The Washington times. [volume], February 12, 1922, Page 5, Image 43

About The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
the Historic Necklace
_
May Yohe Who Once
Unlucky Hope Diamond
> ? ? ? 1 . ? . < <W?,
"W\
?
* i
Rodaced Photograph of the
Necklace of Matched
' Catherine ef Rimia
in Number.
(Continued froqi Preceding Page.)
running noose. Peter In hit struggles 6K
Orloff's hand and scarred Bariatensky*
face, leaving a mark that waa retained
for some time by that villain; but the un
fortunate Czar noon lost his atrength and
Ms murderers accomplished their diaboli
cal purpose."
Whon the Empress Catherine had re
ceived the news from Orloff she donned
the famous necklace and dined with more
than her usual cheerfulness, pretending
ignorance of the tragedy.
One of the many crimes Catherine com
mitted in order to consolidate her power
was the removal of the unhappy Prince
Ivan, son^etimes called "Ciar Ivan III."
This Prince was a great grandson of Peter
the Great's older brother, Ivan, and waa
the rightful C?ar. He had been kept in
pr son by successive rulers until he was
a wreck of humanity. In Catherine's time
he was immersed in the gloomy castle of1
Schluesselherg.
A Russian Cossack named Mirovltch
?as planning an attempt to rescue the un
happy prince. Unknown to Mirovltch
Catherine supplied him with funds tx> help
his plot. At the same time she ft**
orders to the governor of the dungeon
where the Prince was confined, to kill
him as soon as an attack was made on
the castle. When Mirovltch and his men
were heard thundering at the doors the
jai'ers choked the Prince to death.
The pearl necklace is directly connect
ed with the fate of the unhappy Princess
TarakhanofT, perhaps the most pitjful and
famous tragedy connected wiih the reign
of the Emrress Catherine. The Princess
was a daughter of the former Empress
"'Elisabeth and a direct descendant of Peter
the Great. She had therefore ? much bet
ter claim to the throne than the terrible
Catherine. Knowing that her life was in
danger for this reason she had fled from
Russia.
Count Alexis Orloff, Catherine's favorite,
who had been loaded with wealth and
honors for his service to her, procepdul
on a triumphal tnnr of Europe. The Prln
crss TarakhanofT had taken refuge st Flor
ence. in Ifalv. Orloff followed her there,
made love to her in his impetuous man
ner, told her that he was authorized by
the Empress to inform her that she would
? he received with great honor In Russia,
and finally persuader! her to marry him.
As a concluding argument he fold her that
the Empress wished her to wear the fa
mous five-row pearl necklace.
Cruel Tragedy of the
Drowned Princes*.
%
When the villain had made the Princess
his bride and had her completely In his
power he embarked with her on a Russian
warship. She was taken to Petrograd and
there promptly arreated by order of the
Empress and confined in one of the un
derground dungeons of the terrible fort
ress of St. Peter and St. Paul. These dun
ceons lie beneath the high water level of
the Neva. One day during a high tide
the water entered the cell of tjie unhappv
descendant of Peter the Great and she was
drowned like a rat in a trap. Her Jailers
had had orders to keep her locked in and
disregard her cries for help.
Tragic misfortunes began to fall thick
on those who wore the necklace after Cath
erine. This was exemplified In the reign
of the Czar Paul, who succeeded Catherine.
He was doubtless her son, but "in view of
her habits it is utterly impossible to decide
who was his father. He was brought up
with the grossest neglect by his mother
so that he became an ignorant and self
indulgent brute, whose natural disposition
to insanity was hastened.
He married twice. His first wife was the
Princess Nathalie of Hesse, who died im
mediately after marriage, and the second
I'l'iincess Marie of Wurtemberg, whom he
married in the year of his first wife's death.
Hoth these unhappy women wore the gnftat
pearl necklace, and words are scarcely
adequate to describe The tortures and mis
eries they suffered. During the greater
part of his life the Czar Paul revelled with
women of low character under the eyes of
his wife. In middle age his violence and
insanity became so marked as to endanger
the lives of his son and of his family and
the whole empire. Some of the leading
courtiers, therefore, resolved to remove
him, and in thia there is little doubt that
tltey had the consent of his son, the Grand
Duke Alexander.
