0:00

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to even the

0:02

royals early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery

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Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple

0:06

Podcasts. A

0:08

quick note about our show. We do

0:10

a lot of research for our stories,

0:12

but we also aren't your boring high

0:15

school history class. So some details and

0:17

scenes are dramatized. And today's episode contains

0:19

content that is unsuitable for aristocratic ears.

0:21

Please be advised. Wondery

0:24

Plus Alright,

0:29

Brookie. Let's take it back to 1999.

0:31

Oh! It's a Friday night.

0:35

Wow, so recent. Well,

0:38

hold your horses. Okay. Okay,

0:41

it's a Friday night. You've just returned home

0:43

from a tanning session at your friend's in-home

0:45

tanning bed. And

0:48

you're ready to kick back and let those sweet,

0:50

sweet cancer rays do their work. So

0:52

you go to your VHS collection and pick

0:54

out an animated movie. One that

0:56

has an amazing villain. What's it going to be?

0:59

I mean, I gotta go Beauty

1:01

and the Beast. It's my

1:03

favorite animated Disney

1:05

movie, so. Okay, important question. Is the

1:07

Beast hotter as the Beast or as the Prince? The

1:10

Beast, right? I

1:12

don't care about the Prince at all.

1:14

Yeah. Well, for me, it's forever and

1:16

always going to be Aladdin because that

1:18

nipple-less straight rack can get it. Okay.

1:21

But fun fact, our royal today

1:23

was actually featured in an animated

1:25

movie in the 90s. Do

1:28

you remember Anastasia with the

1:30

bad guy Rasputin? I do,

1:32

but I've never seen it. Is that

1:35

crazy? Oh, it's an under-the-radar animated movie.

1:37

Yeah. And the thing is, I could

1:39

have sworn it was Disney, but it's

1:41

not Disney. Oh my God. Even

1:43

though it involves dead parents. I know, my God.

1:45

Well, that's how they camouflaged it. They're like, people

1:47

will think we're Disney, more people will watch it.

1:51

No, as a quick refresher, the movie takes place in Russia

1:53

at the turn of the 20th century. It

1:56

follows Anastasia, the Romanov princess who gets amnesia

1:58

and has to go on the line. run

2:00

after the rest of her family is

2:02

killed. Classic stuff. Exactly, yeah. So, Rasputin

2:05

is a bad guy and he's determined

2:07

to find and kill her and in

2:09

the movie he's super creepy. He's literally

2:11

an undead corpse and his

2:13

only friend is a bat. But

2:16

just like Anastasia, Rasputin was

2:19

a real person. Now, technically

2:21

he's not a royal, but

2:23

before everyone grabs their pitchfork,

2:25

I promise this story is

2:27

fit for royals. Okay, so

2:29

Rasputin spent years infiltrating the

2:31

Russian royal family and spoiler alert, the

2:33

fictional tale of Rasputin got a lot

2:35

wrong, if you can believe it. I

2:38

am shocked to my core. But in

2:40

real life, Rasputin was a few shades of

2:42

creepy. But it turns out he wasn't an

2:44

evil vampire dude who could control an army

2:46

of green goblins or pop his head on

2:48

and off. But his

2:50

story is stranger than fiction.

2:53

We're talking magical dreams, cross-dressing

2:55

princes, and the downfall of

2:57

a centuries-old dynasty. I love it. I

2:59

am so ready. It's

3:05

after midnight on December 30, 1916. 47-year-old Gregori Rasputin

3:07

is walking up to

3:11

a palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. But

3:14

he's not alone. A tall, dark and

3:16

handsome figure is leading him to a

3:19

side door. Oh, never

3:21

trust a side door. No,

3:24

this either sounds romantic or

3:26

ominous, but tonight is actually

3:28

all business. Rasputin is

3:30

an early 20th century healer to the

3:33

stars, and he's made it to the

3:35

highest echelons of society. He even

3:37

has connections to the Tsar of Russia. Now,

3:40

the man with him tonight isn't quite as

3:42

powerful, but he is royal. His

3:45

name is Prince Felix Yusupov, and

3:47

he's one of Rasputin's newest friends.

3:50

Felix also happens to be the resident

3:52

of this palace, plus one

3:54

of the richest men in Russia. So

3:56

he is Rasputin's favorite kind of friend.

3:58

I bet. has promised Rasputin

4:00

a private audience with him and his

4:02

wife, Irina. It's like if Taylor Swift

4:05

and Travis Kelsey invited you to no-boo

4:07

for sushi. Oh my god. The

4:09

dream? Now Rasputin is all

4:11

about collecting A-list friends. So he was

4:13

sure to dress in his best. A

4:15

blue silk shirt and shiny new boots. Plus

4:18

he even brushed his scraggly long beard.

4:21

But still, he's tried to keep a low

4:23

profile tonight. With more power

4:25

comes more enemies trying to bring you

4:27

down. Mm-hmm. So Rasputin's only

4:29

seeing people he completely trusts. And

4:32

he's being pretty sneaky about his outings. Hence

4:34

the side door. Rasputin

4:37

follows Felix inside and he can hear

4:39

music and laughter from down the halls.

4:41

For a second he's like, oh, I thought

4:43

this was an us thing, not a group

4:46

hang. We'll take a moment

4:48

of silence here for all of us who've made that mistake

4:50

on a date. Never done it. Yeah,

4:52

me neither. Definitely not. Rasputin

4:55

manages to rally. But Felix

4:57

doesn't take into the party. Instead, the

4:59

prince guides him through back rooms and

5:01

down a staircase. Finally

5:03

he opens a heavy door and brings

5:05

Rasputin into his basement game room. Which

5:08

is decked out with leather chairs and... Brooke,

5:11

you're gonna hate this. Oh no. Animal

5:13

skins? A bear rug? I

5:16

knew it. Enough.

