THE GRAND DUCHESS ELIZABETH ROMANOV SOCIETY’S PILGRIMAGE TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 26th and 27th June, 2023
On 26th and 27th June the patrons of the GDERS, Father Alexander Groves, Maria Harwood (Chairman) and John Harwood (Hon Secretary) and members of the Society Paul Oxborrow, Marina Scirska and Matthew Cradduck travelled to the Isle of Wight to mark the 5th Anniversary of the erecting of the Monument to the Romanov Martyrs in July
2018 (you can read about this event here https://gdelizabeth-society.co.uk/marking-thecentenary-of-romanovs martyrdom-in-uk/). This was a major project of the Society dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of their martyrdom when Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Emperor Nicholas II and his whole family and other Romanovs and their servants were
savagely killed in Alapaevsk and Ekaterinburg. Other killings happened in Perm (Grand Duke Michael, Nicholas’s brother) and in St Petersburg. The creation and opening of the monument was enthusiastically supported by the local authorities and the public. The monument was blessed by Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe (ROCOR) in presence of the Lord Lieutenant of the County, Major General Sir Martin White, and Prince Rostislav Romanov, who unveiled the monument.
The honorary member of the society from the Isle of Wight Lady Sally Grylls, and two prospective members attended the service of prayers to the Royal Martyrs and Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth. People held icons of the Saviour, Mother of God and of the Martyrs in their hands creating a “living iconostasis”. Father Alexander lead the service with assistance of Reader John and all sung the prayers. The Romanov Flag and the church banner with images of Tsar Nicholas and Tsarevich Alexis blew in a strong wind. After the service the chairman Maria Harwood laid flowers to the monument and distributed some society magazines to the local members, which were gratefully received. Jonathan Page told us about his great grandfather who served as an officer of the Scotts Guards to the Tsar Nicholas II. He promised to make his family memoirs available to us.
Leni Badgery Ang from Sandown brought a new book about the Romanovs, which she was reading and which is not widely known. She called her daughter Tatiana in honour of the daughter of the Emperor. Marina’s grand daughters also are bearing names of the Royal Martyrs Elizabeth and Alexandra. We had a very warm conversations and exchange
of news about Society matters.
From the Monument we moved to St Mildred’s Royal Church nearby and laid flowers on the grave of Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven, Princess of Hesse and by Rhine, the elder sister of Ella and Alix; all of them grand daughters of Queen Victoria and daughters of Princess Alice. Inside the church the Battenberg chapel has a memorial plate to Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra and their children, placed there by Princess Beatrice after their killing, and Orthodox icons donated to the church by the Society. Maria Harwood shared her knowledge about the life of Princess Victoria, her close relationship with Ella and her frequent visits to Russia. This year we are commemorating 170th years of Victoria’s birth.
Emperor Alexander I, the so- called Hoy monument on St Catherine’s Downs. We “discovered” and visited this monument in 2021 with a larger group which included princess Olga Andreevna Romanoff. This time we showed it to those who has not been there before – a touching moment, to discover the story of creation of this column by a British man who spend years in St Petersburg and who was fond of the Russian Tsar, the victor over Napoleon who came with his army to Paris. John Harwood told us about Leo Tolstoy’s description of the Emperor in his novel “War and Peace”.
On the day before, the group visited Osborne House with its collection of paintings, photographs, and memorabilia relevant to the Society. Once again we enjoyed this Royal summer palace and found that it has many features in common with Livadia, the Crimean summer palace of the last Romanovs, designed according to their taste, as the Osborne House was designed to the taste of Prince Alfred. Osborne was a favourite place of Alexandra and Nicholas, reminding them about their romantic meetings by the sea.
