Princess Milica
Grand Duchess Militza Nikolaevna of Russia
Photo of Milica as a grand duchess
Born	(1866-07-14)14 July 1866 Cetinje, Montenegro
Died	5 September 1951(1951-09-05) (aged 85) Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt
Spouse	Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia ​ ​ (m. 1889; died 1931)​
Issue	Princess Marina Petrovna Prince Roman Petrovich Princess Nadejda Petrovna Princess Sofia Petrovna
Names Milica Petrović-Njegoš
House	Petrović-Njegoš
Father	Nicholas I of Montenegro
Mother	Milena Vukotić

Princess Milica Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro, also known as Grand Duchess Militza Nikolaevna of Russia, (14 July 1866 – 5 September 1951) was a Montenegrin princess. She was the second eldest daughter of King Nicholas I Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro and his wife, Queen Milena. Milica was the wife of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia, the younger brother of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia, whose wife was Milica's sister, Princess Anastasia.

Princess Milica was born in Cetinje, Montenegro, on 14 July 1868, a member of the House of Petrović-Njegoš, which had continuously ruled the Principality of Montenegro since 1697, and the second daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro and his consort Princess Milena, the daughter of Montenegrin Voivode and Senator Petar Vukotić. Although she was given the name Vidosava at birth, she was more widely known by her christened name, Milica. The godfather at her christening was Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia, who had also served as godfather to her older sister Zorka.

Of all Prince Nicholas's children, Milica showed the most interest in books and in constant intellectual development from an early age. As her younger sisters once described her, she was never seen without a book by her side; she was always reading, eager and hungry for knowledge, wrapped and focused in her quiet silence.^[1] Their proud father encouraged the girls to brave the capital's harsh winters by long hours of sledding, ice skating, and snow-shoeing along the frozen ground. In spring and summer, when the temperatures turned more hospitable, they made long excursions climbing into the nearby mountains, trekking and taking picnics, and there were also holidays at their father's Villa Topolica on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. The girls were taught to ride bareback, to shoot and hunt, play golf, and could drive a four-in-hand easily. Still, Nicholas and Milena were conscious of the need to raise respectable princesses with an eye to their future marriages. They employed Swiss and German governesses and tutors, who were tasked with teaching them foundational and advanced lessons, as well as languages, deportment, and a host of skills deemed necessary to the well-bred lady, including painting, drawing, and dancing. Under this strict system, as one press article of the time recorded, the princesses "developed from tomboy girls into women of unusual grace and beauty, of exceptional personal distinction and of remarkable talent in many directions."

All children of the ruler at the Montenegrin court were guided toward good literature, the study of foreign languages, and knowledge of their national history. Piano lessons were mandatory, and results depended on talent, determination, and perseverance.

In 1869 the Women's Institute of Empress Marie Alexandrovna opened in Cetinje to train the daughters of nobles and the military. Funded almost exclusively by the Empress, this offered a wide-ranging curriculum encompassing primary and secondary education. This would have been the obvious educational choice for Milica and her sisters, but Prince Nicholas decided that his daughters should be educated in Imperial Russia. Raised in a patriarchal environment, in the spirit of the Orthodox faith, and taught the manners of European ladies, the princesses were sent to Russia from a very young age, at the invitation of Emperor Alexander II, to continue their education and gain further cultural refinement.^[2] This was probably an astute political choice.^[3]

In 1875, Milica and her sister Zorka were invited by Alexander II of Russia to be educated at the Russian Smolny Institute, which was a school for "noble maids". A year later their younger sister Anastasia joined them, and in the following years, as they came of age, their other sisters Maria, Elena, and Anna joined as well.^[4]

They were placed under the special care of the Headmistress, enjoyed separate quarters and personal upkeep, and had their own dedicated tutor and maid, while still attending classes alongside the other pupils. In addition, by personal order of Alexander II, the State Treasury provided a one-time payment of 1,000 rubles "for accommodation" and an annual allowance of approximately 1,500 rubles for each girl's expenses.

A special rooms were assigned only to the highest-ranking pupils, located next to the headmistress's apartment. The girls dined with the headmistress, along with other pupils who took turns having lunch there, while tea was served in their own rooms. They would also retreat to their rooms after lessons ended. On Sundays and holidays, they were joined by young companions, who were allowed to play and dance with the Montenegrin princesses. Often, the princesses visited the Tsar's family as guests, and at Christmas a court carriage would be sent for their outings, which included other students of the institute. In Smolny, Nichola's daughters mingled with their fellow pupils without any particular airs of superiority.^[5]

According to Baron Carl Wrangell‑Rokassovsky, Milica and her sisters were not particularly popular during their time at the Smolny Institute. A relative of his, who attended the Institute alongside them, recalled that the sisters "were extremely poor, but expected the other girls to share with them the expensive presents they received from their homes." Their position, however, reportedly improved after an official visit by their father, Prince Nicholas, to St. Petersburg, where Emperor Alexander III hosted him at a banquet in the Winter Palace and toasted him as "his only true friend." Following this event, the Montenegro sisters' status at Smolny was elevated immediately to that of royalty, and teachers were instructed to address them with royal etiquette. Wrangell‑Rokassovsky also noted that both sisters were haughty and arrogant, with Anastasia in particular often refusing to recite her lessons, simply replying 'Nyet!' while remaining seated. During this period, the sisters' growing assertiveness and domineering behavior began to create tensions with other students, though the youngest sister, Elena, remained well regarded.

In 1885, during their schooling at the institute, her sister, Princess Maria of Montenegro fell ill, suffering either from pneumonia or typhoid. Despite the best efforts of the Imperial physicians, she died at the age of sixteen. Milica and her sisters were heartbroken, but their mother had come to St. Petersburg and was able to comfort them in their grief. Maria was dressed in Montenegrin national costume and her coffin escorted by a military guard-of-honor to the train station for the final journey to her native land. Alexander III and Tsesarevich Nicholas personally attended the final memorial service at the Smolny and joined the procession to the train station as a mark of respect.^[6]

Their eldest sister, Princess Zorka, after leaving the Institute, met Petar Karađorđević in Paris—a prince in exile and pretender to the Serbian throne, who would later become Peter I of Serbia—and married him, settling with him in Cetinje near her parents.

