Recovering the Lost Story of Julie of Saxe-Coburg: A Guest Post by Helen Rappaport
The very definition of being ahead of her time, this is the story of a woman meant to be a bride, but who refused to settle into the traditional role asked of her. Fascinating history meets timeless themes in this inspiring character study. Read on for an exclusive essay from author Helen Rappaport on writing The Rebel Romanov.
Hardcover
$27.00
$32.00
The Rebel Romanov: Julie of Saxe-Coburg, the Empress Russia Never Had
The Rebel Romanov: Julie of Saxe-Coburg, the Empress Russia Never Had
In Stock Online
Hardcover
$27.00
$32.00
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanov Sisters comes the story of a courageous young Imperial Grand Duchess who scandalized Europe in search of freedom.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanov Sisters comes the story of a courageous young Imperial Grand Duchess who scandalized Europe in search of freedom.
In my nearly 30 years as a professional historian, I have often found that one subject can lead to another. Things capture my imagination and once my curiosity is aroused, I have to chase that subject down; and the more hidden and obscure, the more determined I am to seek them out. I came to Julie after having an animated conversation with Sarah, Duchess of York, about Prince Albert’s mother Louise, who was Julie’s sister-in-law and suffered similar abuses in her own marriage. Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg * has often been studied and written about, but Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld has been reduced to passing comments in history books of only a sentence or two. That immediately made me want to uncover her lost story.
However, all historical writing projects, no matter the author’s depth of passion for the subject, are never a solitary mission. Behind every one of my books have stood an army of willing helpers – readers, friends, academic colleagues, who in various ways have sought out and shared material. In Julie’s case, I knew that I needed specialist help, for I was taking on a time frame – the Napoleonic era – and locations – Switzerland and Germany – that I had never tackled before in my writing. It was a challenge, but one that I really enjoyed, despite the fact that although my French and Russian are very good, my German is minimal. I knew that I would need to access sources in spidery old German handwriting located in the Staatsarchiv in Coburg. In such situations, it is imperative to seek out experts, and I found a skillful translator to deal with the German that to me was indecipherable! A friend with a considerable library of books about the Saxe Coburg royals and their palaces also generously scanned and sent a great deal of source material.
But equally important to me – and it has been like this ever since I flew all the way to Ekaterinburg in Siberia to research my book, The Last Days of the Romanovs, in 2007 – was that I absolutely had to have a sense of place. I needed to travel in Julie’s footsteps, and my friend Nick, who is highly experienced in driving across Europe, offered to take me in his car all the way from the ferry at the Hook of Holland down to Coburg, and onward south to Bern in Switzerland – and back again! Together, we had the most memorable trip visiting places in Julie’s story. The high point was meeting up with a wonderful specialist on the Napoleonic era who I tracked down in Switzerland. Alessandra met us in Bern and took us on a guided tour of the beautiful park at Julie’s home at Elfenau on a glorious sunny autumn day – and then on to a private view in the archives of Bern Historical Museum of artefacts that had belonged to Julie. The generosity of people like Nick and Alessandra transforms a historian’s take on a story in ways one could never otherwise hope to achieve.
*See my History Reader piece that I recently wrote for St Martin’s Press: https://tinyurl.com/ms5v7yct
Helen Rappaport, 1 April 2025
Photo Credit: Jeni Nott Photography