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
Princess Xenia Andreevna of Russia of Tsar Nicholas I. Her paternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, was the eldest daughter of Tsar Alexander III and sister to Tsar Nicholas II. Xenias's father - the Tsar's nephew - Prince Andrew Romanoff had in 1918 married Elisaveta Fabrizievna, daughter of Don Fabrizio Ruffo, "Duca" di Sasso-Ruffo. During the Russian Revolution Princess Xenia's parents took refuge in the Crimea where they married. They escaped Russia in December 1918. Xenia's mother was already pregnant with her when they left Russian soil. Princess Xenia had two brothers: Michael and Andrew. Her mother died of cancer during World War