“Tsarist Cupids: The Secret Adventures of Alix, lover of Guardsman Orlov”:

The Anatomy of a Myth, by Greg King

In 1907, a naval official complained to former Prime Minister Sergei Witte of a recent visit to Tsarskoye Selo, “The devil knows what kind of filth was going on!”¹ He was referring to a most peculiar and scandalous situation that had recently captivated St. Petersburg gossips, with allegations of a menage a trois; Machiavellian schemes; sexual affairs; and even whispers about the paternity of the Heir to the Throne.  These tales took on a life of their own.  They freely circulated at the highest levels; they would crop up in scurrilous pamphlets published immediately after Nicholas II’s abdication; and they would feature in any number of books about the last Romanovs.