Background
Alexandra"s mother Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia was a patrilineal-line granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I and Princess Charlotte of Prussia, and therefore Paul Alexandrovich"s paternal first cousin.
Alexandra"s mother Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia was a patrilineal-line granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I and Princess Charlotte of Prussia, and therefore Paul Alexandrovich"s paternal first cousin.
His birth was commemorated by the naming of the city of Pavlodar in Kazakhstan. He entered the Russian Army and rose to the rank of General, but was known as a gentle person, religious and accessible to people. During he was placed in command of the First Corps of the Imperial Guard and later was moved to a new appointment at the Tsar"s headquarters.
In November 1916 he tried to convince the sovereign to grant a Constitution, but his efforts failed.
After the Bolsheviks seized power, he and his family faced a terrible ordeal. In August 1918, he was arrested and taken to prison in Saint St. Petersburg.
However, he was one of the few members of the Imperial Family who remained quite close to Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna during the final days of the old régime.