Lili Dehn's description of the Mauve Boudoir

Source:

The Real Tsaritsa, part 1 chapter 4, by Lili Dehn, 1922

http://www.alexanderpalace.org/realtsaritsa/1chap4.html

The description:

The Empress's boudoir, known as Le Cabinet Mauve de l'Impératrice, was a lovely room, in which the Empress's partiality for all shades of mauve was apparent. In springtime and winter the air was fragrant with masses of lilac and lilies of the valley, which were sent daily from the Riviera. Lovely pictures adorned the walls — and one of the Annunciation, and another of St. Cecilia, faced a portrait of the Empress's mother, the late Princess Alice of England, Grand Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt.

The furniture was mauve and white, Heppelwaite in style, and there were various "cosy corners." On a large table stood many family photographs, that of Queen Victoria occupying the place of honour.

Above: The painting of Princess Alice, by James de Sant.