06:09

[Music – Stardust by Freddie Gardner, Album More Sophistication]

Section 2 – History & Historiography

[Music fade out]

06:18

Without a doubt, World War I toppled 3 long reigning imperial European dynasties – the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg formed in 1273, the Turkish Ottoman formed in 1299, and the Russian Romanov formed in 1613.  The first two were part of the losing side the Central Powers, while Russia had been part of the Allied Forces.

Actually, World War I was essentially a large family feud that led to multiple toppling of monarchies.  Queen Elizabeth II’s grandfather British King George V and Russian Tsar Nicholas II were cousins who could nearly pass as twins.  In fact, the inciting incident of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife.  Kaiser Wilhelm II went to battle against his cousins Russian Nicky and British Georgie. 

07:08

The Habsburgs of Austria-Hungary-an at one time Spain was a grand imperial dynasty with much blood and marital connection to the European royal houses.  If British Queen Victoria was the grandmother of Europe, Habsburg Holy Roman Empress Marie Theresa was the great grandmother with 13 out of 16 offspring surviving childhood and many marrying into other royal houses – the most perilous being Marie Antoinette.

The dissolution of the Habsburgs came from abdication which allowed family members to retain some fortune and far more importantly – their lives.  However the Nazis would cause more problems.  From my History Channel documentary days, I learned that one descendant kept his aristocratic charm and ran a popular toy company in Austria.

07:53

The Turkish Ottoman had its own revolution and resulted in abolishing the sultanate in 1922.  The last Sultan Mehmed VI was expelled and lived in exile until his death in 1926.  War hero Mustapha Kemal Ataturk assumed control of the newly formed republic and set about modernizing the nation.

08:13

The Romanov dynasty had a far darker and more tragic end with the annihilation of Tsar Nicholas II and his immediate family including – despite the rumors – famed daughter Anastasia.  Much like the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution with Stalin’s paranoia and the Bolshevik Register set out to eliminate any and all aristocratic, noble, and royal ties that might on the slightest attempt try to reassert their titles or property.

Under the legitimate fear of eminent death, those who were fortunate fled the country with barely anything, except maybe and very rarely a Faberge egg. 

08:49

There are photos of Serge Obolensky with the Romanov royalty.  He was after all from one of the oldest and most prominent noble families in Russian history dating back to the 1600s and Novgorod.  He also married the former Tsar Alexander II’s daughter Princess Catherine, 12 years his senior.

Officially his name was Sergei Platonovich Obolensky Neledinsky-Meletsky.  Before World War I, he played polo while studying at Oxford leaving to serve his country in Yalta as a captain.

09:19

As the Bolsheviks went out to kill any affiliations, they found and killed Serge’s relative Prince Mestchersky in Yalta, smashing in his face, and throwing him into the bay.  However as that Prince was similar in build to Serge, the Bolsheviks mistakened the two and thus listed Serge as dead in the Bolshevik Register in 1918.  That helped him evade further hunting, but he would then have to stay away from his wife Catherine or be exposed. 

09:44

Participating in the Russian Resistance as a guerilla fighter, Serge would battle against the Bolsheviks until it became clear it was the losing side.  He hid in the Crimean mountains amongst the Tartars until safe travel could be arranged.  He posed as a sickly intellectual Revolutionary but it was a poor disguise as practically everyone was still able to recognize Serge with his distinctly unmalleable features, and to be caught harboring this fugitive would have guaranteed death or a Siberian trip.  Safe harbor meant hiding him in secret rooms unseen.

Eventually, Serge would reunite with his wife and they would make their escape to London, now as de facto exiled royals. 

10:25

Ironically, there was for a bit another man running around impersonating Prince Serge Obolensky.  A few times, the two men nearly crossed paths.  When those the impostor wished to fool explained they knew Serge, the impostor claimed there was a Russian tradition of brothers having the same name.  They obliged in their confusion, yet the impostor lacked the impeccable charm and manners which so defined Serge.  In contrast, the impostor was a short, thin, nervous individual wore a monocle and spoke broad English with an odd pronounced foreign accent.  He also wracked up a large tailor bill which was later presented to Serge, who struggled to pay it off at a most inopportune financial time.  Serge did not leave debts unpaid.