"Owe the night of March \ 1801," says
the historian, "Paul went early to bed;
sv>on afterward the conspirators repaired
to his apartment, the outer door of which *
waa open to thetn|in compliance with the
demand of Argamokoff, who pretended
that he had come to make his report to
the Emperor.
A Cossack who guarded the door of th?
bedroom offered resistance and was cut
down. The Cossacks rushed in and found
the bed empty. 'He has escaped ua!' cried
some of them. 'He has not,' said General
Bennigsen. 'No weakness or I'll put you
all to death.' Putting hit hand on the bef
clothes* and feeling them warm, he ob
served that the Kmparor could not be far
off, and presently he discovered him crouch
ing behind a screen. The conspirators
demsnded he sign his abdication. He
refused; a conflict ensued; a sash was
passed round his neck and he waa stran
gled sfter a desperate resistance."
Czar Alexander I. succeeded to the thone
made vacant by the murder of his father.
He was already married to the beautiful
Princess Marie of Rad?n. known In Russia
as the Empress Elizabeth. She was aooil
to know the unhapplness that usually ac
companied the wearing of Catherine the
Great's necklace. She failed to produ ?
any sons to inherit thi throne, and for thU
reason tell into great disfavor. The Caar
experienced a passionate attachment fo;
the beautiful Princess Nariackln. .with
whom he lived <ft>?nly for eleven yeara.
His reign was filled with the most dread
ful massacres, disasters and misfortunes
that have happened even In the gloomy
history of Russia.
The Csnr Alexander I. was followed by
his "brother, who ascended the throne wi'li
the title Nicholas 1. He married the Prin
cess Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of Fr2d
ericfi' William 111. She took the title of
Empress Alexandra, In accordance with
Russian custom, which required her to
change her name on entering the Russian
church.
Very soon after his marriage the Caar
formed an attachment for Mils. Nelldoff, a
fascinating maid of honor of the Empress.
Throughout his life he showed that all his
affection went to this woman, although the
Empress received all the honors due to her
rank. No situation could have been more
unhappy for a woman. There are probably
fpw women In ordinary life who have to
endure such humiliation.. The Csarlna,
with all her crowns and wonderful jewels,
including the famous necklace, would not
have dared to resent this treatment by the
Emperor, as an ordinary woman wouM
have'done with her husband, for ha couM
have put her to death or immured her for
life in a dungeon, as had happened to ,?o
many oth*r unhappy members of the R>
manoff family.
This Czar's reign was made remarkable
by the desperate attemjAs that were made
to assassinate him. Many young men of
the best families in Russia took part In
these coifSnlrarles on account of the Em
peror's tyranny in his refusal of all con
stitutlonal rights. After the celebrated up
rising of December, 1825, the prisoners
were condemned to death in a manner
typical of Russian barbarism.
Five prisoners were executed at a time
on gibbets raised In front of the citadel
at Moscow. The condemned were com
pelled tq look on for an hour while the
preparations were going on for their exe
cution. and those whose turn had not com^
were forced to march around the gibbets
while the first victims were being exe
cuted. The ropes by which three leading
conspirators had been hung happened t:>
break, and these men were led to deato
the second time. Afterward gibbets were
erected instead of crosses upon their
graves.
All these dreadful events had a direct
effect upon the unhappy Czarina Alex
andra, a captive in the midst of her
splendor and Jewels. The histories state
the ne suffered from a constant nervous
discrJer which caused a perpetual trem
bling ol her head. This Is said to have
dated from the notorious attempt on tha
Czar's life of December 14, 1825, but it
may well have been aggravated by the
moral torture which she suffered.
A Modern Drama
of Tangled Live*.
The cruel and gloomy Nicholas I. was
succeeded by his son, who became Czar
Alexander II. He married the Princess
Marie of Hesse. When the daughter of
this minor 'o#rman prince married the
heir to the mighty Empire of the Czars
It was considered a splendid triumph for
her, but. in fact, fter life became more
tragic and unhappy If possible than that
of any other czarina. From the time she
first put on the splendid and terrible neck
lace of Catherine, tragedies fell thick said
heavy upon her.
