The list of pretenders claiming to have been the escaped Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia runs into the tens - but Anna Anderson is most certainly the best-known of them. With Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks having slaughtered the entire Romanov family in 1918 in order to remove any potential claimants to the Russian throne, vacated by Tsar Nicholas II, rumours surfaced that the youngest daughter of the monarch had escaped and fled. Anderson herself turned up at Dalldorf asylum in Germany having attempted to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge in Berlin - and told the hospital staff she was Princess Anastasia in 1920. Despite being in an asylum, her acute resemblance to Anastasia and her extensive knowledge of the Russian royal family convinced people she was. A few relatives of Anastasia believed Anderson's story, but most didn't - and by 1927 an alleged former housemate of the imposter claimed she was actually called Franziska Schanzkowska. Yet Anderson stuck to her story until her own death in 1984, even attempting to claim royal inheritance. It was finally proved beyond doubt in 2009 that Anderson was a fake - with DNA tests confirming all family members had been executed in 1918, including Princess Anastasia. It was always likely to be untrue, but the legend of Anastasia did inspire a pretty good Disney film...
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
