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.
Nicholas II of Russia
Because of the fragility of the autocracy at this time, Nicholas and Alexandra chose not to divulge Alexei's condition to anyone outside the imperial household. In fact, there were many in the household who were unaware of the exact nature of the Tsarevich's illness. At first Alexandra turned to Russian doctors and medics to treat Alexei; however, their treatments generally failed, and Alexandra increasingly turned to mystics and holy men (or "starets" as they were called in Russian). One of these starets, an illiterate Siberian named Grigori Rasputin, appeared to have some success. Rasputin's influence over Empress Alexandra, and consequently the Tsar himself, had grown stronger ever since 1912, when the Tsarevich nearly died from an injury while the family was on vacation at the hunting lodges at Białowieża and Spała (Poland). The bleeding grew steadily worse until it was assumed that the Tsarevich would not survive, and the Last Sacrament was administered on 10 October 1912. In desperation Alexandra called upon Rasputin as a last resort, to which he replied, "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much." The haemorrhage stopped the very next day and the boy began to recover. Alexandra took this as a sign that Rasputin was a "starets" and that God was with him; for the rest of her life she would fervently defend him and turn her wrath against anyone who dared to question him.