5:19

Oh man. Rasputin sits down at

5:22

a table covered with treats. Prince

5:24

Felix has gone all out on the

5:26

spread. There's cakes, fancy teas, bottles of

5:29

wine. Felix takes a

5:31

seat across from Rasputin and offers him some port

5:33

wine while they wait for Irina to join them.

5:36

Now Rasputin doesn't want to be off his

5:38

game, but also a little liquid courage can't

5:41

hurt. So we start doubting

5:43

the booze and snacking on the cake. Pretty

5:45

quickly, Vivino works its magic. Rasputin

5:48

looks over at Felix, but the prince

5:51

doesn't meet his gaze. He thinks

5:53

the prince seems a little nervous, but he's

5:55

not sure why. Then

5:58

Felix excuses himself to check on him. upstairs.

6:01

Rasputin gets up and takes a slow walk

6:03

around the room to digest, but

6:05

now the room is swimming in front of him. Rasputin

6:08

is wishing he'd had a little less

6:10

booze tonight. I mean nobody wants

6:13

to be the drunkest one at the party. Not that

6:15

either of us would know anything about that. Puke

6:17

and rally. There it is. Rasputin

6:20

clutches a chair to study himself and

6:23

hears Felix walk up behind him. But

6:25

before he can turn to face the Prince, Felix

6:28

orders him to say a prayer. Rasputin is

6:30

confused, but he closes his eyes

6:32

and follows the instruction. He

6:34

is known as a holy man after all,

6:37

but when Rasputin says, amen, he

6:40

hears a shot ring out and

6:42

feels an excruciating pain tear through

6:45

his chest. Rasputin

6:47

touches his shirt and sees his

6:49

hand covered in blood. The

6:51

man he thought was his friend just

6:53

shot him. And the gunshot

6:56

is just the beginning. Rasputin

6:58

will die tonight, but

7:00

he'll never find out why he was murdered or

7:03

learn how his murder will be the

7:05

beginning of the end for

7:07

Russia's last imperial dynasty.

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Wondery, I'm Arisha Stidmore-Williams, and I'm

8:49

Brooke Sifrin. And this is Even

8:51

The Royals, where we bring you

8:53

true stories of the world's king,

8:55

queen, and all the wannabes in

8:58

their orbit. It's

9:08

a show about pulling back the gilded curtain.

9:11

Because the sights of the whole

9:13

unmuted by God says, royals are

9:15

just like us. They have messy

9:17

breakups, mass-grabbing frenemies, and workplace drama.

9:20

Holy bears end in wars, beheadings,

9:22

and sometimes the fall of dynasties.

9:29

This series is all about Rasputin and

9:31

how he got tangled up in the

9:33

world of Russia's elite. It's

9:35

the story of a peasant who dreams of rising

9:37

to the top of society, a

9:39

Russian's arena desperate for a miracle, and

9:42

a spoiled prince striving to find

9:44

service. It's a trio

9:46

of wildly different people whose

9:48

star-crossed lives overlap with catastrophic

9:51

consequences. This is

9:53

Part 1. How to Catch a

9:55

Zarena. Let's

10:00

go back about 15 years before Rasputin

10:03

is murdered and before he's a holy

10:05

man to the stars. And a

10:07

quick side note, there are going to be a

10:09

lot of Russian names and places in this episode.

10:11

I will do my best, but

10:14

I'll mostly be sticking with the

10:16

Americanized pronunciation, because I haven't started

10:18

my Duolingo for Russian yet. Oh,

10:21

and also, one more disclaimer. At

10:24

the time of our story, Russia was still

10:26

using the Julian calendar, but since most of

10:28

the world had already switched to the Gregorian

10:30

calendar, aka the calendar we use today, we're

10:32

going to be using the Gregorian calendar dates

10:35

in our episodes. Alright, here

10:37

we go. It's the 1890s,

10:39

and Gregorian Rasputin is around 30. Now,

10:42

the details are a little vague, because he

10:44

spent most of his adult life lying about

10:46

his age. A la Madonna. Uh

10:49

huh. But we do know that Rasputin

10:51

is approaching his...oh shit, I'm getting

10:53

old, ereah. What if he

10:55

acts more like he just turned 21? Because

10:57

right now, he's stumbling into his

10:59

house in a small Siberian village, drunker

11:02

than you after three sips of champagne. I was

11:04

going to say, where is this going? Because I'm

11:06

never drunk, but you

11:08

got it. You nailed it. Rasputin's

11:12

home is quiet. His wife and

11:14

two children went to bed hours ago. But

11:16

he's been out getting drunk again. His

11:19

homemade shirt is falling apart and is

11:22

stained with booze, dirt, and

11:24

blood. Hold on. His homemade shirt?

11:29

Like a construction paper t-shirt or something? No,

11:32

no, like made by hand, not in a

11:34

factory is what we mean here. Okay. So

11:37

Rasputin's nights usually involve lots

11:40

of vodka, fistfights, and

11:42

petty theft. Rasputin's indulging

11:44

in this shady pastime because, well,

11:46

he's broke. Plus, there's not much

11:48

else to fill his time. A

11:50

peasant's options in the 1800s are

11:52

basically limited to suffering in silence

11:55

or getting shit-faced. Feels like the same as now.

11:58

I was going to say, not unlike 2024. Yeah. Rasputin

12:01

kicks in his shoes, heads for his bed,

12:03

and tries not to knock anything over. Not

12:06

that there's fancy china or delicate

12:08

furniture around. This isn't a wealthy

12:10

nobles house. It's actually kind of

12:12

a shithole. Rasputin stumbles into his

12:14

room and falls into bed. But

12:16

instead of happily drifting off to sleep, his

12:19

mind starts racing from one thought to the

12:21

next. This is the point where

12:23

Rasputin's happy, drunk phase turns into a depressed,

12:26

thinking about all of your problems, drunk phase.

