This photograph has been commonly mislabeled (IMO) as Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana with their mother, Empress Alexandra. However, I believe that this is their Hessian aunt by marriage, Grand Duchess Eleanor, wife of Grand Duke Ernest of Hesse by Rhine – brother of Empress Alexandra. Read more ROMANOV GRAND DUCHESSES WITH THEIR HESSIAN AUNT. CRIMEA.
At the turn of 20th century smoking cigarettes did not have the same stigma it does today. Hence the entire Romanov family – including Tsarevich Alexei – smoked!
Records of this can be found throughout the imperial family’s letters and diaries, as well as photographs. Below are excerpts from the diary of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna which mention the subject of smoking.
From the 1913 diary of Olga Romanov: Read more DIARY OF OLGA ROMANOV: SMOKING CIGARETTES
From the 1913 diary of Olga Romanov: Read more DIARY OF OLGA ROMANOV: OREANDA, 1913
The artifacts of Olga Romanov:
Read more OLGA ROMANOV: ARTIFACTS LEFT BEHIND
Read more ROMANOV FAMILY: BABY WEIGHT CHART OF OLGA ROMANOV
