On December 31st, 1861 at 8 PM, the
Imperial family attended a Mass that lasted for two hours when the children gathered
together in Empress Marie’s room until 11 PM. Before midnight, Alexander II
went to his sons’ bedrooms to say goodnight.
On January 1st, 1862 the sons of Alexander
II in full dress uniform awaited their father in his reception room to proceed
to Mass. They lunched en famille and then left the Winter Palace to visit
relatives and friends until 3 PM. Dinner was with their parents and at 7 PM they
went to the theatre.
In the 1840s, Nicholas I continued the tradition from
the time of Catherine the Great of the annual ‘folk’ masquerade ball on January
1st. One year there were over 22,364 men attending; half were ‘commoners’.
Paintings of Nicholas I's Masquerade Balls in the Winter
Palace (below)
On Sunday, December 31st, 1895 Nicholas II
wrote “… at 7:30 we went to a prayer service in the Anichkov and had dinner
with Mama.…"
On Monday, January 1st, 1895 he wrote “… at
11 AM the entrance procession began. For the first time, they divided the New
Year’s reception into two segments … the Mass, receiving diplomats and the
baise- main, not only from the ladies but also from the State Council, the
Senate, the Court and the Suite! Our White dining room was used for a family
breakfast for the first time. At 3 PM we went to pay several family visits…”