third conspirator. Purishkevich had no

known connection to the two others except for his desire to

remove Rasputin. The weight of logic points to a political

motive, rather than a personal one.

The precise political motive may never be known. One may

accept what Yussupov wrote as true. But, there is a more

interesting one that would fit exactly with what we know

about Dmitri. It is known that Dmitri was mentioned as a

successor to Nickolas during the Revolution of 1905, and also

that there were numerous plots in 1916/1917 to remove the

Tsar by members of the Romanov family. Most frequently

mentioned in the later plotting was Grand Duke Nickolas

Nickolaevich, former Commander-In-Chief. But he refused to

join in a palace revolution. It is certainly possible that

Rasputin's murder was the opening act of a plot to remove

Nicholas and replace him with Dmitri. That would also explain

his participation better than the two other theories.

However, this is still speculative.

It's not too difficult to imagine the great anger and hurt

Nickolas and Aleksandra felt upon learning of Dmitri's

betrayal, on whatever level, in December 1916. Not only did

they lose Father Gregory, they also lost Dmitri. In punishing

him, as has been established, they saved his life. They most

certainly knew of this irony before they themselves were

murdered.

Later Life

During the Revolution, Dmitri lost his father, who was

assassinated by the Bolsheviks at the Fortress of Peter and

Paul in January 1919, and thrown into a mass grave. His half

brother, Prince Vladimir Paley, was murdered along with his

nun-aunt Ella at Alapayevsk the day after the murder of the

Imperial Family on July 18, 1918. Since he left no memoirs,

it is impossible to know precisely how all this carnage

affected the Grand Duke. His diaries, deposited in an

American university library, reveal he wrote little about

Russia. This fact is often cited as evidence that he cared

little for what was happening in his motherland. Instead, it

may be evidence of a survivor's mentality, and of a young man

who could, to some degree, let go of his past.

Dmitri recognized the claim of Grand Duke Kyril to the

non-existent Russian throne during the 1920's. In 1926,

Dmitri married American heiress Audrey Emery in Biarritz and

procured from his Imperial Majesty the title of Princess

Illyinsky for his wife. This could be further evidence of

political aspirations on his part. By then, the murder of the

Imperial Family was known due to Sokolov's work. The

Bolshevik regime under Stalin was not at all secure, in spite

of their victory over the Whites in the Civil War. Perhaps

Dmitri acted to protect the interests of any children he

would have.

The couple divorced when their son, Prince Paul Illyinsky,

was 9 years old. The Prince lived to manhood, fathering four

children, and is now mayor of Palm Beach, Florida. This

American Romanov was naturalized under the name Paul

Illyinsky and does not pretend to the throne. However, Prince

Pavl Dmitrovich Romanov, great grandson of the

Tsar-Liberator, is now recognized by numerous monarchical

organizations as the heir to the Russian throne. In Russian

history, stranger things have happened. Dmitri lived out the

remainder of his life as a socialite and champagne salesman.

He died in Davos, Switzerland, of tuberculosis, in 1941, at

the age of 50. Nickolas II, the cousin he betrayed, also was

50 years old upon his murder. That irony was likely not lost

on the outwardly dashing, but, inwardly complex human being,

who was Grand Duke Dmitri.

This biography was written by Lisa Davidson

E-mail: j.l.davidson@worldnet.att.com

• 1 Paul Romanov