{"id":295753,"date":"2025-06-15T21:37:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T21:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/this-exiled-romanov-princess-fled-the-bloodshed-of-the-russian-revolution-and-reinvented-herself-as-a-fashion-icon\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T21:37:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T21:37:38","slug":"this-exiled-romanov-princess-fled-the-bloodshed-of-the-russian-revolution-and-reinvented-herself-as-a-fashion-icon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=295753","title":{"rendered":"This Exiled Romanov Princess Fled the Bloodshed of the Russian Revolution and Reinvented Herself as a Fashion Icon"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A new exhibition spotlights Natalia Pavlovna Paley, the granddaughter of a czar. She built a new life for herself in France and the U.S., appearing in films and on the pages of glossy magazines<\/h2>\n
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Meilan Solly<\/a><\/p>\n

– Senior Associate Digital Editor, History<\/span><\/p>\n

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Natalia Pavlovna Paley, also known as Natalie Paley, was the granddaughter of Alexander II of Russia and a cousin of Nicholas II.
\n Edward Steichen \/ Conde Nast via Getty Images<\/span>
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Around the time of her 13th birthday, Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley<\/a> embarked on a dangerous journey west, from war-torn Russia to freedom in Finland. Masquerading as the daughters of a laundress, Paley and her older sister Irina traveled via tram, cattle car, horse-drawn sledge and on foot, collapsing from exhaustion at multiple points on the more than 200-mile trek in December 1918.<\/p>\n

When the group reached a small stream, a Swedish traveling companion laid \u201cdown and made a bridge out of his body, which he kept stiff, and the women walked over on their improvised bridge,\u201d wrote<\/a> the sisters\u2019 mother, Olga<\/a>, in her memoir. \u201cA flickering light in the distance gave them hope that they were nearly at the end of their arduous journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paley and Irina arrived in Terijoki, on the Finnish frontier, 32 hours after they had set out from Petrograd. Olga joined her daughters<\/a> the following year, becoming the last member of the Paley family to escape the bloodshed of the Russian Revolution<\/a>. The sisters\u2019 father and brother were both executed by the Bolsheviks as part of the party\u2019s purge of the Romanov dynasty<\/a>. In total, at least 18 members<\/a> of the royal house, including Paley\u2019s cousins, the deposed czar Nicholas II<\/a> and his daughter Anastasia<\/a>, met violent ends during the conflict.<\/p>\n

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An undated photo of Paley<\/p>\n

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Archives and Special Collections \/ Photo by John Alfred Piver<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new exhibition at the Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens<\/a> in Washington, D.C. follows Paley from her idyllic childhood in France to her dramatic escape from the Bolsheviks to her postwar career as a fashion icon and actress. Titled \u201cFrom Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley<\/a>,\u201d the show features<\/a> photos, letters, drawings, decorative art objects, clothing, jewelry, glassware and other items that illuminate Paley\u2019s influence on fashion, film, culture and society. Hillwood<\/a>, the former home<\/a> of businesswoman Marjorie Merriweather Post, acquired<\/a> many of the objects on view in 2022, when it added 335 new items to its rich collection<\/a> of Russian imperial artifacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaley was a creative figure with a talent for elegant reinvention\u2014muse, model, fashion design collaborator, business director, actor, producer\u2019s wife and confidante to writers and poets, among others,\u201d says Kate Markert, Hillwood\u2019s executive director, in a statement<\/a>. \u201cWe are excited to bring this fascinating character to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natalia Pavlovna Paley\u2019s path from exile to princess<\/h2>\n

Born in 1905, Paley was the youngest child of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich<\/a> and his second wife, Olga<\/a>. The couple\u2019s relationship started in scandal: An uncle of Nicholas, the widowed Paul fell in love with the then-married Olga, who was far beneath his station. They began an affair, and in 1897, Olga gave birth to Paul\u2019s son Vladimir<\/a> while she was still married to her first husband. Soon after, Olga divorced her husband, freeing Paul to seek the czar\u2019s permission to marry her. Nicholas refused. After Paul and Olga wed anyway in 1902, the czar banished them to France, where they lived in comfort with their growing family.<\/p>\n

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The Paley family, including Olga (far left), Grand Duke Paul (third from right), Vladimir (second from right), Irina (standing in front, at left) and Natalie (standing in front, at right)<\/p>\n

