“A great and unforgettable day for us, during which we were clearly visited by the grace of God. At 1.15 in the afternoon Alix gave birth to a son, whom we named Alexei as we prayed.” —Nicholas II’s diary (from A Lifelong Passion by Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko) “The more the boy opened his heart to me the better I realised the treasures of his nature … He had very quick wits and a keen and penetrating mind. He sometimes surprised me with questions beyond his years which bore witness to a delicate and intuitive spirit. I had no difficulty in believing that those who were not forced, as I was, to teach him habits of discipline, but could unreservedly enjoy his charm, easily fell under its spell. Under the capricious little creature I had known at first I discovered a child of a naturally affectionate disposition, sensitive to suffering in others just because he had already suffered so much himself.” —Pierre Gilliard, Thirteen Years at the Russian Court