Milica and Anastasia emerged from the Smolny as well-educated, intellectually curious young ladies – Milica even won the Gold Medal for Outstanding Academic Performance given by Empress Maria Feodorovna. Both were quite religious, and interested in philosophy and more esoteric ideas. Milica, in particular, was of a more intellectual bent. She eventually spoke at least five languages fluently (Russian, English, French, German, and Serbian) and in addition she had a working knowledge of Arabic, Sanskrit, and Persian – she used the latter to translate the works of Omar Khayyam into Russian. A talented artist and a skilled pianist, she composed music and studied architecture. Milica was forever interested in mysticism and the occult, eastern medicine and thought, reading and exploring diverse theologies and ideas. Anastasia was undoubtedly the quieter and more reserved of the pair, but she, too, was widely read and shared her sister's artistic streak.^[7]

Both princesses possessed of a number of attractive qualities that might entice suitable husbands. In looks they were striking, with slightly darker complexions, dark eyes, and lithe figures. "Because the Prince did what he could to earn Alexander III's good will," Witte wrote, "it was only natural that the Emperor should show some attention to these young ladies upon their graduation from the institute. And this was enough to encourage some of the young men of the Imperial Family to seek their hands in marriage."^[8]

The first Romanov to show interest in one of the Montenegrin princesses was Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia. Born in 1864, he was a younger son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich the Elder (the third son of Emperor Nicholas I) and his wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, née Duchess of Oldenburg.

Both Princesses possessed of a number of attractive qualities that might entice suitable husbands. In looks they were striking, with slightly darker complexions, dark eyes, and lithe figures.^[9]

It appears that Alexander III and his consort, Marie Feodorovna, played a role in encouraging the romance.^[10] One morning in January 1889, Milica and anastasia, known as Stana, were invited to join the Imperial Family for breakfast at the Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg; although there were around thirty other guests, Alexander III singled them out and seated himself between the two sisters. That same evening, the Empress invited them to join the family for dinner. It was likely during one of these meals that Peter first took notice of Milica.^[11]

Peter did not need much of a push. His grandson, the late Prince Nicholas Romanov, recalled that Peter met Milica at several additional court functions in St. Petersburg, and came to know her well. Soon, he was in love: she was beautiful, intelligent, and shared his passion for intellectual pursuits. "They formed a perfect partnership," recalled Prince Nicholas, "with the same values and interests."^[12]

On the eve of Milica's marriage to Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich, the engagement of Anastasia to the widowed Prince George Maximilianovich of Leuchtenberg was also announced. The widower had a reputation as a rake, and it has been suggested that Emperor Alexander III also encouraged this match in the hope that George would settle down and end the gossip surrounding him. Whether this was true or not, the union appears to have been more of an arranged marriage than a romantic alliance. When later asked if he had ever loved Anastasia, George reportedly replied, "Not a single day!" The marriage does not seem to have been particularly inspiring for Anastasia, who may have accepted the proposal primarily as a way to remain in Russia and close to her sister. Nevertheless, he was born into the French House of Beauharnais, relocated to Russia, enjoyed considerable wealth and connections, and eventually became the Duke of Leuchtenberg.^[13] In 1907, after divorcing the Duke, Anastasia married her sister's brother-in-law, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia, a formidable soldier known within the Imperial family as Nikolasha.

Milica was the first princess to become engaged to a member of the Imperial family who was already Orthodox and therefore did not need to convert in order to marry. She was described as well-educated, intelligent, and arrogant—the opposite of her introverted spouse.

When Peter finally asked Alexander III for permission to marry her, the Emperor gave his full support. According to Russian State Senator Alexander Polovtsov, the Emperor was "extremely happy that it would not be a German princess entering his family, but an Orthodox one—and not an unattractive one at that".^[14]

The engagement of Milica to Peter in May of 1889, and the impending union between the ruling houses of Montenegro and Russia, was a cause for celebration in the Balkan state. When Alexander III and Empress Marie Feodorovna telegraphed their congratulations to the princess, Milica replied: "The indescribable goodness of your Imperial Highnesses to myself and my family fills my heart with joy. I cannot find words to express my feelings." Russia, too, found reason to celebrate. "Today an event of special political importance is taking place," wrote one newspaper of the marriage. "That event is the wedding of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaievich and the Princess of Montenegro. The importance of this event is shown from the badly hidden discontent and irritation of Russia's enemies as well as the joy of the whole Slav world. For the first time the ancient and celebrated Serb house, celebrated for its martial values among many others. For the first time with this joyful union Russia is united in blood ties with the Slav world....Princess Milica is not not only a Serb but also a Serbian Orthodox Christian and educated in Russia. All Russia is united by joy because this celebrated union is the beginning of a new epoch."^[15]

Milica's mother, Princess Milena, began receiving congratulations from around the world as early as 10 o'clock in the evening on May 17, the first being from her husband in St. Petersburg, in which he wrote:

"To Her Highness Princess Milena,

Today our dear daughter has been engaged to His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich. How delighted this news will make you, I can judge for myself.

Nicholas."

Two days later followed a telegram from Emperor Alexander III and Empress Marie Feodorovna:

"To Her Highness Princess Milena,

We wholeheartedly congratulate you on the engagement of your wonderful daughter. We are very pleased. We regret that you are not here with us.

Gatchina, 19 May 1889.

Alexander, Maria."

The following day came congratulations from Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife, Empress Elisabeth of Austria as well:

"I was pleased to hear the news of the engagement of your daughter, Princess Milica, to Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich, and I hasten to convey to Your Highness my most sincere congratulations, as well as those of the Empress.

Vienna, Hofburg, 20 May.

Franz Joseph."

According to the Montenegrin magazine The Voice of a Montnegrin, at 11 a.m., Princess Milena in Cetinje also received the representative of Great Britain to Cetinje, Walter Baring, who delivered to Her Highness the warmest congratulations from Queen Victoria. Immediately afterward, other dignitaries also congratulated the princess on this joyful occasion, including a message from the Government of the French Republic and from the Metropolitan of Cetinje, Mitrofan Ban.

On the same day, a solemn liturgy of thanksgiving was held in Cetinje. The town was decorated with Serbian and Russian banners, accompanied by the cries of the Montenegrins: ‘To the Russian Imperial and our ruling house!' The service was conducted by Mitrofan Ban, Metropolitan of Montenegro, assisted by the entire clergy of the Cetinje Monastery.

In front of the monastery, the Cetinje Battalion stood in full dress with their commanders, while among those present were Her Highness Princess Milena with her large entourage and all members of the ruling Petrović-Njegoš dynasty; Their Serene Highnesses Prince Peter Karađorđević and Princess Zorka Karađorđević; all Montenegrin ministers and dignitaries; ministers from foreign courts with their secretaries; students and professors from the Theological Seminary and Cetinje Gymnasium; pupils from elementary schools with their teachers; and numerous members of the public.

