The Rebel Romanov
The Rebel Romanov is an engaging biography of the enigmatic Princess Juliane (Julie) of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Although few of Julie’s letters have survived, Rappaport sifts through a range of primary sources, including evaluating various biographies, to recreate as much of Julie’s life as possible. She sets Julie’s life into context; the third daughter of Prince Franz and Princess Auguste, brought up in a small, almost bankrupt German dukedom. By accident, the three teenage sisters came to the notice of an agent of Catherine the Great, who regarded them as potential bridal prospects for Grand Duke Konstantin (third in line to the Russian throne). Julie is chosen and marries at only fourteen: an event which has a profound impact upon her life and that of her siblings.
A strength of this biography is how Rappaport gives the reader a real sense of the personalities of the main figures. The domineering and ambitious Princess Auguste; the romantic, flirtatious nature of Julie, and Konstantin’s cruel and volatile personality. We get a glimpse of the magnificence and manoeuvrings within the Romanov court and, when Julie leaves Konstantin in 1801, Rappaport recreates Julie’s peripatetic life, giving the reader an insight into many towns and cities in early 19th-century Europe. She also emphasises just how connected Julie was to several European royal families (she was aunt to both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and sister to King Leopold of Belgium) despite her later reclusive life in Switzerland. Usefully, the book also contains various maps and detailed family trees.
Overall, this is a fascinating, accessible biography of an individual who ‘remains an unjustifiably neglected footnote in history.’ Recommended.
