Current political histories of late imperial Russia seldom discuss Grand
Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (1895–1918), the eldest daughter of Emperor Nicholas II (r.
1894–1917), because she is considered to be politically insignificant. Nicholas’s
discussions with his ministers in the early 1900s regarding the possibility of Olga’s
succession in the absence of a direct male heir, the inclusion of the young Grand Duchess
in the amended regency act of 1912, and the degree of importance attributed to her choice
of husband reveal that the Emperor conceived a political role for his eldest daughter and
considered her, at various times, to be a possible successor to the Russian throne.