Mary Ann Orchard (known as Orchie) holding Princess Alix of Hesse, future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia.
Immediately after the birth of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra's first daughter, Olga, in November 1895, the royal couple began searching for an experienced nanny.
In December 1895, Miss Orchie went from England to Russia to take care of the one-month-old Olga. She was entrusted with managing the team of local nannies, making her the head nanny.
Miss Orchie, appointed to this important role in the imperial palace, was not a new face for the imperial family. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna personally chose her, as Orchie had been Alix's (the future empress) nanny many years before, which made her choice deliberate and preferable.
However, despite their prior acquaintance, the relationship between Alexandra Feodorovna and Miss Orchie did not work out. Alexandra Feodorovna showed a special attachment to her children, striving to personally engage in their upbringing. This caused confusion for Miss Orchie as at that time, completely different approaches to child-rearing were common even among aristocrats. The empress's desire seemed unusual and inappropriate to Miss Orchie.
In the Englishwoman's opinion, Alexandra Feodorovna, wanting to take care of the children herself, was breaking all conceivable traditions. The experienced Miss Orchie allowed herself to criticize the empress's actions and her parenting methods, which greatly upset Alexandra. Miss Orchy's unsuccessful attempts to convince Alexandra Feodorovna of the need for a more traditional approach to education and upbringing eventually led to conflict.
Unwilling to cede control of the nursery to the nanny, Alexandra Feodorovna eventually fired Miss Orchie. The Englishwoman worked with little Olga Nikolaevna for only six months.
An entry in Nicholas II's diary dated April 26, 1896 reads:
"Today the insufferable English nanny left us; we rejoiced that we finally got rid of her!"
The incident that occurred in the imperial household served as a significant lesson for all those involved in raising the children of the royal family: contradicting the empress's wishes regarding upbringing was extremely risky.
Shortly after the departure of Miss Orchie, Alexandra Fedorovna hired Margaretta Eagar, an Irishwoman who served as a nanny to the four daughters of Emperor and Empress Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, the Grand Duchesses Olga; Tatiana; Maria; and Anastasia—known collectively as OTMA—from 1898 to 1904.
In 1906, she wrote a memoir entitled Six Years at the Russian Court about her time with the family.