At the conclusion of the service, cannon fire thundered across the town, followed by congratulations at the Cetinje Royal Palace. The celebrations continued into the evening in Zetki Dom (Montenegrin Royal Theater), where singing and dancing of the Serbian kolo went on uninterrupted until 5 a.m. the following day.

The celebrations of this joyous occasion continued in Russia as well. The day after the engagement, Emperor Alexander III hosted a ceremonial breakfast at Peterhof Palace, during which he reaffirmed the words he had long expressed to Prince Nicholas with a toast: "I drink to the health of the Prince of Montenegro, the only loyal and sincere friend of Russia." He also graciously presented the Montenegrin prince with his Fifteenth Rifle Guard Regiment, which from that moment would bear his name, and granted permission for the bride's brother, Crown Prince Danilo, to wear the uniform of the regiment named after his father, along with the Grand Cross of Saint Alexander Nevsky.^[16]

During the engagement period, Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich set out to visit his future in-laws in Montenegro. He sailed as far as Rijeka, and from there traveled by the steamer Sibil to Kotor, where he was taken by the court carriages to Cetinje. He arrived accompanied by his adjutant, Baron Alexei Staël von Holstein, and upon disembarking was greeted on the shore by the adjutant of his future father-in-law, Slavko Slava Đurković.

At the very border he was welcomed by the bride's relative Duke Blažo Petrović-Njegoš, who served as the Prime Minister of Montenegro, as well as by the Russian Imperial minister at the Montenegrin court, Kimon Emmanuilovich Argyropoulo, and other distinguished guests. The apartments in which the Grand Duke stayed were located in the residence of Nicholas's son-in-law, Prince Peter Karađorđević.

In honor of the distinguished guest, a performance of The Empress of the Balkans, a play written by Prince Nicholas himself, was staged; the following day an infantry detachment was prepared for his attendance at the military maneuvers on Mount Lovćen. Also, an outing and luncheon were organized at Prilip, an excursion site near Cetinje, where—along with his fiancée Milica and her parents—he was joined by Darinka, Dowager Princess of Montenegro and her only daughter Princess Olga, who had traveled especially from Venice, where they normally resided since their exile in 1867, to attend the engagement festivities.

After several days in Montenegro, Peter departed on horseback in the company of several officers for the port of Bar, from where he set sail by sea for Russia.^[17]

The marriage took place at Peterhof on July 26/August 7, 1889. Nicholas and Milena came from Montenegro to attend the festivities: he might only be the ruling prince of a small, politically insignificant land in the Balkans, but Nikola was a fellow monarch, Orthodox, and a Slav, and so the Russian Court was careful to mark the occasion with its usual grand ceremonial. A festive mood marked the banquet given the night before the wedding, and the day of the ceremony was exceptionally warm: sun filtered the palace windows as the processions lined up in the gilded halls of Peterhof palace.^[18]

In the morning, around 8 o'clock, five cannon shots announced that the weddings at Peterhof would take place that day. Shortly before the ceremony, a special train arrived from St. Petersburg carrying members of the diplomatic corps, including the German ambassador Hans Lothar von Schweinitz, Austro-Hungarian Count Anton von Wolkenstein-Trotsburg, British Sir Robert Marier, French Paul Lefebvre de Laboulaye, and others. All diplomats were in formal uniform; the only absence was the Turkish ambassador Mehmed Şakir Pasha, who was not in the city at the time and was represented by members of his mission. The ladies attended in rich and sumptuous attire.

On the same train also arrived Prince Vladimir Andreyevich Dolgorukov, Governor-General of Moscow. Around 1:00 p.m., the participants designated in the ceremonial began to assemble, and at 2:35 p.m. Her Imperial Majesty the Empress arrived, accompanied by Her Royal Highness Queen Olga of Greece. The music of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment performed the Russian national anthem as the Empress and Queen entered the new chambers to witness the dressing of the highly distinguished bride. In the portrait gallery of the palace, His Majesty the Emperor awaited with high-ranking officials.

Meanwhile, the bride was attended by the court ladies: the Ober-Hofmeisterin of the Empress; Countess Anna Stroganova, Imperial lady-in-waiting Baroness Maria Petrovna von Budberg-Bönninghausen (née d'Oubril), and the Ober-Hofmeisterin of Princess Milica, Fräulein Louise Neukomm, who had formerly been her Swiss governess.^[19]

After the blessing, the ceremonial procession moved to the church for the wedding. Leading the bride were the Russian Empress, wearing the Imperial Order of St. Catherine with a diamond kokoshnik tiara, and the Montenegrin prince in national military dress, bearing the Russian sash and Andreevsky chain. Following them were the Emperor and Her Majesty Queen Olga of Greece, the Emperor in full imperial uniform and the Greek Queen in Russian court dress with the Catherine sash.

They were followed by the Grand Duke Frederick Francis III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with the Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke of Edinburgh with Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the heir to the throne Nicholas Alexandrovich with Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich with Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna, and other royals and distinguished guests. Grand Duke Peter was in parade military uniform, wearing the Alexander sash and the Andreevsky chain.

The bride wore an olive-colored mantle trimmed with ermine and the Catherine sash, crowned with the Russian Nuptial Crown. Her sister, Princess Anastasia, appeared in lavish Montenegrin national costume. The newlyweds were received in the church by Metropolitan Isidor and members of the Most Holy Synod, while the sacrament of marriage was performed by Protopresbyter Ivan Leontyevich Yanyshev. The groomsmen included Heir Nicholas Alexandrovich, Crown Prince Danilo of Montenegro, and other Grand Dukes: Dmitry Konstantinovich, Nikolai Nikolayevich the younger, Sergei Mikhailovich, and Alexander Mikhailovich.

After the ceremony, the newlyweds presented their gratitude to the Emperor and Prince Nicholas, who warmly congratulated the couple. A grand Russian banquet was held in the Peterhof's Painting hall, and later moved to The Chesma hall where the court orchestra performed music, with a program ranging from Glinka and Mendelssohn to Tchaikovsky and Wagner. The celebrations continued later at Znamenka Palace, largely owned by the bridegroom's brother, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, and partly by his younger brother, Peter. There, members of the extended Romanov family, relatives from the Russian based branches of the Houses of Oldenburg, Leuchtenberg and Mecklenburg, and the highest-ranking Russian aristocracy joined the festivities.

