Dear Aunt Minni!

Motivated only by My conscience, I issued the Manifesto in question.

If a miracle occurs, as You believe it has, that Your beloved Sons and Grandchildren should prove to be alive, then I would be the first to declare Myself immediately the faithful subject of My Legitimate Sovereign and I will lay all my actions down at His feet.

You ascended the Throne during the days of the most glittering Russian glory, as the Consort of one of our great Emperors, and You should now give to me Your blessing as I take upon myself the weighty responsibility of Imperial service that has been interrupted by the great trouble in Russia, and in the circumstances of a Throne that is overthrown and a Russia that now lies trampled down.

In such difficult circumstances, I am accepting only the duties of Your Son, and from now on, My life will be one of continuous martyrdom.

I fall down before Your feet with a son’s love. Do not abandon me at this most trying moment in My life, a moment unlike any our Ancestors have ever had to endure.

Yours affectionately, Kirill