Of all the royal sisters in the world, the four daughters of Nicholas II were probably the closest.

    Born at almost exact two-year intervals, the four grand duchesses - Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaievna - were extremely tightly-knit. When little, they were not treated as many royal daughters were - given a room, toys, nursery of their own, and kept away from their siblings until they grew "old enough" to live without their doting nannies and nursemaids and advanced to the world of tutors. Instead, Alexandra secluded her daughters from the outside world, leaving them to hardly any playmates beside their siblings and a rare cousin or two.

    The four girls bonded together at an early age and in adolescence proclaimed their unity by using the joint signature "OTMA," a composite of the first letters of their names, to sign letters, cards, and gifts. And they also banded up into two different pairs, the "Big Pair," composed of the two elder sisters, and the "Little Pair," with the two younger. The "Big" and "Little" pairs shared rooms, and rarely went anywhere by themselves.  They cared nothing for rank.  Once, when at a committee meeting of which Tatiana was president, a lady in waiting, also a good friend, addressed her as, "Her Imperial Highness."  Tatiana gave her a slight kick beneath the table.  "Are you crazy to speak to me like that?" she whispered.

    Despite their unity, they all had differing personalities. Olga was the most stubborn, quiet, and intellectual, with an ardent inner fire. Tatiana, more outgoing and self-assured, was "smart" but preferred fashion and clothes to reading and poetry. Maria was good-natured and simplistic, a flirtatious dreamer. And Anastasia, the youngest, had an amazing acting talent, not to mention her humor.

    The Grand Duchesses, in accordance with Alexandra's Victorian upbringing, took two baths every day: a cold one in the morning and a warm one at night. In their warm baths, they all used Coty fragrances. Olga's favorite was Rose Th�, Tatiana preferred Jasmin de Corse, Maria, who used many scents, always returned to Lilas, and Anastasia used soley Violette.

    All four of them were naturally attractive, and only grew more lovely as they got older. There were small, good-natured tiffs between them over who was the "prettiest," but they were all beautiful, in their own respective ways. Olga was slender, with the lightest hair and blue eyes, and a slightly firmer mouth and face shape than the delicate Tatiana. The latter had dark auburn-brunette hair, almond-shaped grey-blue eyes, and was the tallest and slimmest of the four. Maria, plump and complete with a rosy glow, as well as lush blond hair and merry blue eyes, had a simple beauty about her. And the youngest, Anastasia - the brown-auburn headed, blue-eyed imp - would have grown up to be quite pretty if not always pulling the most hilarious faces.

    If one compared them to other young women of their time, they would have seemed definitely stunted in intellectual growth, excepting Olga and perhaps Tatiana. Their mother was a "mother hen" type, sheltering her children from any blow or discomfort in life. They grew up in their small, restricted circle, imprisoned in a gilded cage, for even when they reached sixteen - the age of "coming out" into society - Alexandra resisted letting them go. Unfortunately, the very habit she had disliked in Maria Feodorovna - clinging to her son - was beginning to show in her. Olga and Tatiana's social life was submitted to Alexandra's unhappy mindset, causing them to miss out on many things. The Empress tried too much to direct her daughters' tastes, opinions, and dress.

    The young grand duchesses' clothing was chosen by their mother, who chose to dress them in matching attire: white lace gowns and colored sashes. They looked like children even when they were in their teens, until, of course, Olga and Tatiana reached sixteen and were "allowed" to put their hair up and choose - to a mild extent - their own clothing.

    At various times, of course, the girls developed infatuations, usually on handsome young officers. Maria, the most flirtatious of the four, had for a length of time a crush named Nicholas "Kolia." At other times, she could be fervently in love with either a common soldier, high-ranking officer, or attractive cousin, whomever she felt deserved her attentions at the moment. At one time or another, each of the grand duchesses had had a short crush on Tsar Nicholas's cousin Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich, a little older than they and dashing and handsome. Olga was the only one who considered him seriously, and her heart was broken when it was discovered that he assisted in the assassination of Rasputin.

    Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia were all said to be killed on July 16-17, 1918, in the Ipatiev House at Ekaterinburg. However, many times after that, they were said to be in Perm, 200 miles away, or Kazan, and rumors surfaced everywhere that one of them had escaped. Olga was living on Lake Como in Italy. Tatiana had been thrown into a plane and was making her way out of Russia via Vladivostock.  Maria was on the run with Anastasia.