I am told that I was born on June 5, 1901 at Lower Palace in the Alexandria Park at Peterhof, although I cannot be 100% sure as I scarcely remember anything about it! I have been there and have seen the room which my mother tells me looks just the same as it did on that day. Aleksey and I have examined every nook and cranny in that room. You should see it for yourself, it is a very pleasant room, with ikons on the walls and lots of nice furniture - which you cannot see as it is covered with drop cloths almost all the time. Underneath these drop cloths are many interesting things and excellent places to hide from swinish sisters. Very nice.

My father is By the Grace of God, His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II, Tsar, Emperor and All-Russian Autocrat. You can see him in a picture on the left. We call him Papa. Everything about my father's life can be found in books. It is very funny to read about your parents in books as if they were other people when you know them so well yourself. Mostly, everything I read about my father in books and newspapers is very strange and makes me laugh because it sounds like someone else! If you would like to read some letters I wrote my father you can see them here. The basic information about my father is that he was born on May 6, 1868 in the Alexander Palace to my Grandfather Alexander III and Grandmother Maria Fyodorovna. I never knew my Grandfather, who died before my parents wedding. Grandmother is a dear and lives mostly at the Anichkov Palace or at Gatchina. We often visit her in the city and always at Christmas. She is very busy.

My mother is Her Imperial Majesty, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Tsarina of all the Russias. She is very beautiful and you can see a picture of her below my father's. If you would like to read a book about our mother go here. She was born in the Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt on the Rhine River. Her birthday is June 6, 1872. They named her Victoria Alix Helena Louise Beatrix, which is MOST difficult to say in one breath. Try it! Father calls Mama Alix. When mama came to Russia to marry her husband (our father, of course!) she joined our church and took the name of Alexandra Fyodorovna, which is what she is called in public. Mother had a very tragic childhood and lost her mother when she was very young. She also lost one of her sisters and also a brother, which is very sad, don't you think? We often travel to Darmstadt to visit Mother's brother, the Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig. We call him Uncle Ernie.

Mother is the granddaughter of the late English Queen Victoria, which makes me her great-granddaughter. Mother has many pictures of her Grandmother about, my sister Maria tells me one day I will be as fat as her. What a silly idea! We speak English with mother and Russian with father. We get very confused sometimes, speaking in two languages at the same time. Sometimes we forget our English when mother tells us to do something dull and boring.

Shall I now tell you about where we live?