Alexandra's last written words

Alexandra wrote the following entry in her diary — the last words she would ever write — on July 16, 1918. She had written down the date of the next day, July 17, which, of course, she would not live to complete; for, just hours later, she and her family were brutally shot to death in the cellar of Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg.

Sources:

A Lifelong Passion, letters and diary entries compiled by Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko

https://tsarnicholas.org/2019/03/15/archival-documents-regarding-the-murder-of-the-imperial-family-in-ekaterinburg/

Latter photo/scan of diary page courtesy of GARF (State Archives of the Russian Federation) via the above blog post.

The entry:

Grey morning, later lovely sunshine. Baby [Alexei] has a slight cold. All went out ½ hour in the morning, Olga & I arranged our medicines*. Tatiana read Spiritual reading. They went out, Tatiana stayed with me & we read Book of prophet Amos and prophet Audios. Tatted. Every morning the Komendant comes to our rooms, at last after a week brought eggs again for Baby.

8 Supper.

Suddenly, Lenka Sednev* was fetched to go & see his Uncle & flew off — wonder whether it's true & we shall see the boy back again!

Played bezique with Nicky.

10½ to bed. 15 degrees.

Above: The last known photo of Nicholas and Alexandra, taken during their captivity at the Governor's Mansion in Tobolsk. When they and their third daughter Maria arrived in Ekaterinburg in 1918, their cameras were confiscated, ending a family tradition of candid camera.

Note: "Medicines" was Alexandra's code word for jewels that she and her daughters secretly took into captivity with them and had sewn into their clothing.

Leonid "Lenka" Sednev was a kitchen boy at Ipatiev House who befriended Alexei. He was sent away in advance, just hours before his friend was killed.