To Kill Rasputin: The Life and Death of Grigori Rasputin (Revealing History) by Cook Andrew

Author:Cook, Andrew [Cook, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: To Kill Rasputin: The Life and Death of Grigori Rasputin
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2011-10-20T23:00:00+00:00

He auditioned in ‘a grey tailored suit, fox fur and a large hat’ as a young French woman singing the latest songs from Paris, and was engaged on the spot. New frocks and headdresses were ordered. He appeared, took three encores on the first night and was, of course, the toast of the town. For a week. And then,

…on the seventh evening I saw some friends of my mother staring at me through opera glasses. They recognised me from my likeness to my mother, and also knew the jewels I was wearing.9

There was of course a huge row, but this sort of scrape was just the beginning. Scandal followed Felix and his brother wherever they went. They had nothing in particular to do, no role at all – Nicholas at least would inherit the estates, but for Felix, there was no particular future; he certainly did not want to go into the army. They travelled a lot, most often to Paris, where Nicholas fell in love with a famous courtesan and he and his brother learned to smoke opium and escape from police raids. The merry-go-round of pleasure rolled on for several years, but ended in tears. In 1908 Nicholas fell desperately in love with a girl who was about to be married. Married she became; and he and she continued their affair. The husband found out, and challenged Nicholas to a duel. Felix’s beloved elder brother was shot dead.

The family was devastated. Princess Zenaïde never recovered. Prince Yusupov turned in his own fashion to religion and practical philanthropy. With typical savoir-vivre he began as one of a party disguised as beggars who spent a night in the stews of St Petersburg where the homeless and the alcoholic, the desperate and the diseased, sought shelter. He was a kindly young man, and this came as a sad revelation to him. After this he volunteered regularly to help down-and-outs. Also, he was inspired by Elizaveta Fyodorovna, who, since the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei, had turned to good works and the Orthodox Church.

Prince Felix Yusupov, too, began to have spiritual thoughts. In support of this new interest, Mounya Golovina introduced him to Rasputin in 1909, but he was not impressed.

The longer I examined him, the more I was struck by his eyes; they were amazingly repulsive. Not only was there no trace of spiritual refinement in the face, but it called to mind that of a cunning and lascivious satyr… His smile, too, was arresting: it was sickly yet cruel, cunning and sensual. Indeed, the whole of his being was redolent of something unspeakably revolting, hidden under the mask of hypocrisy and cant.10

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