12:29

This is all because Rasputin has a

12:31

problem. He's smart, hardworking, and good

12:33

with people and animals. But

12:36

his life is going nowhere. At this rate,

12:38

he'll live and die a drunk peasant just like

12:40

his father, and just like his

12:42

father's father. Rasputin doesn't want

12:44

to end up like that, though. And

12:47

there was once a time he felt like he would

12:49

do something big with his life. But

12:51

now he's a drunk 30-something year old and

12:53

feels lost. Which is very

12:55

elitible. Rasputin has

12:58

tried to find direction before, like going

13:00

to his local church. But he's never

13:02

been able to buy into something he can't see. Also

13:05

very relatable. He forces

13:07

his eyes closed and hopes sleep comes

13:09

fast. And that he doesn't wet the

13:11

bed again. Aww. But

13:14

when Rasputin finally falls asleep, things start

13:16

to go off the rails. A

13:19

man appears to him in a dream. But

13:21

this isn't just any man. It's a saint.

13:24

A holy man with flowing blue robes

13:26

and a halo of light around his head.

13:29

And he has a simple but profound message for

13:31

Rasputin. He says, and I

13:33

quote, Give all that up and become a

13:35

new man. Zaltu.

13:39

AKA, pull your shit together and good things

13:41

will come your way. I mean, anyone could say

13:43

that to him. Doesn't have to be a saint. But

13:47

when Rasputin wakes up the next morning, he knows

13:49

this wasn't an ordinary dream. It

13:52

felt real, like the sign he's been

13:54

waiting for. Rasputin decides to

13:56

take the saint's words seriously. He's

13:59

done with the stealing. and sin. It's

14:01

time to devote his life to God.

14:07

Now, if going from local bad boy

14:09

to wannabe youth pastor seems like a

14:11

big shift, you're not wrong. But

14:14

religion is a huge deal at this

14:16

time in Russia. Most people practice Orthodox

14:18

Christianity, and some are even seeking out

14:20

other ways to be spiritual. In

14:23

other words, they're going full on alt

14:25

and buying into mysticism and the occult.

14:28

You know, just your normal Tuesday in this different household.

14:30

You know I'm here to hear about all this. Should

14:33

I light a candle? I'm surprised one isn't

14:35

already lit, honestly. I know, I know. Now,

14:38

life is rough for Russians at the

14:40

turn of the 20th century, especially for

14:43

peasants like Rasputin who grow up poor

14:45

and hungry. And about 80% of

14:48

the population falls into this category. Even

14:50

worse, it's really hard to move up

14:53

from whatever social class you're born into.

14:55

So people are understandably desperate for something

14:58

to believe in. And maybe that's

15:00

how things would have stayed for Rasputin if he didn't

15:02

have that dream. But now the

15:04

peasant has found his thing. He's

15:07

going to become a monk. Oh. He

15:10

starts reading the Gospels, praying every day,

15:12

and going on pilgrimages to holy sites.

15:15

And by pilgrimages, I mean many days

15:17

of walking 30 miles a day with

15:19

no food and no showers. Who is

15:21

he, Forrest Gump? Oh,

15:23

yeah. He literally walked so Forrest Gump could run

15:25

with braces on his legs. He did. Yeah, he

15:27

did. Now, all of this is a super

15:32

religious practice called mortification, which just

15:35

sounds a lot like middle school, but

15:37

it's actually about doing anything you can to

15:40

resist and kill off sinful urges. Now,

15:43

in the case of no showers, it's

15:45

about resisting pride and vanity, which

15:47

is now my party line when explaining my

15:49

disdain for getting in the shower. One

15:52

of his pilgrimages is to a

15:54

town and I'm going to preemptively apologize

15:56

because I have tried to get

15:58

this name. I know I'm not getting it 100%.

16:02

The town is called Rakhtykhya, which happens

16:04

to be the home of a major

16:06

Russian monastery, as well as a state

16:09

who appeared a Rasputin in his dream. Now,

16:11

after over a week of walking, Raspy

16:14

finally makes it to the monastery. Rakhtykhya's

16:17

snowy mountains and clear skies

16:19

make him feel like he's

16:21

reached heaven. And in a

16:23

way he has. The monastery here is home

16:25

to many important religious leaders. For

16:28

Rasputin, the stinking and

16:30

starving are totally worth it, because

16:32

after weeks of wandering, he finally feels

16:35

like he's home. A

16:39

few years later, Raspyutin is sitting on a stool

16:41

in a tiny little room underneath some

16:44

horse stables and staring

16:46

deeply into the eyes of a woman.

16:49

Oh. But it's not what you think, at least

16:51

not in this moment. Rasputin is currently

16:53

surrounded by a small group of people, all

16:56

of whom are intently watching him and

16:58

waiting to hear what gospel he's going

17:00

to spout next. Ah. So no, this

17:02

is not an orgy. That's a

17:04

cult. Well, okay, that quite.

17:06

Just your enthusiastic Bible study. But

17:10

today is Sunday, and Rasputin is back in

17:12

his small Siberian village and reading out

17:14

loud from the Bible. Now

17:17

you're probably wondering, how did Rasputin

17:19

go from stinky pilgrimages to this? Well,

17:22

he didn't last long as a monk.