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Paley and her siblings, Vladimir and Irina, enjoyed \u201can incredibly happy childhood with all the advantages of a privileged upbringing,\u201d noted Films of the Golden Age<\/em><\/a> <\/em>magazine in 2003. Their mother threw annual parties attended by Parisian and Russian cultural elites, and the family amassed an impressive collection of porcelain, silver, cut glass and other fine objects, some of which are on view in the exhibition. Paley \u201cspent her early years in an elegant and cultivated milieu, even if they were years of exile,\u201d wrote Thierry Coudert in Caf\u00e9 Society: Socialites, Patrons and Artists, 1920 to 1960<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Though Nicholas had condemned Paul\u2019s marriage to a divorced commoner as an act of \u201cundisguised selfishness<\/a>,\u201d his anger eventually dissipated, and he pardoned his uncle in 1912. Paul and his family moved back to Russia in 1914, settling in a newly built palace at Tsarskoye Selo<\/a>, outside of St. Petersburg. The children spent time with their older half-siblings from their parents\u2019 first marriages, as well as their cousins, the five children of Nicholas and his czarina, Alexandra<\/a>. In the words<\/a> of her half-sister Maria<\/a>, the young Paley was \u201cgay and animated, with a turned-up nose; plump, pink cheeks; and beautiful blonde curls.\u201d In 1915, Nicholas granted Olga and her children by Paul the titles of Princess and Prince Paley.<\/p>\n

World War I, the fall of the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Revolution<\/h2>\n

The Paley family arrived in Russia at a critical time for the waning empire. After 300 years<\/a> of Romanov rule, the Russian people had grown tired of the autocratic monarchy. Nicholas had offered concessions<\/a> to reformers, including the establishment of a legislative body called the Duma<\/a> in 1906, but these half-hearted measures failed to stem the tide of revolution.<\/p>\n

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Olga, Vladimir and Paul (middle row, left to right), with Irina in the back and Natalie in the front, in 1916<\/p>\n

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Exacerbating the widespread unrest was the royal family\u2019s close relationship with Grigori Rasputin<\/a>, a Siberian peasant who claimed to wield control over the health of Alexei<\/a>, the czar\u2019s only son. The heir to the throne suffered from hemophilia<\/a>, a rare disorder in which blood doesn\u2019t properly clot. But his illness was a closely guarded secret, so Nicholas\u2019 subjects were unable to understand why the czar and czarina relied so heavily on Rasputin.<\/p>\n

The outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914, just a few months after her family\u2019s arrival in Russia, had already brought Paley\u2019s peaceful childhood to an abrupt end. Her father and brother both served in the Russian military, the former as the commander of an Imperial Guard corps and the latter<\/a> as a soldier on the front lines.<\/p>\n

The start of the conflict \u201cprompted a burst of patriotism that initially reinforced the czar\u2019s rule,\u201d wrote historian Carolyn Harris<\/a> for Smithsonian <\/em><\/a>magazine<\/a> in 2016. However, military failures and poor decisions by both Nicholas and Alexandra, who was overseeing domestic affairs while her husband led the war effort, ultimately doomed the Romanov dynasty. Rumors suggested<\/a> that the czar\u2019s extended family, perhaps Paul or the dowager empress, would wrest power<\/a> from Nicholas. Then, on the night of December 30, 1916, two Romanov grand dukes\u2014among them Dmitri<\/a>, Paul\u2019s son by his first wife\u2014murdered Rasputin<\/a> in a last-ditch effort to preserve the monarchy. But they were too late to make a meaningful difference. Nicholas abdicated<\/a> in March 1917, triggering a series of events that would reshape Russia and throw the Romanovs into chaos.<\/p>\n

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The imperial family: Olga, Nicholas, Anastasia, Alexei and Tatiana in front and Maria and Alexandra in back<\/p>\n

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the upheaval, Paul and Olga decided to remain in Russia after the abdication\u2014a decision that led to their family being placed under house arrest<\/a>, first by the provisional government<\/a> that succeeded Nicholas and then by the Bolsheviks<\/a>, who seized control of Russia during the October Revolution of 1917. The following year, the new regime ramped up its efforts to eliminate the Romanovs, calling for all male members of the house to present themselves for registration. Paul was severely ill, so he was excused from appearing, but Vladimir was taken away<\/a> by the Bolsheviks after refusing to renounce his father.<\/p>\n

Back at Tsarskoye Selo, the conditions of the Paley family\u2019s house arrest quickly deteriorated. Unable to pay to keep their estate warm, they moved into a smaller house nearby. In July 1918, Bolsheviks killed Vladimir and several of his Romanov relatives<\/a>, dumping their bodies into a mineshaft in the Ural Mountains. The day before, a separate group of Bolsheviks had murdered<\/a> Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children and four <\/strong>of their loyal attendants in Yekaterinburg.<\/p>\n

