The Konstantinovichi Children's Health
Konstantin with two of his children.
Konstantin with his oldest sons, Ioann and Gavril (looking very sickly), c. 1890.
Konstantin, Mavra, and their six eldest children.
"The Konstantinovichi children were considered delicate in their childhood, and the elder sons, in particular, seem to have been rather sick when they were young. Even into their youths, Ioann and Gabriel suffered from various illnesses that often made them the object of jokes among members of the Imperial Family. Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, who often played with the Konstantinovichi children, later recalled: 'Alas, I knocked them down and maltreated them sadly, for they were puny, weedy little fellows, still treated as babies in the nursery, while I was a lusty damsel of nearly six, tall and strong for my age.' And Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, who -- with her brother Dimitri Pavlovich -- often visited Pavlovsk, recalled: 'We went sleigh riding with the boys, and as we were much more enterprising than our cousins, our animation added to occasion.'
"Ioann and Gabriel Konstantinovich, in particular, were both often sick, and together spent more than a year of their childhood living in Oreanda in the Crimea with a doctor and several servants. Their health improved in the climate, and the boys enjoyed their time spent on the beaches and in short tours around the peninsula...
"Despite the drawback of their delicate health, but partly because they were being strictly brought up, the Konstantinovichi children were among the very few Romanovs whom Empress Alexandra Feodorovna accepted as playmates for her own children. The English periodical The Patler noted in and issue early in 1906 that Grand Duke Konstantin's children were the favorite cousins of the Emperor's children, and the ones most often to be found in their company...
"In 1908, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich recorded in his diary: 'Our little ones were invited to tea with the Emperor's children. Igor went too. Little Anastasia was thrilled with him, kept calling him a nice little boy, and gave him flowers when they said goodbye...'
"Grand Duchess Elisabeth Mavrikievna was, recalled Serge Smirnov, 'a dedicated mother.' To the nurseries at the Marble Palace and Pavlovsk she brought a sense of Teutonic efficiency, installing a German nanny, Angelika Klein, whom the children called 'Ika.' One of the reasons that the censorious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna readily welcomed the Konstantinovichi children into her own home was that she and Elisabeth Mavrikievna shared similar attitudes and outlooks. Both doted on their children, and both attempted to transplant traditional, homey values from their native Germany into their Russian homes."
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Image 2: From Getty Images. link
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Quote source: From book The Other Grand Dukes: Sons and Grandsons of Russia's Grand Dukes by Arturo E. Beeche, editor. Chapter "Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich" by Greg King, Penny Wilson, and Arturo E. Beeche. pp. 85-86.