17:24

He loved spending time reading the Bible,

17:26

but he hated living under the strict

17:28

schedule and rules of a monastery. So

17:31

now he's back in his village, transformed

17:33

and ready to start his own Instagrammable

17:35

startup as a spiritual advisor. Oh, minus

17:38

the Instagrammable part, because now

17:40

Rasputin is gaunt, scarred, and

17:43

hardly recognizable. The rowdy

17:45

everyman is gone. He

17:47

is, as the kids say, no longer

17:49

down to clown. Oh boy. Instead,

17:52

Rasputin is intensely calm. He speaks

17:55

about God with authority and people

17:57

in the village take notice. So

18:00

he has a whole group of acolytes, including

18:02

many of the people sitting in this little

18:04

makeshift chapel right now. Sometimes

18:07

he offers advice and answers questions. Other

18:10

times he reads a verse from the Bible

18:12

and offers his interpretation. And

18:14

he always talks to people with intense

18:16

eye contact. Oh god. Like an awkward,

18:19

not blinking eye contact kind of eye

18:21

contact. I hate that. I

18:23

know. That is cult leader stuff. I know. I'm

18:26

sorry to keep bringing out cults, but... Well, you are the

18:28

authority on cults, so... I am. Thank you for saying

18:30

that. Well, you know, this eye contact, it's creepy to

18:32

us, but for the woman he's staring at right now,

18:35

I guess it's

18:37

spellbinding. Okay. Now, as Rasputin stares

18:39

into her soul, he can't help

18:41

but notice how far he's come. Just

18:44

a few years ago, he was in

18:46

this very house going nowhere, just like his

18:48

dad and his dad's dad. But

18:51

now, he's not only found God,

18:53

he's found something arguably better. A

18:56

feeling of importance. In

18:58

the eyes of his followers, he's someone.

19:01

And he likes it. He likes it

19:03

a lot. I bet he does. And

19:06

now, he wants more of it. Now

19:11

before we go all gaga for Rasputin's

19:13

reinvention era, I gotta burst your bubble.

19:16

Because all of this attention is really going to

19:18

Rasputin's head. And even though

19:20

he's a man of God, he's still

19:22

a man. He

19:25

starts to use his growing fan base, many of

19:27

whom are women, as his own

19:29

personal Tinder app. Oh

19:32

boy. Now, there are varying accounts

19:34

about just how far Rasputin takes

19:36

these encounters, but he has a

19:38

habit of taking advantage of women

19:40

and calling it, quote, religious education.

19:42

Okay. It's majorly predatory behavior and

19:45

it's giving cult. It's giving cult.

19:49

But the thing is, it's the 19th

19:51

century. No one really reports him. Of

19:53

course not. It's definitely a man's world.

19:56

Yeah. But even with this

19:58

lazy behavior, people are still somehow worshiping out his

20:00

feet. And it's not long

20:02

before word of Rasputin's magnetic preaching spreads

20:04

beyond his village. People from

20:07

all over Russia start contacting Rasputin

20:09

for his guidance, including

20:11

people above his peasant class, like

20:13

doctors and wealthy merchants. Which

20:16

is very unusual for this time. A peasant

20:18

advising people above his station is like

20:21

you giving tax advice to anyone trying to stay

20:23

out of prison. Well, you

20:25

know what my cousin Al Capone would say. Yeah,

20:29

you can get away with murder, but you

20:31

can't get away with tax evasion. Exactly.

20:33

That's where they get ya. Now

20:35

Rasputin's gotten a taste of what it's like to be

20:37

important, what it's like to be wanted. And

20:40

now that he's breaking the barriers of class,

20:42

he starts to see a future beyond his

20:44

small town. I mean, why

20:46

stop at doctors? He's like,

20:48

God wouldn't want me being stingy with

20:51

my gifts. So

20:53

when Rasputin's in his mid thirties, he decides

20:55

to go to St. Petersburg. He

20:57

wants to share his teaching with a new audience,

21:00

the nobility. These are Russia's

21:02

elites, dukes, duchesses and

21:04

princes. Just picture the

21:06

cast of Bridgerton, but with bare hats and

21:09

vodka. Oh boy. It's a big swing, but

21:11

Rasputin's ready to step up to the plate. It's

21:17

fall 1905 and Rasputin

21:20

has been in St. Petersburg for almost

21:22

a year. And today he's making a

21:24

house call to Olga Lactina, the

21:26

wife of an important St. Petersburg

21:28

official. Rasputin takes a deep

21:30

breath and rings the doorbell. This

21:32

is pop moment. A

21:34

cold wind cuts through his worn coat, but

21:36

he ignores the urge to hug it tighter.

21:39

This is not the time to show any weakness. A

21:42

servant answers the door and leads Rasputin

21:44

into the main hall. But when he

21:46

sees Olga, he has to stifle

21:48

a gasp. She's known

21:50

around town as a fashionable, high

21:53

society firecracker. But right

21:55

now, she's sickly, pale and clutching the

21:57

wall just to make it down the

21:59

stairs. Oh no. Now Rasputin

22:01

has been called here to pray with her. And

22:04

to heal her. And if you're

22:06

like, whoa, when did he become Grigori

22:08

Rasputin, M.D.? Well, Rasputin's

22:11

been growing his bag of tricks since

22:13

coming to St. Petersburg. He

22:15

still does his regular preacher thing,

22:18

but now he's added some mystical

22:20

skills too, like hypnosis and

22:22

healing energy stuff. You

22:24

know, those alt-spiritual practices that are

22:27

finding a growing base of, I'm

22:29

desperate for a miracle followers. Like

22:31

you, Brooke. Okay, I'm at, listen, miracles

22:33

are all around me, or you shall have, you know,

22:37

that desperate for anything. Rasputin

22:40

gives God the credit for his so-called

22:42

powers, like, I am but a lowly

22:44

vessel directing the Lord's power. But

22:47

his reputation among the nobles is getting

22:49

pretty big, which has only made his

22:52

ego bigger. But Rasputin

22:54

isn't feeling so hot now that he sees

22:56

how bad Olga's condition is. He

22:58

feels beads of sweat rolling down his

23:00

back as he listens to her ragged

23:03

breathing. He's healed a lot

23:05

of people already, but she's by far

23:07

the sickest person he's treated. And

23:09

one of the most important ones too. Olga's

23:12

husband is a state counselor, aka

23:14

a big cheese with ties to the royal

23:17

family. So Rasputin knows

23:19

he can't screw this up. Because

23:22

here's the thing, healing lesser

23:24

nobles is just a starting point for him.

