ROMANOFFS’ TREASURE

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 September 1928, Page 3

ROMANOFFS’ TREASURE

HIDDEN IN LONDON BANKS.

' H Ten years have elapsed since the deposed Tsar and Tsarina of Russia and their children were assassinated in'the course of the Bolshevist reign of terror.

A few months ago a stir was caused by the appearance in America of a mystery woman .claiming tp,.,..he the I£}f3pd] Duchess Anastasia, a._daughter of the late. Tsar, who has been, numbered among the victims of the ruthof Ekaterinburg. How she escaped frpip the. clutches of the assas'Sihs" who Were ordered by Moscow to exterminate the imperial family has not been explained. Survivors of the House of Romanoff, scattered in eXfle"’ throughout the world, have not publicly recognised the supposed grand duchess.

comes a startling development, foreshadowing a legal fight for the possession of a fortune of £200,000 which the late Tsar is said to have concealed in London banks. . This money, if. it 'exists, 1 belongs to the heirs of the Romanoff family, but claims are now being put forward for a substantial ?share of the treasure on behalf of the tinysiery woman. ?■ . . - 1 - /■ •'■

The story of the woman’s claims had preceded her visit to the United States, and had created the liveliest interest among American newspaperthe stranger- had a horror of publicity,/and Was in a state of nervous collapse when her ship, arrived at New York. In ordeu-to avoid reporters and cinema operators, sith their artificial .fiares, she/was permitted to remain on board the vessel all night. Since that time she has been living in strict seclusion as the guest of Mrs. William B. Leeds, the former Princess Xenia of Greece, and has avoided all would-be interviewers.

. Among those who met the supposed grand duchess was Mr. Bleb Botkin, son of the Russian court physician during the last days of the Empire, and playmate of the Tsar’s children. Mr. Botkin is responsible for urging the woman’s claims to a share in the fortune supposed to be hidden in England by the late Tsar. “As I was responsible for bringing the grand duchess to this country and made all the arrangeniefits for her trip,” he declared, “IJtpel we owe it to her to see hen get a ’fair - deal. Unless prompt steps are taken to register a the name of the Grand Duchess Anastasia, whatever money may be deposited for her in the Bank of England will fie claimed by her two aunts, the Grand IJuchOss.es Olga and Eenia, who have refused publicly to recognise Anastasia as the true heiress of the late Tsar.' \ “We cannot believe that this refusal is either just to the Grand Duchess Anastasia, or in accordance with her wishes. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Leeds has any question as to the authenticity of then- guest. They have publicly and-privately recognised her as a daughter of the late Tsar. I cannot seep ..therefore, why they should prevent her from taking steps to obtain the property which is lawfully hers. Those of us twho Relieve, in Anastasia and her •claims ask'only, that "whatever money rftgy be found<to exist in England be nqt turned over to any of the other heirs of the Romanoff family until Anast-asra’s'Case 1 has been fully and legally presented,”.- ’ ,c ; : It was*tn the "summer of 1918 that the the TSar Nicholas and . Tsarina,' their crippled son, - 'a'bpy of 12;and their foifr beautiful daughters,. „ Olga, Tatiana, ™SMhria,l and Anastasia, were imprisongd-in a hopsei at Ekaterinburg, a town beyond fhp“Urals, .The eldest of the .graft'd duchesses was 23, and the youngest -In the early hours of a July morning wretched. 1 captives were awakened and ordered down to the j - x -’ . All the prisoners, except the Emperor, fell on their knees, and were shot by their remorseless executioners. The assassins bayoneted the dead, and beat in the/*gkulls of the corpses with the butt-ends of their rifles. The bodies we/e taken to a disused mining shaft in the forest and flung down the pit. . V