Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia before World War I broke out, Grand Duchess Anastasia visited her brother, Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia, and his family in England. When many eagerly greeted the outbreak of war, after the Austrian ultimatum, she wrote to Tsar Nicholas II: ""I hope that the war will not happen and that we even can say ‘perhaps in a few days, we’ll all be together again'"". The conflict split her family. Her son was a reigning prince in Germany and her younger daughter was the Kaiser's daughter in law. On the opposite side, her brothers in Russia were fighting to defeat
Prince Gabriel Constantinovich of Russia Prince Gabriel Constantinovich of Russia Prince Gabriel Constantinovich of Russia (; 15 July 1887 – 28 February 1955) was the second son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna of Russia. A great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, he was born in Imperial Russia and served in the army during World War I. He lost much of his family during the war and the Russian Revolution. He narrowly escaped execution by the Bolsheviks and spent the rest of his life living in exile in France. Prince Gabriel Constantinovich was born on 15 July 1887