23:27

Rasputin has set his sights on an

23:29

even bigger target, the Tsar

23:31

and Tsarina of Russia. But

23:34

if he doesn't cure Olga, word

23:36

will spread and it'll be game

23:38

over. And looking at

23:41

Olga's frail body, Rasputin

23:43

wonders if he's finally

23:45

bitten off more than he

23:47

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site for details. So,

25:50

Brooke, what do you think? Does Rasputin

25:53

help Oga live to see another day?

25:55

I mean, I'm gonna bank on Yask's. I Feel

25:57

like he had to keep doing stuff where we...

26:00

Wouldn't be talking about him. it be the under the

26:02

episode. This is episode one of One Sister. Yeah,

26:05

but he does and it seems like

26:07

he didn't actually have to do much

26:10

because Olga swear she started to get

26:12

better just by Rasputin walking through the

26:14

front door. Wow, never been. As a

26:16

result, he proved himself and his skills

26:18

to an important noble family. His reputation

26:21

starts to grow as though the Holy

26:23

Man and a healer. And. Pretty

26:25

soon he's on the radar have one of

26:27

the most important. People in Russia. Desire.

26:30

Either. But before we

26:32

continue his story, we have to rewind

26:34

the clock for years to meet the

26:36

woman who's going to change Rasputin's life.

26:43

It's. June Nineteen, A one. And.

26:45

Twenty nine year olds. Arena

26:47

Alexandra A K, The Empress

26:50

of Russia is an excruciating.

26:52

Pain. The plush

26:54

betting around her is soaked

26:56

in sweat. Alexandra or Alex,

26:58

for short, is in labor.

27:01

This is her fourth child,

27:03

but the cane never gets.

27:05

Any easier. Alex Feals

27:07

Week and for. A moment she

27:10

wonders if her body can. Do this

27:12

but he knows she needs

27:14

to for most important job

27:16

as Arena is giving birth

27:18

to healthy children for action

27:20

healthy airs which by now

27:22

we all know usually mean

27:24

having a son for. Alex The

27:26

pressure to have a boy is on

27:29

overdrive right now. Her husband Nicholas's line

27:31

the Roman Our family ends with him

27:33

if they don't have a son and

27:36

this line has been. Pumping out

27:38

a lot of boys for

27:40

almost three hundred years, Wow!

27:42

The whole country has basically been

27:45

shouting tick tock tick tock at

27:47

Alex's uterus since she got married,

27:49

but unfortunately, Alex has been having

27:51

some trouble on the Air France.

27:53

She's had three babies, all healthy,

27:56

but they're also. All girls.

27:59

the right now our is pushing like her future

28:01

depends on it. And it

28:03

kinda does. So she's praying

28:05

that she sees a tiny little tinkler when the baby

28:07

pops out. Heh heh heh heh.

28:09

But it's not like the sex of the

28:12

baby is something you can control. Alex

28:14

grits her teeth and gets ready to push again.

28:17

Just then, Nicholas breaks custom and

28:19

runs into her bedroom. Alex

28:22

smiles through the pain. Oh. She

28:24

loves her husband and is excited to have another kid

28:26

with him. Nicholas takes her

28:28

hand and Alex finds a new source of

28:30

strength. She pushes again and

28:33

just when she thinks she can't push anymore,

28:35

she hears a newborn baby wail. Her

28:38

eyes fill with tears and she's

28:40

overjoyed as the midwife places her

28:42

baby in her arms. All

28:45

right, Brooke, what do you think? Did

28:47

we get a boy or did we get a girl? I

28:50

think we got a little tinkler. Lucky number four.

28:52

Heh heh heh heh heh. We

28:55

did not. Oh my God, this

28:57

poor lady. Yeah, Alex's joy quickly

29:00

becomes better disappointment because she's

29:02

holding another girl. Oh my God.

29:04

Her fourth daughter in six years.

29:06

Ugh. Little Anastasia,

29:08

our 90s cartoon princess.

29:10

Wow, I should've put that together.

29:13

Yeah, you should've. That's on me. Alex

29:16

hands the baby back to the midwife and

29:18

tries to hide her tears. She knows

29:20

Nikki will love her no matter what, but she

29:22

hates letting him down. It might take

29:24

two to make a baby, but at

29:26

this time, the blame for having girls fall squarely

29:29

on the wife's shoulders. Of course. Which,

29:31

if she'd been a woman of science like

29:33

me, she would know it's the sperm that

29:35

decides the baby's six, but

29:38

I digress. Thank you. Alex doesn't

29:40

know how many more chances she'll get or

29:43

how many more she can take. Yeah.

29:45

So in her darkest hour, she turns to

29:47

something a bit unorthodox and

29:50

risky. A magic man.

