The Imperial Russian family visiting the Romanian Royal family in Constanța on June 14 (June 1), 1914. This would be the last official visit by the Romanovs before the outbreak of WWI a month later.
Nicholas II's visit to Romania in June 1914 was a significant diplomatic endeavor, occurring at a critical juncture in European history. This royal visit was aimed at strengthening Russia's alliances and influence in the Balkans, a region of strategic importance and political volatility. Romania, with its strategic position on the Black Sea, was a key player in the complex web of European politics, and Russia sought to cultivate closer ties with the Romanian monarchy.
The visit also had a personal dimension, as there were family connections between the Russian and Romanian royal houses. Queen Elisabeth of Romania, known by her pen name Carmen Sylva, was a distant relative of Nicholas II. Such royal visits were common practice among European monarchs, serving not only diplomatic purposes but also reinforcing the personal relationships between royal families.
Some historians suggest that one of the underlying motives for this visit might have been to explore the possibility of a marriage between Nicholas' daughter Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna and Crown Prince Carol of Romania. This potential match was seen as a way to further cement Russian-Romanian relations.
However, the timing of this visit proved to be particularly significant. It took place just weeks before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, an event that would trigger World War I. In retrospect, this diplomatic journey can be seen as one of the last major peacetime engagements for Nicholas II before Europe plunged into conflict.
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna noted in her diary:
“At about 10 a.m. we arrived at the pier in Constanta. We paid a visit to the King and Queen and went with them to the Cathedral. So many people! After returning, Papa and the King went somewhere and then to the “Cahul”. Breakfast with the Queen in the pier pavilion with the whole family… At 6 o’clock we went to the parade for the troops. All the handsome! Mama didn’t go. At 8 o’clock with Papa, Mama, Romanians and z of us went to the Palace for a state dinner. Illumination, fireworks…”
In the evening, the Romanian Royal Family held a State Banquet for Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna at the Royal Palace of Constanța.
“The Empress was wearing a classic, flowing dress. Her hair was decorated with a diamond ribbon. Queen Elizabeth forgot her orders, and then the Empress took off her own to be on an equal footing with her. Crown Princess Marie was the only one who wore her orders, and this was her only decoration, except for a large diamond cross on a long chain…”
The Russian and Romanian Royal Families tried to engineer a marriage between Crown Prince Carol and Grand Duchess Olga during the visit:
‘In the summer of 1914, just prior to the outbreak of the First World War, the Romanov family boarded their imperial yacht “The Standart” and sailed to Constantza, Romania.The idea was to continue to pursue the idea of a diplomatic marriage between the royal houses of Russia and Romania.
Grand Duchess Olga, Tsar Nicholas II’s eldest daughter, had reached marriageable age and would have made a good match for Carol, the eldest son of the Crown Prince and Princess of Romania. Earlier, the Romanian royal family visited the Romanovs at Tsarskoe Selo for several days, but no engagement between the couple was announced at the time. The of the 1914 state visit was to give it another try.
However, Grand Duchess Olga was not interested in the Romanian prince, she insisted that she did not wish to leave her beloved Russia or change her nationality, as she would be forced to do if she married Carol. The idea of the Romanian marriage was abandoned with Russia’s embarkation on World War I, and Grand Duchess Olga remained unmarried.’
Carol did not find Olga’s high cheek-boned face and her curt and sensitive mannerism appealing as Olga was known to be rather independent and opinionated (one might say that Olga was ahead of her time) but also very compassionate and sensitive.
And to make sure that Carol would not try to make any advancements on Tatiana (17), Maria (15), or Anastasia (13), all four of them spent time tanning before going on this voyage and as a result the Romanian nobles where put off by the Romanov daughters appearance (as darker skin was not considered the standard of beauty for Princesses at the time).
Nicholas wrote in his diary of the entire day (the imperial visit only lasted 14 hours):
June 1st. Sunday.
At night, there was a slight rocking from the old swell. From 8 o'clock, we reduced speed as we approached within sight of Constanta, where we were scheduled to arrive at 10 o'clock. The weather was excellent and hot from the morning.
The reception in Romania was ceremonial and very cordial, the day's program was full and busy, so we were on our feet all the time. The King is quite vigorous, the Queen less mobile, remarkably gracious; I hadn't seen her since the funeral of old Emperor Wilhelm in 1888. After mutual visits, we went to the cathedral, where a prayer service was held. From the yacht, the King took me on a rowing boat to inspect the port, which is broadly conceived. I visited the "Kagul" with him. We had a family lunch in the Queen's pavilion. There was a pleasant sea breeze there. We returned to the yacht around 3:30. I received a delegation of our Skoptsy, the chairman of the Council of Ministers Brătianu, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
By this time, the Romanians invited for tea started to gather.
There was a family tea on the poop deck. At 6 o'clock, I went with the King to the parade of troops of the 5th Army Corps. He rode at their head. I liked the appearance of the people, their faces remind me of our southerners. The ceremonial march lasted an hour.
After changing clothes at my quarters, we went at 8 o'clock to the palace in the city for a grand dinner with speeches. This took place in a hall specially built at the palace. The conversations were brief. We returned to the pier to the Queen's pavilion... At 11 o'clock, we said goodbye to the hospitable Romanian family and those seeing us off, and at 11:25 we departed from the pier. The night was marvelous and moonlit.
Hello! Hope you are all doing well! The Cats & Dogs Addon is now available!
This addon, like previous addons, aims to add more versatility to existing items in the pack with various new tables, desks and seating options. There's also some wall-mounted pet beds, TV units and modular curtain sets included as well!
There's over 40 items included in this addon. You can easily find the items in buy mode by searching for "Cats & Dogs Addon" or "IllogicalSims" using the in-game search function.
I think the next pack I'll make an addon for will be Enchanted by Nature 🌱
You can find my addon overview video here.
This addon requires the Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack to function.
Merged package and separated zip versions can be downloaded below. Only install one option. I have included thumbnail images in the separated ZIP version to make it easier to pick and choose which items you wish to install.
Download: Patreon (free)
Use my Creator Code: IllogicalSims when you make a purchase on the EA App to support me! I'll earn a 5% commission on your purchase #EAPartner
Install
To install, place the .package files into your Mods folder found, by default, in My Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Mods. Alternatively, you can place the individual .package files from the separated ZIP into it’s own folder within the Mods folder to keep things tidy.
A cold mist blew through the streets of the town the night they gunned young Benson down. He'd laid with a woman who wasn't his wife and her husband decided he'd pay with his life. By the dark of the night and the light of the moon, into the river went poor Benson Boone.
Watched yesterday the httyd remake and I LOVE IT. The atmosphere of the original film is certainly there. I don't think they could cast a better Hiccup.
The only thing I didn't really like is that I felt like Astrid wasn't herself? Idk maybe because she was less violent and was acting less hostile to Hiccup at the start? And what about her bangs??? I know somewhere on tumblr there's a post about the psychology of her hair and bangs specifically.
Overall great movie, now I want to rewatch the series again.
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