File on the Tsar
Sir: I read with amused interest the letter of recent date in The Spectator of June 24 with respect to my letter commenting upon the unfolding Romanoff story. Messrs Antony Sumers and Tom Mangold have used me as a ploy to launch a few ideas of general interest to the readers who might have found their opus, The File on the Tsar interesting.
(I) When Tony told me quite seriously that a Britisher would better understand William Rutledge McGarry's Rescuing the Czar than would an American, I asked him if a Chinese trained in MI5 or MI6 might be as comprehensive of the book, he readily admitted he would.
(2) 'Ted's survivors' do not include the Grand Duchesses Maria Nikolaievna or Anastasia Nikolaievna Romanoff.
The white Russian noblewoman who knows Maria Nikolaievna and receives letters from her, hoped to accompany Tony Sumers to Poland and to serve as her (and his) interpreter. The first question I asked Tony when he stayed here at the Warwick Hotel, was it his intent to make this journey to see the Grand Duchess. He was, if anything, evasive in his reply. The Tsarevich insists that his two youngest sisters are deceased; a week ago today, on June 19, Colonel Richards informed me that Anastasia Nikolaievna is still alive and I was informed recently that efforts to bring Grand Duchess Maria to this country were impeded by the ardent efforts of a Polish-American who could not contain his curiosity some years ago, and addressed himself to the Polish authorities. Bribes that included automobiles of American manufacture, had to be forgotten as the Grand Duchess was not allowed to emigrate from Poland.
The Tsarevich refutes these likely tall tales as he refutes the story of the secret codicil of Brest-Litovsk that he states was alleged by tho3e inimical to his cause.
Whatever Messrs Sumers and Mangold may feel are the limitations of Mr Gary Null, and I am not this gentleman's defence counsellor, his book does contain some elements worth investigating. There is an excellent book, A History of. the Russian Secret Service recently published in Britain. Whilst its author does not accept as I do, that Aleksei Nikolaevich Romanoff is the scion of the Russian Imperial Family, his investigations do refute the myth that the Imperial Family members died at Ekaterinburg, Siberia in the night of July 16/17, 1918, which is probably the first contemporary British summation by a Britisher, apart from Messrs Sumers and Mangold, of a valid investigation in this area.
I am sure that the Tsarevich would enjoy the privilege of telling his own story and if an investigator reading this letter should wish to undertake to contact him, I should be glad to pass any such enquiries to the Tsarevich.
E. H. Stewart-Hill 1702 Second Avenue — 3B, Gracie Station, New York
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