The newlyweds were drawn in imperial carriages by four horses, greeted by an honor guard from the Life Guards Uhlan Regiment, complete with music and banner. The same squadron included service members of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich. The couple later returned to Peterhof Palace for dinner, their route through Peterhof passing palaces and summer residences illuminated in splendor.^[20]

Peter and Militsa were fortunate in their marriage. They were an attractive couple, well matched intellectually and temperamentally, sharing a passion for the arts and for Mid-Eastern culture, architecture and ideas. They seemed to have had one of the few Romanov marriages that was never tarred with accusations of affairs or darkened by illegitimate children. Peter undoubtedly remained emotionally scarred by his parents' disastrous marriage and the humiliation inflicted upon his mother; Milica, according to her grandson Prince Nicholas Romanov, provided him with a comforting refuge, surrounding him with the love and care which had been absent in his childhood.^[21] Like Nicholas and Alexandra, when apart Peter and Milica wrote to each other every day – sometimes several times a day – using language every bit as romantic as that employed by the Imperial couple. To Peter, Milica was "my beloved Zaza," "My Holy Misya," and "My Joy," while she addressed him as "My Beloved" and "My Dearest Petushka."^[22]

After their father's death, Peter and his brother had been forced to sell his immense Nicholas Palace in St. Petersburg to cover the many debts he had run up, and there was little money left in the estate once creditors were paid. Nikolasha, as the eldest son, inherited the Znamenka Palace on the Gulf of Finland near the Imperial estate of Peterhof, and Peter and Milica began spending their springs and summers there; for their own residence in the capital, they also rented an apartment in the former Derviz palace.

For the first four years of their married lives, Milica and Peter regularly spent up to six months of each year traveling to warmer climates: there would be long stays in the South of France as well as extended visits to Egypt and Palestine. But by 1893 the strain of constant travel was wearing on them both. Wanting to establish a semi-permanent residence in a warmer climate but still remain in Russia, they turned to the Crimea. Peter purchased a plot of land from the neighboring Yusupov estate of Koreiz in the Crimea so that he and Milica could build a new palace.^[23] As the new house was to become their main residence for the greater part of each year, the couple needed something more substantial than a mere holiday villa; Dulber Palace was intended as a true palace, designed to accommodate not only Peter and Milica and their family, but their own Suites and the household, as well as rooms for their children's tutors and servants.

Milica and Peter decided to build their new house in the Moorish style; the Grand Duchess was well versed in Persian architecture, antiquities, and ornament, and Peter himself had been completely taken with the light, open buildings they had visited in Egypt. In 1895, Peter awarded the commission to Nikoly Krasnov, then working for the Municipal Authorities in Yalta as City Architect. Krasnov had previously designed a number of villas along the Black Sea for members of the aristocracy. It was his restoration of Bakhchysarai Palace, former residence of the Tartar Khans in the Crimea, which likely brought the architect to the attention of the Grand Ducal couple. At Bakhchisarai, Krasnov had shown both insight and comfort when working with Moorish and Islamic architecture and design, and this attention to detail and ability to immerse himself in an alien world convinced Peter and Milica that he could bring their dreams to fruition.

"Dulber," wrote Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia, Peter and Milica's only son, "was quite a complicated project." The scheme, as worked out by the Grand Duke and his wife, called for more than a hundred rooms spread over two and three-storeyed wings which followed the slope of a hill and embraced the main entrance court. Initially, Krasnov had been intimidated. "He looked at my father's notes and sketches," Roman recalled, "and said that he was not familiar with the Arabic style. He asked for some time to think about the project and consider how he could realistically make the plans work. My father liked the conscientious way in which Krasnov worked. He found him to be a very pleasant man and over the years they became firm friends."^[24]

Krasnov overcame his hesitations, and Peter and Milic's sketches were transferred to his drawing board plans. Construction took three years, delayed by a crisis in 1897. Having been saddled with his father's debts, Peter Nikolaievich had little in the way of a personal fortune, and he spent extravagantly on Dulber. When, as usual Krasnov dispatched his quarterly invoice to St. Petersburg in December, he received a letter back from Baron Alexander von Staël-Holstein, the Grand Duke's financial adviser, explaining that his master could not pay the bills. The Baron ordered all work halted, and suggested that the still unfinished Crimean palace be sold off to pay the Grand Duke's debts. An investigation revealed that the Grand Duke's previous financial manager had embezzled substantial funds to pay for his disastrous adventures on the stock exchange. Peter refused to abandon the project. He first went to Minister of Finance Sergei Witte, explaining his situation and asking for a loan from the Imperial Treasury. Witte, who was already deep in his dislike of the two Montenegrin Princesses, refused. This forced Peter to take action on his own: he had been given a share of the Znamenka estate and now he sold some of the land outside of the Palace Park, along with a brick factory he had inherited. He auctioned off several works of art, and also obtained a personal loan from Nicholas II. This finally allowed him to pay Krasnov and work on Dulber resumed.^[25]

When the new Palace was completed, Peter christened it "Dulber," a Tartar word meaning "beautiful." It stood atop the cliffs above the Black Sea, looking more like a mosque than a Russian palace, a perfect vision out of some Arabian fantasy. Its white walls were studded with loggias and towers, and blue domes topped with gilded crescents dotted its flat roofs. "In the rays of the setting sun," Prince Roman recalled, "the white Palace assumed a rosy glow, whilst in the moonlight, it appeared to be silver."^[26]

"Dulber," said Prince Nicholas Romanov, "represented a fantasy, a dream, and refuge for my grandparents. They always spoke of it, in exile, longingly and wistfully, wishing that they could one day see it again. It was, you see, far more than a building to them. To some extent, I think, it represented their happy marriage, and became akin to a fourth child."^[27]

Where Milica went, her sister Stana soon followed. In 1904, an American newspaper reported that Duchess Anastasia's marriage had "been one of unclouded happiness."^[28] Reality, though, was different. Anastasia gave birth to two children, Sergei, born on July 4, 1890, and Elena, born on January 3, 1892. Unlike the union between Peter and Milica, however, the Leuchtenberg marriage proved a disaster from the beginning. Her husband spent his nights gambling and drinking. Their marriage was considered "tempestuous and stormy," and George reportedly "insulted and outraged her from the very first day of their marriage."^[29] Within a few years, George had abandoned his wife and openly lived with his mistress in Biarritz – "So the Prince is washing his filthy body in the waves of the ocean," Alexander III commented about one such trip.^[30]