Paul remained under house arrest with his wife and children until mid-August, when the Bolsheviks moved him to a prison. At first, Olga was allowed to visit her husband; she told him<\/a> that their daughters\u2019 \u201cminds had quickly matured in adversity.\u201d Early on January 28, 1919, the Bolsheviks marched Paul and three other grand dukes out to the prison yard, where they forced them to undress, then shot them<\/a> execution-style. Upon learning of her husband\u2019s death, Olga \u201cremained there, stupefied, understanding nothing, unable to say a word,\u201d as she later recalled<\/a>. \u201cI remember nothing more of that day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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Paul (the tallest man in the group) and Vladimir (second from left) during World War I<\/p>\n

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Paley princesses in Paris<\/h2>\n

After the grand duke\u2019s murder, Olga escaped to Finland, where she was reunited with her daughters. They settled first in Sweden and then in France, their former home. \u201cRumors to the contrary,\u201d Paley told<\/a> a reporter in 1935, \u201cwe did not have such a difficult time, once back to the normalcy of the French life. True, we were not rich anymore. But we still had a house in Boulogne. We sold it. I was able to finish my schooling.\u201d In other interviews, however, she struck a more somber tone, saying, \u201cI had faced death, so close. My father, my brother, my cousins, my uncles, executed, all Romanovs\u2019 blood splashed on my adolescence. This gave me a taste for sad things, poetry, the icy and lightning antechamber of death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living in exile once again, Olga dedicated herself to the Russian \u00e9migr\u00e9 community, hosting an annual ball \u201cpatronized by American millionaires and the cream of European officialdom and the aristocracy,\u201d wrote historian Helen Rappaport<\/a> in After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris From the Belle \u00c9poque Through Revolution and War<\/em><\/a>. \u201cEach year, it raised enough money to fund Olga\u2019s numerous good causes until the next one.\u201d In 1924, Paley, by then a young woman, made her society debut; three years later, she married<\/a> the French fashion designer Lucien Lelong<\/a>, who transformed her into his muse. A bottle of N perfume<\/a>, created by Lelong as a tribute to his wife, appears in the Hillwood exhibition.<\/p>\n

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A circa 1933 portrait of Paley<\/p>\n

\u00a9 George Hoyningen-Huene Estate Archives \/ Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Archives and Special Collections<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The death of Paley\u2019s mother in 1929 marked a distinct break in her life, separating her even further from her past in Russia. Olga, who\u2019d spent her final years fighting to reclaim<\/a> her onetime possessions, which had been confiscated and sold abroad by the Soviet government, died of cancer at age 62, her spirit broken by the loss of her husband and the continued hardships she\u2019d faced after the revolution. Her daughter, now known by the Anglicized name Natalie Paley, sought comfort outside of her marriage, first with a dancer named Serge Lifar<\/a> and then with the French writer Jean Cocteau<\/a>. Paley\u2019s seeming affinity for men who were known for their relationships with other men, Cocteau<\/a> and Lelong<\/a> among them, led a friend to assert<\/a> that \u201cshe is made to be loved and not to love.\u201d The observer added, \u201cShe is an exotic plant that in order to thrive must have praise, flattering mirrors and chandeliers. She knows it. Here are all the men at her feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paley made a name for herself as a model, appearing on the pages of Vogue<\/em><\/a> <\/em>and in photographs captured by the likes of Man Ray<\/a>, Cecil Beaton<\/a> and Andr\u00e9 Durst<\/a>. But she dreamed of a different kind of fame: stardom on the silver screen, across the Atlantic Ocean in America.<\/p>\n

Natalie Paley\u2019s film career and life in America<\/h2>\n

\u201cCousin of Late Czar Determined to Secure Success in Movieland,\u201d a 1935 newspaper headline<\/a> declared. Still, several obstacles stood in Paley\u2019s way. Her accent was \u201ctoo much \u2026 for the microphone,\u201d so she had to practice reading out loud in English for two hours each day, as she told a reporter. Then there was the fact that she simply wasn\u2019t a talented actress. After appearing in several poorly received French films, Paley moved to the United States in the mid-1930s. She reached the apex of her film career soon after, appearing<\/a> in a bit part alongside Katharine Hepburn<\/a> and Cary Grant<\/a> in the movie Sylvia Scarlett<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Maurice Chevalier & Nathalie Paley – Vous avez dit ce que j’allais dire – 1935<\/p>\n

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