A great Russian nobleman, Prince Mich
ael Dolgorouky, upon his death entrusted
his two daughters, the Princess Marie and
Princess Catherine Doleoroukv, as wards
to the Czar, who had professed great es
teem for the father. When the older of
the two girls had barely reached woman
hood, the Cxar, with that amazing con
tempt for morality and decency which
could only be displayed by a Russian au
'tccrat, fell passionately In love with her.
Not only that, but when she was eighteen
he had her appointed a maid of honor to
the Empress and took her to live at th?
Winter Palace so that he could always
have her pear him.
But this was not the worst. About two
years later the second Dolgorouky fill,
the Princess Catherine, grew up. and the
C?ar found that she was more adorable
than her sister. He then had Marie marry
Prince Meatcheraky, gave her a Kange
i
The Late X j
Czarina of, \ ... ? -m
Ruuia and the jL
Little Czarevitch, '*^1
the Heir to the
Russian Throne, Is Here Shown
Playing With the Ill-Fated Neck
lace. The Mother and Child Were
Both Murdered by the Bolsheviks
Together With the Czar and the
Rest of the Children. v
dowry and Installed the Prlnceee Cath
erine a* hla permanent favorite. She held
that position throughout hla life.
It woald he difficult to depict the mis- ^
erlea of thla Emprwis, condemned to wear
the crown and the Imperial Jewels while
all the rights of a wife were given to an
other woman. One misfortune after an
other fell upon her. Her oldest snd fav
rrlte son. Nicholas. died at the are of
twenty-one from the results of a fall from
hla horae Just before he waa to be mar
ried. The accumulation of sorrows and
humiliations broke down her heaHh. but
It Is. said that she died more from a
broken besrt than from Illness.
When at length 'he Cxartna died the
C*ar was not present. The rooms which
he occupied with the Princess PoJ*oro<ikv
In the Winter Palsce were situated exact
ly above those of the dylne Fmpress. who
rould hear the patter of little chlldren'a
feet above her head. The Princess Pol
romnkv h*d three children. Owing to the
protests of the Cxarlna's daughter against
the presence of the Princess Dolgoronky
In the palace, the latter was persuaded to
remove to Tsarskoe Selo. where the Csar
followpd her and where he still was at the
time the liJmpreas died s few days lster.
Forty days after her death the Cxar mar
ried the Prlncesa TV>?roro?ky morgan
atlcally.
After the Cxarlna waa dead snd 'Alexan
der had married the Princess Doleorouky.
one of the Innumerable favors he showered
upon her was to permit her to wear the
necklace of Catherine the Great. Within
? few mora weeks the Emperor Informed
his advlsera that he contemplated making
his morganatic wife Cxarlna.
The Cxar had promised to grant a
constitution In conformity with the wishes
of the moderate Russian liberals. At
the very moment when the constitution
* as lying on his desk ready to he started
the Cxar Alexander was aasasslnated by
Nihilists as ho drove through the streets
of Petrograd.
His mangled body was carried home to
the palace, where the Princess Dolgoroukv
waa waiting for him. Grand Duk? Vladi
mir, the next brother of the dead Ctar.
entered the room and commanded her to
leave the palace. From that time forward
the Princess Holjroronkv lived In obscurity
snd had no place In the Imperial family.
Thus the wearing of the necklace of Cath
erine had ended once mora in a sanguin
ary tragedy.
Alexander II. was followed by his son.
Alexander III., father of the late Ctar. 1
have already apoken of the misfortunes
that have befallen that monarch, hla
mother and his wife, the two last of whom
wsre In turn entitled to wear the rrest
necklace.
IC? !>??. by Amfrvnn Weakly. lot
The Terrible Death of Poor Prince** Tarakhanoff, Lured to Petrograd by the Promue of Alexis Orloff.
Catherine'* Favorite, That She Should Wear the Great Necklace.
Wr*?l VriOiti Kr?rr?e?l.