29:52

Ooh. Okay,

29:55

Brooke, I know you're on the edge of your seat

29:57

now that I've brought up magic. Of course. Hold

30:00

your supernatural horses for a second. I gotta

30:02

give you a little more backstory. Now,

30:05

Nicholas and Alex have been Zara and Zarena

30:07

for about seven years at this point. And

30:10

unlike just about every one of

30:12

our other royal marriages that we've talked about,

30:14

they're very much in love. Yeah, I picked

30:16

that up, I was gonna say. It's

30:19

so sweet. Yeah, and it's especially good

30:21

because most of the court finds them

30:23

to be pretty odd. Alex

30:26

doesn't like outside company. And

30:28

Nicholas is happy just doting privately on his

30:31

wife. They spend most of their time

30:33

together in the winter palace instead of hanging out with

30:35

the rest of their court. The nobles

30:37

see them as spacey and out of touch. Basically,

30:40

Alex and Nikki are all the celebrities

30:42

singing Imagine from their mansions during the

30:44

pandemic. Oh my God. Trigger

30:47

warning. I know, truly. It's

30:50

so triggering. And

30:52

it's not just the nobles who feel this way. Outside

30:55

the palace walls, Russian peasants are fed

30:57

up with the rich. And

30:59

that anger is almost at a tipping point. In

31:02

the country, peasants are starving. And

31:05

in the city, the working class are

31:07

laboring for 10 or 15 hours a day in

31:09

factories with horrible safety precautions and

31:12

low wages. Hungry and

31:14

underpaid civilians make for some pretty

31:16

hangry subjects. Yeah. The talk of

31:18

a revolution against the monarchy has

31:21

been brewing. So the

31:23

Romanovs could really use a win. If

31:25

Alex finally produced an heir, maybe

31:27

everyone would be happy and just chill

31:29

out. Now, regular methods haven't

31:31

worked, which is why Alex searches for a

31:33

magic man to solve her problems. And

31:36

it's not long before she finds one.

31:38

And no, it's not Rasputin. Oh, yet.

31:41

Okay. The first magic man she finds

31:43

is a French guy named Philippe.

31:46

And he's made some pretty wild claims. Like

31:48

he can use astral forces to

31:50

heal people. So basically,

31:52

he'd be right at home on TikTok. Now,

31:56

the more old school nobles think magic

31:58

men like Philippe are f- of

32:00

BS and worse that they may

32:02

even be dangerous. But Alex

32:04

is desperate. So when Felipe

32:06

tells her he can help her with a son, she's

32:08

all in. Which is how

32:11

two years later, Alex finds

32:13

herself in a town east of

32:15

Moscow called Sarav. She's here

32:17

with 300,000 other people. Oh

32:20

my God. Because Felipe swears that

32:22

praying to Saint Seraphim of Sarav will

32:24

help her have a boy. He

32:27

also tells her to swim in the Sarava

32:29

River near the town's monastery. Now

32:31

Alex knows people swear these waters are

32:33

sacred. But a part of her still

32:36

worries, what if this doesn't work?

32:38

She's not sure she's strong enough to start the

32:40

process all over again. But when

32:43

she walks into the water and dips her head

32:45

below the surface, she can

32:47

almost feel the power of life rushing all

32:49

around her. For the

32:51

first time in a long time, she feels

32:53

hope. Unfortunately

32:56

for Alex, the hot spring bath

32:59

works its magic. She gets

33:01

pregnant within three months. Wow. And

33:04

when it pops out, it has a tinkler.

33:06

Aw, we love to see it. The Tsar and Tsarina

33:09

are over the moon to have a boy and

33:11

they're sure that Felipe and his new saint

33:13

did the trick. But by the

33:15

time the boy is born, Felipe has been booted

33:17

from the royal palace. The

33:19

other nobles didn't like how much influence Felipe

33:22

had over the Tsar and Tsarina. The

33:24

pressure got so heated that eventually

33:26

Nicholas felt he had no other

33:28

choice but to kick the French

33:31

miracle man to Le Coeur. So

33:33

out he went. But he's the

33:35

opposite of Les Encopédons. I know.

33:38

Now Alex is upset, but Felipe promises

33:40

her that another magic man is coming

33:42

to take his place and that

33:44

he will protect her. To Alex,

33:46

this prophecy is as good as gold.

33:49

And she's about to find out just how much she'll

33:51

need this protection. Because even though she

33:54

has an heir, her son's body

33:56

is hiding a lethal secret. It's

34:02

fall 1904, about a month

34:04

after Alex gave birth to her son,

34:06

who they named Alexei. The

34:09

Zarena is leaning over her baby boy's bassinet

34:11

and cooing. She lifts

34:13

Alexei up and wrinkles her nose, because

34:16

the little Zare has made a big stink. She

34:19

carries him over to the bed to change him, but

34:21

when she sees what's under his nightgown, the

34:24

color drains from her face. Alexei's

34:26

stomach is covered in dried blood.

34:29

What? When Alex leans closer,

34:32

she can see that his belly button is

34:34

bleeding. She grabs a

34:36

cloth and tries to stop the flow of blood,

34:38

but she can't. And

34:40

then she notices bruises and swelling all

34:42

over his tiny body. Aww. She

34:45

clutches Alexei and screams for someone to

34:47

get a doctor. Alex

34:50

rocks for baby and tries to steady her

34:52

breathing, but it's no use. She's

34:54

panicking and can't help her thoughts from

34:57

spiraling. Has she seen

34:59

something like this before? Now

35:01

today we call it hemophilia, a

35:03

disease that can cause uncontrollable bleeding

35:06

inside or outside the body from

35:08

even minor injuries. But

35:10

at the time, people with hemophilia were

35:12

usually just called bleeder. Alex's

35:15

older brother was a bleeder and actually

35:17

died from the disease. Oh my god.

35:20

Alex is struck with a horrible thought.

35:23

If this is what's wrong with her baby, then

35:25

she might lose Alexei too. The

35:28

heir the Romanovs desperately need to keep

35:31

their 300-year-old line going. That's gotta be

35:33

really triggering for her also though. Hugely

35:36

triggering. Especially at a time when it's like,

35:38

we don't know anything. Yeah. Alex

35:41

though vows to do whatever it

35:43

takes to protect her son. It's

35:46

time to find a new magic man.

35:49

Even if he's someone a little less

35:51

polished and a little more

35:53

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36:35

It's October 1906, about

36:37

two years after Alex found out her little

36:39

boy is a bleeder. But right

36:42

now we're back with our main guy,

36:44

Rasputin. The holy man is 37 and

36:46

on his way to an

36:48

important meeting at one of the royal palaces

36:50

in St. Petersburg. He's meeting with

36:52

the Tsar and Zarena and he

36:55

is nervous. Now normally

36:57

he can go into his chill mystic mode at the

36:59

flip of a switch but today

37:01

he's desperate for the meeting to go well.