All of this left Anastasia humiliatingly rejected and alone in St. Petersburg. The coupled had a residence at Peterhof, the Sergievka palace, where they lived in summer, but Anastasia wanted her own property, someplace where she could escape. In 1898 she purchased Villa Tchair, a small estate near Gaspra, Crimea, overlooking the Black Sea. Her husband provided the necessary funds, probably thinking that keeping Anastasia busy with a project would mean less headaches over his behavior. The estate took its name from the nearby peak of Tchair-Dag, meaning "meadow garden" in Tatar. In 1902 she hired Nikolay Petrovich Krasnov, the architect who had designed her sister Milica's palace at Dulber, to build a small, gleaming white, neoclassical villa at Tchair, complete with colonnades and terraces overlooking the surrounding rose gardens filled with Greek and Italian statuary and the Black Sea below.^{[31][32][33][34]}

Time away from St. Petersburg offered some respite from the barely disguised antagonism that surrounded Milica and Anastasia at the Imperial Court. Countess Lili von Nostitz, a harsh, often inaccurate, and somewhat hysterical critic, flatly declared that Anastasia's name "was a byword for intrigues," and she accused the sisters of helping to ruin Imperial Russia.^[35] Previously, they had been known among St. Petersburg society as "the Black Pearls," a name befitting both their dark complexion and their place of ancestry. Critics now twisted this into the more ominous "Black Perils" (Black Evil).^[36]

According to Nicholas II's sister Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, the two Montenegrins were heartily disliked. "The sisters were nicknamed Scylla and Charybdis, and nobody dared to make a move until the Montenegrin ladies were where they considered they should be."^[37] Also, the Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna of Russia recalled: "These two ladies were not very popular in the family and were of a quite different mentality. They were extremely well-read, clever, but very, very ambitious."^[38]

Among the Romanovs, their intelligence counted against them, as did their interest in philosophy and mysticism. Milica's grandson Prince Nicholas Romanov recalled: "Grandmother was really an extraordinary woman, with a passion for everything. She loved reading – I rarely remember seeing her without a book nearby. Her interests were so widespread. It's true she was very involved in esoteric subjects, but I think it's important to remember that she was devoutly Orthodox. She had been raised in the faith, and she never strayed from it."^[39]

There was another woman at court who felt herself an outsider, a foreigner, not understood by the somewhat snobbish Romanovs who found her manner odd and her interests in religion and philosophy to be excessive: Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. These three women, all feeling judged within their new family and all seeking answers to larger questions, inevitably were drawn together. No one quite knows when the friendship first developed. The usual story goes like this: around 1900, Alexandra became ill with a serious stomach flu. Milica and her sister Anastasia, it is said, had cagily showered on the pretentious Empress all of the deference she expected, abasing themselves to appeal to her vanity and win her confidence. Then, when illness struck, they somehow swept into the palace where they banished the usual maids and themselves took over the Empress's care, even "carrying out the unpleasant duties associated with Illness," asserted Sergei Witte. "In this was they gained the Empress's favor, but the Emperor paid little attention to them as long as he was under the influence of his mother, but as her influence waned, the Montenegrins' status with him grew."^[40]

Princess Elizabeth Naryshkina-Kurakina, who served at court, recalled that the Empress was emotionally drawn to Anastasia, viewing her "as a neglected wife, because her husband spent most of his time abroad. And as her financial condition was in a state of disorder, the Empress not only consoled her in her loneliness but also assisted her materially."^[41]

But a more likely bond was formed over questions of spirituality and philosophy. It is an undeniable fact that the two Montenegrins were responsible for introducing Nicholas and Alexandra to a bizarre succession of wandering holy men, mystics, and strange, self-proclaimed seers, introductions that finally ended with the meeting between the Imperial couple and the notorious Gregory Rasputin in 1905. But the way in which this all came about is more indicative of the general state of religion in turn of the century Russia than it is necessarily of the supposed malignant power Milica and Stana wielded over the Emperor and Empress. "It's true that grandmother had a role in Rasputin's entry to the Imperial court," Militsa's grandson Prince Nicholas Romanov, said, "but it's rather unfair to place the entire blame upon her. It's usually forgotten that other important voices also promoted him to the Emperor and Empress, including respected members of the Orthodox clergy. I think that's important to keep in mind. And of course, at the time such things were quite common, especially in Imperial circles."^[42]

The simplistic reading usually follows Witte's view that Milica and Stana "were infected by that disease known by such names as spiritualism and occultism."^[43] It's usually claimed that both sisters had brought with them from their native Montenegro "an unshakable belief in the supernatural. Witches and sorcerers had always lived there, in the high mountains grown up in wild forest, and some people there could talk with the dead and predict the fates of the living."^[44]

Her sister Stana shared the general interest in mysticism prevalent to much of St. Petersburg society at the time, but it was Milica who was the more dedicated of the pair when it came to matters of religion and philosophy. She was a true seeker and a true scholar. Milica authored a book, "Selected Quotations from the Holy Fathers" in 1908, that was meant to popularize Orthodox teaching and voices. But she also dipped into mysticism. In 1900 she was awarded a diploma as a Doctor of Hermeticism from the Advanced School of Hermetic Sciences in Paris.^[45] It was intellectual curiosity combined with spiritual desire, not some silly superstitions that she learned in her homeland, that drove Militsa on her quest.

And that quest found willing acolytes in Nicholas and Alexandra. Nicholas II and his wife shared not only an intense interest in religion but also spiritualism. Both were devout in their Orthodox faith, but they also embraced the Church's teaching that miracles still occurred, that holy men with spiritual gifts could be found especially among the common people. In this context, it is important to note that the Imperial couple had begun meeting, independently of Milic's influence, a number of traveling pilgrims and reputed holy men, by the turn of the century. Archimandrite Theophan Bystrov, the Director of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, and later Nicholas and Alexandra's personal confessor, told them: "God's men still exist on earth. To this day our Holy Russia abounds in saints. God sends consolation to his people from time to time in the guise of righteous men and they are the mainstays of Holy Russia."^[46]

During these years, Peter and Milica spent much of their time in St. Petersburg at his brother's palace of Znamenka, where her sister also had her apartments. was just a few miles up the shore of the Gulf of Finland from Peterhof, where Nicholas II and Alexandra usually spent their early summers. And soon enough, the Imperial couple began calling on the two sisters and the two Grand Dukes, passing long evenings with them discussing philosophy and mysticism. Few things could remain a secret for long, especially when they concerned the Emperor and Empress, and word of these visits filtered through society. Prince Felix Yusupov, who was later to win infamy by murdering Rasputin, insisted, in his typically hysterical fashion, that Znamenka was "the center of the powers of evil" within the Russian Empire.^[47]

Both sisters were socially influential at the Russian Imperial Court. Milica and Anastasia were ambitious on behalf of their husbands and sought to gain influence over the Empress and, through her, the Emperor. Contemporaries often noted that they were extraordinarily clever, exceptionally well-educated, and more politically aware than most of the Grand Dukes, yet also seen as dangerous schemers whose intrigues posed a constant threat within the imperial court. Their machinations were widely reviled by members of the imperial family and the rest of the court.

