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The Empress and the Cow

“The most unimpressive favorite in history.” “Fat, clumsy, gushing and stupid.” These were but a few of the things said about Anna Vyroubova, favorite of the Russian Imperial Family from 1905 until 1917 when she was arrested at the onset of the Revolution and sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg on suspicion of being part of an imperial conspiracy – orchestrated by the German-born Empress Alexandra – to hand over Russia treacherously to her bitterest enemy. She has also been called the “unintended genius of the Russian Revolution.” Painted at various times in her life as the lover of Empress Alexandra, or of Rasputin, or of Tsar Nicholas II even – or of all three simultaneously – she used a Bolshevik doctor to prove her virginity and thus her innocence of all charges made against her. So, was she a well-connected, naïve simpleton who happened to be a pleasing, if unlikely, companion for the lonely Empress Alexandra, or was she the cunning arch-manipulator who, together with Rasputin, helped to destroy the most powerful monarchy on earth? The actual facts are inconclusive. Even Empress Alexandra couldn't have told us for certain who Anna really was, for despite keeping Anna constantly at her side for over a decade, she left conflicting reports. In a letter to Tsar Nicholas II in 1914, Alexandra said, “You are mine, all mine, not hers [Anna’s]. If we are not both firm, we will have lovers’ scenes and scandals. You will see upon your return she will tell you how terribly she suffered without you. Be nice and firm, she always needs cooling down.” In a later letter to Nicholas, Alexandra referred to her scornfully as “the cow” and added, “She is full of how thin she has grown, tho’ I find her stomach and legs colossal & most unappetizing.” Yet Alexandra also referred to Anna as “Our big baby, our fifth daughter,” and pined for her company during her exile in Siberia. What we do know about Anna is that she was a survivor of one of the bloodiest revolutions in the history of the world, during which mill

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