Rare Last Photos Of The Romanovs

A Royal Elephant

This photograph shows Prince Alexei with the royal elephant near the palace in Tsarskoye Selo. The photograph was taken in 1914, and in Tsar Nicholas’ journal, he wrote: “Took the elephant to our pond with Alexei today and had fun watching him bathe.” The elephant was apparently at the zoo on the family’s royal estate; however, after the 1917 Russian revolution, the zoo was closed. It is unknown what exactly became of the elephant or the other animals for that matter. It is quite interesting to see the juxtaposition of such a happy photograph of a family that was able to have their own personal zoo with the fate that awaited them.