Nicknamed jointly "The Black Peril," "The Black Crows," "The Black Ladies," "The Montenegrin Spiders," "The Black Souls," and "The Black Princesses," the sisters were observant Orthodox Christians with a deep interest in the occult. They introduced the Imperial Family to the mystic Philippe Nizier-Vashod (usually referred to merely as "Monsieur Philippe") and then to strannik Rasputin.^[48] Additionally, Milica also received an honorary doctorate in alchemy in Paris.

None of this remained a secret. "All summer," wrote Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich in his diary, "it was being said that their majesties have become very close to Milica. It was said that they spent almost every evening at Znamenka staying until late at night and at the same time the Empress avoided going out on the pretext that the Dowager Empress was suffering from fatigue....I can now see and know that the Dowager Empress and all those near to her are very angry with Milica and her sister Stana. Stana herself was my neighbor at dinner yesterday and complained to me that she and Milica are being wrongly accused of plotting and intrigues."^[49] And Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich complained in his diary: "The Sovereign is stupidly involved with some kind of mesmerist, some kind of Cagliostro, who was brought in by those stupid Montenegrins!"^[50]

Although Milica had brought him to the attention of the Imperial couple, she was careful to limit their access to Rasputin. She warned the peasant that he should only attempt to meet them when she arranged it; under no circumstances should he visit them alone.^[51] It is likely that she hoped to control Rasputin's interactions with Nicholas and Alexandra, perhaps to ensure that she remained the main point of contact and thus to keep herself in the center of Imperial attention. But Rasputin wasn't one to honor requests, especially when they infringed on his ability to cement a relationship with the Emperor and Empress. Telling him not to see the Imperial couple unless Milica had arranged the meeting was tantamount to encouraging him to do so. And that is what he did. Much to Milica's chagrin, the peasant soon became a regular visitor to the Alexander Palace, in the process cutting her out of the arrangement.^[52]

By turning his back on the sisters, Rasputin provoked their great anger, and they watched him from every corner, waiting for any mistake he might make. Their open hostility toward him became more than obvious. Because of this, both sisters – as well as their husbands – found themselves in disfavor with Empress Alexandra. As Rasputin's power and influence grew, so, too, did his list of enemies. In 1907, when local members of the clergy in his native Pokrovskoye accused him of belonging to the heretical Khlysty sect, the Russian Orthodox Church launched a formal investigation. It has been claimed that Grand Duchess Milica was somehow behind the investigation, that it was her revenge against the peasant for his having insinuated himself into the Imperial Household and no longer needing her support.^[53]

In 1909, however, Milica and her sister lost their influence with the Empress, and out of revenge, launched a fierce counterattack against her, with Alix calling them "my greatest enemies" in a letter to Nicholas II. Both sisters orchestrated a ruthless, almost merciless attack on the Empress's reputation, labeling her a drunkard, a libertine, and even a spy, all the while plotting to dethrone the Tsar in favor of her brother-in-law, Nikolasha, and urging that the Tsarina be locked away in a monastery.^[54]

In the meantime, Anna Vyrubova had become the principal link between Rasputin and the Imperial Family. Milica and Stana sought to undermine her growing influence over the Empress by removing her from court, even if it required sacrificing Rasputin in the process. According to Major-General Vladimir Nikolayevich Voeikov—later Palace Commandant—Anastasia even forbade him to visit Vyrubova, as he later confessed in his memoirs.^[55]

Milica's grandson, Prince Nicholas Romanov, confirmed her hostility toward Vyrubova. "I suppose," he said, "that there might have been some element of jealousy. I know Grandmother disliked Vyrubova intensely. She insinuated herself into the Imperial couple's trust and took advantage of her position, as later became apparent when she became involved in political matters."^[56]

The growing imperial feud probably influenced Grand Duke Peter's decision to retire from his official post as Inspector General of the Military Engineering Department in 1909 and permanently relocate his family to their Crimean estate at Dulber. They lived quietly away from the Imperial Court: reading, visiting relatives, and planning new gardens to surround the palace.

Milica and her spouse spent also a lot of time abroad because of Peter's fragile health. They seldom took part in official functions, attending only when protocol required. In 1911, when Milica and Stana's niece, Princess Helen of Serbia, married Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, the sisters deliberately stayed away from the capital. Their absence was motivated less by any perceived snub from the Imperial family than by their suspicion that Serbia was scheming against their father's realm, the Kingdom of Montenegro.^[57]

This attitude reflected the undying patriotism and loyalty the two sisters always felt for their native land. "Grandmother and Aunt Stana," said Prince Nicholas Romanov, "felt themselves thoroughly Russian, but they never stopped being true Montenegrins. Nothing could diminish their love for their homeland."^[58] Milica established a funded a kindergarten in Cetinje, interviewed and hired the teachers, and paid for its upkeep.^[59] In August 1910, the two sisters, along with their husband, traveled to Montenegro for a momentous event. On the fiftieth anniversary of his coming to the throne, Prince Nikola assumed the title of King in a ceremony at Cetinje.

When the Balkan Wars erupted in 1912, Milica and Stana both temporarily returned to Montenegro to supervise relief efforts. "I work all day," Milica wrote, "accommodating the constant arrival of the wounded...There are too many of them to provide enough help."^[60] She constantly wrote to Nicholas II, imploring her to intercede on her father's behalf and promoting his views.