37:04

Rasputin is truly a religious man who

37:07

believes he's doing God's work but

37:09

he also loves the attention he gets for

37:11

his spiritual skills. The

37:14

more he gets, the more he wants

37:16

and the more he wants to keep it. But

37:19

the nobles are kind of like toddlers. They

37:22

get bored easily and Rasputin doesn't

37:24

want to be a passing fad. So

37:26

the best way for him to stay in St. Petersburg

37:29

is to get the most powerful couple in the country

37:31

to keep him around. By

37:33

now he's proven his skills at fancy houses

37:35

all over the city and

37:37

it actually got him a meeting with the Tsar and Zarena

37:39

a year ago. But Rasputin wasn't

37:42

able to convince the Tsar of his

37:44

abilities. So today he's

37:46

here to prove to both Alex and Nicholas

37:48

that he's the real deal. That

37:50

they need his talents and

37:53

he has a plan he thinks is foolproof.

37:55

Oh I can't wait. Rasputin

37:58

walks through the Tsar's chambers inside the palace.

38:01

He greets the couple warmly, but he can see

38:03

their discomfort as they look at him. Alex's

38:06

last magic man was more posh spice

38:08

than scary spice. Meanwhile,

38:11

Rasputin's clothes are homemade and

38:13

simple. And Rasputin knows his wild

38:15

hair and beard are more than a little out of

38:17

place in this palace. But

38:19

Rasputin brushes off the judgy stairs. He

38:22

only has a few minutes with the royal couple, and

38:24

he can't waste any of it with doubts. Rasputin

38:27

pulls out a religious icon from his pocket

38:29

and hands it to the tsar. It's

38:31

an icon of Saint Simeon, of

38:34

Verhatarye, the saint saint that came

38:36

to Rasputin in his dream. And

38:39

now I imagine Rasputin turns up

38:41

the charm. He looks at

38:43

the couple with his infamous intense eye

38:45

contact and tells them how this saint,

38:48

who was a beggar himself, helped

38:50

him find God at his calling. He

38:53

pauses and notices both royals

38:55

leaning in. He can sense

38:58

how desperate they are for guidance. And

39:00

that's when Rasputin goes for the kills. He's

39:03

heard about their biggest secret, Alexei's

39:06

illness. The tsar and

39:08

Zarina have kept it hush hush, but

39:10

Rasputin has ears everywhere. So

39:13

he starts to talk about the boy's sickness, and

39:15

he tells the couple to have faith

39:17

in him. And just like the lord,

39:20

he, Rasputin, a peasant and healer, will

39:22

not let them down. Hold

39:24

on, I gotta stop you for a sec. So

39:28

he just showed up here, so they didn't even ask

39:31

him here. He just wandered up. He's like,

39:33

by the way, heard your kid sick. He

39:35

was walking by with all these hordes of

39:37

women and he was like, everyone peel off.

39:40

I gotta get into this castle. Okay, that

39:42

checks out. So actually Olga, the woman he

39:44

somehow saved, still don't know how, yeah, she

39:47

got her husband to write a letter to

39:49

the tsar and Zarina and was like, yo,

39:51

this guy's legit. Okay. I no longer look

39:53

like a dying court. Okay. Use him. And

39:56

so they invited him because of that. Okay,

39:58

that makes no sense. Yeah. You know what

40:00

they say, word of mouth. Exactly. That's really the best

40:02

thing for business, even back then. Yep.

40:06

So after all of his convincing words,

40:08

Rasputin asks to see Alexei and offer

40:10

him a prayer. He points

40:12

to the icon of the saint he brought and

40:14

tells them that the saint, the one who made

40:16

Rasputin into the holy man he is, symbolizes

40:19

healing. And that's exactly what

40:21

he can do for Alexei. There's

40:24

a moment of silence. The look on

40:26

the Tsar and Tsarina's face is almost as if

40:28

they've seen a ghost, a

40:30

peasant asking the most famous family in

40:32

Russia to see their son. It's

40:35

a bold move. But then Alex breaks

40:37

into tears and Nicholas gives him a

40:39

big smile. They would love

40:42

nothing more. Rasputin lets out

40:44

a sigh of relief. This is

40:46

the foothold he needs. But

40:48

as the three stand up and walk towards the boy's

40:50

bedroom, Rasputin knows that giving the

40:52

boy a prayer is the easy part.

40:55

If Alexei ever has another accident, he's

40:57

going to have to walk the walk.

41:00

Because if he doesn't, if his skills

41:02

are questioned by the most powerful family in

41:05

Russia, then he's totally

41:07

and royally screwed. Alex

41:11

and Nicholas watch Rasputin pray at Alexei's

41:13

bed and his calming words

41:15

put the boy right to sleep. For

41:18

the royal couple, this is a sign that

41:20

maybe Rasputin is the guy they need. So

41:23

their five minute meeting ends up

41:25

lasting over an hour. Oh

41:27

wow. Cesar and Zareena invite Rasputin

41:30

back. They truly start to enjoy

41:32

his company. Now remember,

41:34

the royal couple are famously homebodies. So

41:36

that's really saying something. As a fellow

41:39

homebody, that is saying a lot. It

41:41

really, really is. Rasputin

41:43

is also getting even more popular around

41:45

town too. Aristocrats are

41:47

intrigued by his charisma and the novelty

41:50

of having a peasant visit their home.

41:53

And just like back in Siberia, Rasputin

41:55

soon has a bunch of female followers.

41:57

Jeez. They can't get enough of his

41:59

intention. intense personality and wild looks.