11:08

The impostor would later be arrested in 1921 on some random charge as to which Serge was unable to recollect the specifics – the impostor Wellesley had served as a private in the British army until claiming to be in an insane asylum and dropping out of sight.  The impostor would again resurface as the Duke of Wellington in Paris as well as Prince Serge Obolensky in New York – the guy actually came from the Bronx or Brooklyn.  The real Serge worked with the Scotland Yard to clear up matters.  And still the impostor continued on enjoying Broadway including the chorus girls, touring parties in both Newport and Long Island.  Many years later the two Serges would meet face to face.

11:49

During the 1920s, European capitals found themselves hosting lots of dispossessed royals, both real and fake.  London and Paris being the favorites.  One could hardly keep track, and it always helped if there was something more to the context. 

While many lived off the generosity of others, Serge got a job at a stock brokerage company and began to earn a decent living.  In 1923, his wife Princess Catherine would sue for divorce now that England finally permitted the charge of adultery as reasonable grounds. 

12:19

A year later, Serge would meet the successful debutante Ava Alice Astor on the golf course where she beat everyone brilliantly, but it was a later event of dancing and tripping over each other that began their grand love affair.  His first description of her references her dark beauty resembling an Egyptian Princess – rumors circled she was the 4th person to enter King Tut’s chamber (Episode 4: Wonderful Things) and her family past with the Titanic (Episode 10: The Iceberg Cometh).  The young couple fell madly in love and traveled the world together as Ava had a restless spirit.

12:53

Serge had a long career mingling with the rich and elite in various capacities for decades, always pictured dancing with a Society lady or starlet. 

In contrast, Prince Alexis Mdivani is known to be charming only to those from whom he wants something.  He is also hotheaded, greedy, and completely self-obsessed with his titular role.  His family origins and dispossession too were tied to the Russian Revolution.

13:17

Prince Alexis’s father Zahkary was a proud General from the same soviet state as Stalin – Georgia.  Colonel Zahkary Mdivani served as an aide de camp to Tsar Nicholas II, though not a position in person there was a photo of the two together.  In 1914, the Colonel went to the front lines of fighting leaving his wife and 5 children behind in Tiflis, Georgia.  Later promoted to General, he would move to Batum near the Black Sea and serve as Governor.  His Polish wife Elizabeth referred to then as the Madame Governor hosted parties for the Allied Nations befriending Americans including Zenas Marshall Crane, the heir to Crane Paper Company.

13:54

When in 1921, the Bolsheviks began to attack Batum, Crane offered to take second son David to America for their education.  However oldest brother Serge (yes another Sergei) and youngest brother Alexis also snuck aboard the ship.  Crane would take Serge and David to the United States and enroll them at the Phillips Academy in Andover, while Alexis would join sisters Nina and Roussie in Constantinople / Istanbul with their parents.  From French connections made during their parties, Madame secured visas for the family to Paris.

14:25

While David and Serge “studied” more like caused a ruckus at Andover, their siblings were hustling on the streets of Paris.  Roussie spun a tale about their trunk carrying silver and other treasures being lost at sea, being left only with small party favors and some shares in oil fields.  In Paris, Madame and Nina went to the embassies reconnecting with past acquaintances only now as “princesses in exile.”

Madame and the children heavily played on their royal titles, as there were so many dispossessed royalty meandering about.  Zahkary refused to go by the title, proudly holding onto his rank as General.  Alas his children would make the most of it nonetheless, and their mother played it to a hilt too.

15:06

Roussie also wanted to ensure youngest brother Alexis had the best chance and managed to get him into school at Britain’s Eton where he met the Van Alens and later followed middle son William Laurens Van Allen, who luckily went by the name Sam, to Cambridge, living and sponging off this ever so generous host.

15:23
It might sound odd covering the Russian Revolution and toppling of monarchies and dynasties, but in essence our story is about the American version of royalty which is our wealthy elite.  Their lives will soon take a dark shift, and one of our young heiresses aspiring to be a princess will soon become the Marie Antoinette of the Great Depression.