In the summer of 1914, the President of France, Raymond Poincare, paid a state visit to Russia. The sisters and their husbands joined the banquets at Peterhof and reviews at Krasnoye Selo, but the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his morganatic wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg a few weeks earlier had everyone's nerves on edge. Milica and Anastasia, in particular, fully anticipated that a European war would soon erupt, one that they thought would benefit their homeland of Montenegro. Maurice Paleologue, the French Ambassador to Russia, remembered how, at a dinner given for the President by Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaievich, the two sisters seemed to bubble over with excitement: "The Grand Duchess Anastasia and her sister, the Grand Duchess Milica, gave me a boisterous welcome." Stana burst out:

Do you realize that we're passing through historic days, fateful days... At the review tomorrow the bands will play nothing but the Marche Lorraine and Sambre et Meuse. I've had a telegram (in pre-arranged code) from my father today. He tells me we shall have war before the end of the month.... What a hero my father is... He's worthy of the Iliad! Just look at this little box I always take about with me. It's got some Lorraine soil in it, real Lorraine soil I picked up over the frontier when I was in France with my husband two years ago. Look there, at the table of honor: it's covered with thistles. I didn't want to have any other flowers there. They're Lorraine thistles, don't you see! I gathered several plants on the annexed territory, brought them here and had the seeds sown in my garden.... There's going to be war... There'll be nothing left of Austria.... You're going to get back Alsace and Lorraine.... Our armies will meet in Berlin... Germany will be destroyed.

Only a stern look from the Emperor managed to silence this cascade of provocative prophecies.^[61]

Perhaps it was only natural for the sisters to adopt such views. As a Slavic country, Montenegro felt a deep kinship with both Russia and Serbia, and when Austria presented the latter with an ultimatum Milica and Stana were sure that war was inevitable. But somehow tales went round that the two Montenegrins either had knowledge beforehand of the assassination in Sarajevo and actively assisted the Serb assassins, or that they strenuously worked behind the scenes to influence Nicholas II to declare war against Germany and Austria, or both.^[62] Thus, Countess Lili von Nostitz insisted that the sisters "played no small part in bringing Russia into the Great War."^[63]

Once war was declared, Milica flung herself into action. She organized and chaired the Committee for Assistance to wounded Russian, Montenegrin and Serbian soldiers and their families, channeling relief efforts to the Front and working diligently to raise funds to equip field hospitals and ambulance trains.

By early 1914, her daughter, Princess Nadezhda Petrovna of Russia– called Nadia in the family, had fallen in love with Prince Oleg Konstantinovich of Russia, the handsomest and most talented of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich's numerous children. Milica, gossips insisted, objected to the romance: although as a Prince of the Imperial Blood Oleg held the same rank as Nadia, the Grand Duchess supposedly wanted a grander match for her second daughter. Whether or not this was true, the pair was unofficially engaged but, two months into the fighting Oleg was fatally wounded and he succumbed to blood poisoning – the only Romanov to die in battle in the First World War.

The sisters, their husbands and their families were all still living in the Caucasus when the February Revolution broke out in 1917. When Nicholas II abdicated the throne for himself and for his son Alexei, and the Emperor's brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich refused to accept it unless called upon to do so by a future Constituent Assembly, the 304-year-old Romanov Dynasty came to an end. Soon after, the Romanovs in the Caucasus received a request from Alexander Kerensky, the new Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government, that they move to the Crimea, where they were joined by Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, her two daughters and their families.

Stana and Nicholas Nikolaievich, along with her children Sergei and Elena from her first marriage to the Duke of Leuchtenberg, took up residence in her villa Tchair, overlooking the Black Sea; Milica, Peter and their three children Prince Roman and Princesses Marina and Nadezhda moved into their Palace of Dulber, while the Dowager Empress, her daughters, and her grandchildren lived at nearby Ai-Todor palace, the estate belonging to Grand Duchess Xenia and her husband Grand Duke Alexander.^[64][65]

But the Sevastopol Revolutionary Regional Committee soon acted to curtail such freedom. Early on the morning of May 8/21, groups of armed soldiers from the Sevastopol Soviet arrived at Dulber, Tchair, and Ai-Todor to search for weapons and confiscate valuables. At all three estates, they stormed through rooms, opening drawers, throwing papers on the floor, and seizing such things as Milica's gardening notes and her daughter Marina's diaries. Soon, orders arrived from Kerensky in Petrograd that the Romanovs were now to consider themselves prisoners: their automobiles were confiscated, and they were told that any letters they wrote or received would be reviewed by censors to avoid any "counter-revolutionary" conspiracies.^[66]

The October Revolution ushered in a harsher regime. The Bolsheviks appointed a Commissar Zadorozhny to supervise the prisoners; he actually ended up saving them for the revolutionary vengeance of the Yalta Soviet when he ordered all of the Romanovs to move to Dulber, where they could be more easily protected against any attempts on their lives. Militsa and Peter now had to find rooms for the Dowager Empress; Stana and Nicholas Nikolaievich; Grand Duchess Xenia, her husband Alexander, and their six sons, along with dozens of servants and members of their households.

Militca was especially worried about the Dowager Empress: they had never been close, and she knew that Marie Feodorovna blamed her for introducing Rasputin to Nicholas and Alexandra. The Grand Duchess therefore made sure to receive her in style when she arrived, sweeping her a deep curtsy, promising to do all in her power to make her feel comfortable, and even vacating her own bedroom, boudoir, dressing room and bathroom so that Marie Feodorovna would not feel crowded.^[67] The other guests were put up in the remaining bedrooms, and on cots in studies and in drawing rooms, with members of the suites and households lodged in service buildings.

"We had often chaffed Peter about his unscalable walls," Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich recalled of Dulber. "Now we knew that he had unwittingly built a prison for himself and for us. This gave rise to innumerable jokes at Peter's expense. Our sense of humor enabled us to endure the terrific tension under which we were living."^[68] Security at Dulber worried Commissar Zadorozhny, and he worked with Grand Duke Alexander and Prince Roman to erect machine guns along the balconies and roof so that they could defend themselves if any rogue Bolsheviks tried to seize the prisoners.

