Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Lost to History Part 5 The Imperial Crowns of Ruskiana)

The Great War took a great toll on society in general. The cost came in lives lost, relationships broken, fear and the loss of cultural accomplishments and historic art. One such loss has been the Imperial Crowns of Ruskiana. The cultural heritage accumulated at the Ruskian Court was vast and some of it has been preserved but a great mystery surrounds the loss of the Emperor and Empress' crowns.

This recently discovered archive photo is the last known photo of the regalia, taken just before The end of the Great War which led to the Ruskian Revolution. 

The Ruskian peasant revered their monarchy and imbued it with an almost avatar-like status. Thus the Crown of the Tzar was seen as a holy object. When the Revolution broke out the military staged coup sought to procure the Crowns for propaganda purposes to prove to the people that the Tzar was just a man and that God had obviously no role in human society. The attempt failed as the Crown of Ruskia remains missing to this day.

His Imperial Majesty Tzar Alexander III of all the Ruskias, King of Fenski, Grand Prince of Muskovia and Defender of the True Church. This photo is the last know recorded image of the Crown. 

The Crowns were rumoured to have been taken during the chaos of Revolution by a group of monks who served the Tzar and his court in secret. Where they took the crowns nobody knows. This story and the current whereabouts of the Crowns are relegated to myth. This myth has ingrained itself in Ruskian superstitious folklore and rural peasant claim that the Crown will resurface at the right time and proclaim a new Age of Kings.