The Grand Duke's reputation as a corrupt, spendthrift dilettante, who lavished fortunes on "ladies of no reputation", had worsened throughout the years. Having purchased a magnificent mansion in Paris, he built a new wing of his St Petersburg palace for his mistress, ballerina Elizabeth Balletta. According to Kaiser Wilhelm II, no ship in the Russian Fleet could be purchased "without the Grand Duke Alexis, the Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, pocketing a quarter of a million roubles". In 1903, thirty million roubles – half of the budget of the Russian navy, had disappeared without a single new ship being launched. The Grand Duke was suspected of being involved in the misappropriation.