Behind the Veil at the Russian Court

Behind the Veil at the Russian Court is a book by Princess Catherine Radziwill, a Polish-Russian blue-blood, who was a popular figure at the Imperial courts in Germany and Russia. The book covers the years 1855-1894, and 1894-1913. Excerpt: 'In the vast halls of the Winter Palace, on the 18th of February-the 2nd of March according to the Gregorian Calendar-of the year 1855, a great crowd was waiting amidst a profound silence and intense grief for news it expected as much as it dreaded. In the large square in front of the big building which had seen enacted within its walls so many momentous events in the history of Russia and the life of its Tsars, another crowd was gathered. The whole of the long night it had stood there in the snow and cold, with its eyes fixed upon a corner window-that of the room where all knew their Sovereign lay dying. Women were seen weeping, for, in spite of what was said abroad, Nicholas was beloved by his people, and they felt that his demise, occurring as it did at a critical moment in the destinies of his Empire, was an event fraught with mighty consequences...'

Catherine Radziwill (1858-1941) was a Polish-Russian aristocrat. Born in Russia into the Polish-Lithuanian House of Rzewuski, her maternal family was the Russian Dashkov-Vorontsov family. In 1873 she married the Polish-Lithuanian Prince Wilhelm Radziwill.She was a prominent figure at the Imperial courts in Germany and Russia, but became involved in a series of scandals. She combined her love for the luxury of the courts, social life, gossip and intrigue with her literary talent and she wrote two dozen books on European royalty and the Russian court, including 'Behind the Veil at the Russian Court' in 1914 and her autobiography 'It Really Happened' in 1932.