In the spring of 1918 came word that Lenin's government had signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Expecting that German soldiers would soon arrive and free the Romanovs, members of the Yalta Soviet passed a resolution to storm Dulber and execute the prisoners. Zadorozhny warned the prisoners of a possible attack, and returned to the Romanovs all of their confiscated guns so that they could help defend the palace.^[69] Still, he allowed Milica and Peter to visit their daughter Nadezhda in Yalta, who had married Prince Nicholas Vladimirovih Orlov during her stay in Crimea, when she went into labor with her first child, Princess Irina Orlova. Soon, however, he requested that Nadezhda, her husband and child, along with Grand Duchess Anastasia's daughter, Duchess Elena of Leuchtenberg, and her husband, Count Stefan Tyszkiewicz—of the distinguished Polish Tyszkiewicz family—relocate to Anastasia's Villa Tchair, where he could better safeguard them with a small contingent of soldiers.^[70] But in May, lacking the finances to maintain the property, Anastasia sold Tchair to a wealthy industrialist and she and her husband moved back to Dulber.^[71]

There was a half-hearted attempt by the Yalta Soviet to raid Dulber but the prisoners and their guards managed to repel the intended attack. And then, one April morning, contingents of occupying German soldiers arrived. The prisoners weren't happy at the idea of being saved by the Kaiser's army, but their arrival undoubtedly had saved their lives. The soldiers brought an offer of asylum from Kaiser Wilhelm II, which the prisoners patriotically rejected. They could not, however, reject the armed guard that he ordered to protect them from harm. Given their freedom, Alexander Mikhailovich and one of his sons moved back to Ai-Todor; Grand Duchess Xenia and her other children soon followed, while the Dowager Empress moved to Harax. She later told Prince Roman how much she appreciated what his parents had done for her at Dulber.^[72]

In July came news of the Murder of the Romanov family in Ekaterinburg in the Urals; there were vague rumors about other members of the Romanov family, and no one knew what to believe. There were eight more uncertain months ahead, as the Civil War played out and power in the Crimea constantly threatened to shift from the Germans to the White Army to the Bolsheviks. It soon became clear that a return to the old ways was impossible, forcing them to leave Russia for good.

Amidst the revolution, there were several offers of asylum, from Marie Feodorovna's Danish royal relatives and from Milica and Stana's brother-in-law, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, but all were rejected. Finally, in April 1919, King George V sent a contingent of military vessels to the Crimea to rescue his aunt the Dowager Empress and other members of the Romanov family. It took a number of days to work out the logistics but finally, on April 11, all of the Romanovs still in the Crimea boarded the HMS Marlborough and at sunset left Yalta for a life of exile in Europe.

After landing in Constantinople, Milica, Stana, their husbands and their children first traveled to the Kingdom of Italy, where they stayed as temporary guests of Queen Elena and King Victor Emmanuel, who provided funds to assist in their new lives. The sisters couldn't go home to Montenegro: in 1916 their father King Nicholas I had fled the country when Austrian soldiers threatened the capital. He lost whatever advantage he made have had with the Allies by sending his son to Vienna to formally surrender the country.

Both Russia and Serbia thereafter looked on Nicholas as a traitor, and in 1918 he was forced into permanent exile when Montenegro was annexed by the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Kingdom of Yugoslavia). He and his wife settled at Cap d'Antibes on the French Riviera, and it was here, on March 1, 1921, that the exiled King Nicholas I died; two years later, Milica and Anastasia lost their mother, Queen Milena, when she died on March 16, 1923.

Eventually the two sisters and their spouses ended up in France. Milica was fortunate in that she had taken some pieces of her jewelry collection with her to Tiflis and then to the Crimea after the Revolution. Despite searches by soldiers, she managed to successfully conceal them, and carry them out of Russia. Her grandson Prince Nicholas Romanov remembered how she managed to sell off the pieces: six strands of perfectly matched, freshwater pearls that stretched to her waist when worn; diamond and pearls brooches; and some emeralds that she had been given on her marriage. Luckily Milica made the sales in the first year of European exile, and before the market was flooded with the collections of other emigres. She used some of the money to purchase an elegant five-acre estate, Villa Donatello, at Cap d'Antibes on the French Riviera.

In the spring of 1931, Grand Duke Peter had a severe recurrence of the tuberculosis that had plagued him his entire life. On June 17, he died at Cap d'Antibes at the age of sixty-six. "Grandmother was absolutely devastated," said Prince Nicholas Romanov. "Peter and her children had been her entire life. I remember that, although she never gave in to obvious depression, a kind of light went out of her life when Grandfather died. She was still the center of our happy world, but she laughed less than before and seemed slightly withdrawn."^[73]

Of the quartet, two sisters who ended up marrying two brothers, it was Milica who lived longest. When her younger sister Anastasia's strength began to fail, Milica remained by her side; the two had been inseparable all their lives, and she nursed her personally with the help of their other sisters who had also come to help.^[74] After her, death she moved to Italy to be closer to her sister Queen Elena. For a time, she lived at a villa at Lucca, but in 1943 the Nazis invaded, and she was forced to flee. Hastily packing a few things, she fled to the Villa Savoia outside of Rome, where she was soon joined by King Victor Emmanuel III and her sister. In 1944, when the Nazis began searching for members of the Italian Royal Family and their relatives, Milica was once again forced to flee for her own safety. She packed a single bag, and a soldier drove her in a Jeep through the night to the Vatican, where she was given sanctuary.^[75]

In 1946, at the end of the war, King Victor Emmanuel abdicated and a month later a public referendum ended the Italian monarchy. The King, Queen Elena, and Milica all moved to Egypt, where they lived in Alexandria as guests of King Farouk.

It was here, on September 5, 1951, that Grand Duchess Milica died. According to her last wish, her body was taken back to France, to rest beside those of her husband Peter, her sister Anastasia, and her brother-in-law Nicholas Nikolaievich, in the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel in Cannes.^[76]

Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia and Princess Milica were married on 26 July 1889 in Saint Petersburg. The couple had four children:

• Princess Marina Petrovna of Russia (11 March 1892 – 15 May 1981), married Prince Alexander Nikolayevich Galitzine (1885-1974) and didn't have issue.
• Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia (17 October [O.S. 5 October] 1896 – 23 October 1978), married Countess Praskovia Dmitrievna Sheremeteva (1901-1980) and had issue; Prince Nicholas Romanov and Prince Dimitri Romanov, both claimants to the headship of the Romanov family.
• Princess Nadejda Petrovna of Russia (3 March 1898 – 21 April 1988), previously engaged to Prince Oleg Konstantinovich, but he died during World War I; later married Prince Nicholas Vladimirovich Orlov, a member of the House of Orlov, and had issue.
• Princess Sofia Petrovna of Russia (born and died 3 March 1898); born already a weak baby and died shortly after birth, but was quickly christened before her death. She was buried in the Pokrovsky Convent cemetery in Kiev by her paternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, who was a nun there.

• The Njegoskij Fund Public Project: Private family archives-based digital documentary fund focused on history and culture of Royal Montenegro.