Nicholas II of Russia
On 1 March 1881, following the assassination of his grandfather, Tsar Alexander II, Nicholas became heir apparent upon his father's ascension as Alexander III. Nicholas and his other family members bore witness to Alexander II's death, having been present at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, where he was brought after the attack. For security reasons, the new tsar and his family relocated their primary residence to the Gatchina Palace outside the city, only entering the capital for various ceremonial functions. On such occasions, Alexander III and his family occupied the nearby Anichkov Palace.
Assassination of Alexander II of Russia
The assassination was planned by the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya ("The People's Will"), a terrorist revolutionary organization formed in 1879. Andrei Zhelyabov was the chief organizer. When Zhelyabov was arrested a few days prior to the attack, his wife Sophia Perovskaya took the reins.