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.
Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine (1933–1937)
Some have considered the Hessian family victims of a family curse due to the number of premature deaths in the family. His orphaned younger sister Johanna, who had been left behind in Darmstadt, was adopted by their uncle Ludwig and his new wife Margaret Geddes, but died of meningitis in June 1939. Alexander was a great-nephew of Tsarina Alexandra and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, both of whom were killed with family members during the Russian Revolution of 1917. His maternal great grandmother Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and a great aunt, Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, both died of diphtheria. His paternal aunt, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, died at age eight of virulent typhoid, though she was rumored to have eaten from a poisoned dish meant for Nicholas II of Russia. He was also a nephew of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.