42:03

Some nobles are so obsessed, they even

42:05

do things like sew his fingernail clippings

42:07

into their clothes. Okay, that's... I've

42:10

had enough. Nail clippings

42:12

aren't an easy thing to sew, either. It's

42:15

literally the grossest thing I can think

42:18

of to like, collect from

42:20

somebody to have on your own body. Now,

42:22

we touched on this before, but just so

42:25

that we're absolutely clear, Rasputin is

42:27

no Ryan Gosling. He's gaunt, with

42:29

bushy, untrimmed hair and beard. And

42:32

he's got eyes that are somewhere between a serial

42:34

killer and a haunted doll. I

42:36

looked him up. I was like, I gotta see

42:38

this guy. But you're right, like, he almost looks

42:41

like 19th century goth. Mm-hmm.

42:44

Mm-hmm. He has very intense eyes. He looks

42:46

like he's wearing eyeliner. Yeah. Yeah,

42:48

he probably was. Yeah. But

42:50

clearly, you know, we're way more vain today.

42:53

And fangirling aside, Rasputin knows that the

42:55

only love that truly matters comes from

42:57

the Tsar and Tsarina. Because

43:00

sooner or later, Alexei will actually

43:02

really need him. Uh-oh. And

43:04

Rasputin, M.D., better be ready to save

43:07

the day. We're

43:11

gonna fast forward a year to 1907. Alex

43:15

is sipping tea in the shade of a

43:17

beautiful, private St. Petersburg garden. She's

43:20

watching her kids run around and reflecting on

43:22

some prayers Rasputin shared with her. The

43:25

two of them have grown pretty close lately. He

43:28

regularly offers Alex advice, prays

43:30

with her, and gives her holy medals

43:32

and relics. Okay. But

43:34

today is just about Alex and her family. She

43:37

watches three-year-old Alexei chase after his

43:39

older siblings, his short legs running

43:41

as fast as they can. Oh,

43:43

no. But just as he's about to

43:45

reach his sisters, his leg twists

43:47

beneath him, and he falls hard. Oh,

43:51

no. Alex shoots out of her

43:53

chair and runs to her son. For

43:55

any other kid, this might need some bruises. But

43:58

Alex knows that an accident like this is a crime. could

44:01

kill Alexei. Yeah. She

44:03

tries to comfort her son as he sobs an

44:05

intense mood. She checks his

44:07

leg for signs of internal bleeding and looks for

44:10

the swelling she knows will begin any minute. A

44:13

family servant frantically calls for the doctor. But

44:16

Alex knows that won't be enough. She

44:18

needs her magic man. She

44:21

needs Resputin. A

44:25

few hours after Alexei's fall, Resputin is racing

44:27

through the halls of the royal palace. He

44:30

can hear the sounds of an injured boy and his crying

44:32

mother down the hall. His

44:34

pulse is racing. Partly because

44:37

Alexei's in trouble, but also

44:39

because he's finally reached the big leaps. Mm-hmm. If

44:42

he saves the boy, he can cement his

44:45

spot by the Zarns' arena side. If

44:47

he fails, then they'll probably never

44:49

trust him again. When Resputin

44:51

walks into Alexei's room, he finds

44:53

Alex leaning over the bed, sobbing.

44:56

She tells Resputin her worst fears have been confirmed.

45:00

The doctors say they can't do

45:02

anything to help her son.

45:04

Resputin puts a reassuring hand on Alex's

45:06

shoulder. His body language says,

45:09

everything will be okay. But

45:11

he knows this situation is anything but

45:13

okay. The little

45:15

boy's leg is completely swollen and

45:17

he's breathing heavily. But

45:20

Resputin has to stay confident. He

45:22

tells Alex that God will save the boy. Well,

45:26

God and Resputin. Mm-hmm.

45:29

Resputin tells Alex to go rest. And

45:31

then he begins to pray softly. He

45:34

talks to God and the boy and begs for

45:36

healing. The hours go

45:38

by painfully slowly. But every

45:41

time Resputin looks up and sees Alexei still

45:43

breathing, he bows his head

45:45

and prays even more intensely. This

45:48

one-man vigil lasts until early morning. Wow. But

45:51

Resputin doesn't feel tired. He

45:53

is doing the Lord's work. And

45:56

he has to believe that this will

45:58

be enough to save Alexei. and

46:01

his own place near the seat of power because

46:03

it's not just the left saves life on the

46:05

line. If he fails this

46:08

could be the end for him as

46:10

well. Follow

46:17

Even the Royals on the Wondery app, Amazon

46:19

Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You

46:21

can listen to every episode of Even the

46:23

Royals early and ad-free right now by joining

46:25

Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on

46:27

Apple podcasts. Before you go

46:29

tell us about yourself by completing a

46:32

shirt survey at wondery.com/survey. Part

46:39

one of our three-part series on Rasputin.

46:42

We use many sources when researching

46:44

our stories including but not limited

46:47

to Rasputin, Faith, Power, and the

46:49

Twilight of the Romanov, by Douglas

46:51

Smith, and the Rasputin File by

46:53

Edward Resin. You can follow

46:56

us you host on socials at Brooke Biffrin

46:58

and at Arisha Skidmore Williams. I'm

47:00

Arisha Skidmore Williams and I'm Brooke

47:02

Biffrin. Corinne Wallace wrote and produced

47:04

this episode. Theory editing by Andrew

47:06

Barbeau and sound design by John

47:08

Lloyd. Our associate producer is Hannah

47:11

Ward. Our coordinating producer is Taylor

47:13

Sniffen and our managing producer is

47:15

Sophia Martin. Rachel Engelman and Julie

47:17

Magruder are our producers. Our executive

47:19

producers are Jenny Lowerbessman, Ginny Bloom,

47:21

Marsha Lewy, and Erin O'Flaherty for

47:23

Wondery.