A Reference to Princess Anastasia Romanov in John Gardner's Scorpius?

Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
edited May 2016 in James Bond Literature
I just wanted to ask members here their thoughts on the real meaning of the following passage from Chapter 6 ('Two of a Kind') of John Gardner's Scorpius (1988):

"The bulk of the dossier was old material which Bond had read many times before - the scant details of one shadowy man's life. Vladimir Scorpius, thought to have been born in Cyprus of a wealthy Greek business and a renegade white Russian - possibly Evdokia, daughter of the mysterious Prince and Princess Talanov who, with their daughter, had escaped the Bolshevik Revolution in strange, and almost unbelievable circumstances.” [John Gardner, Scorpius, (Guild Publishing, London, 1988, p. 46)]

Now what I was wondering in regard to this paragraph from Scorpius was whether this was a sort of veiled reference to the then unknown fate of Princess Anastasia Romanov in the 1917 Russian Revolution, who was said to have survived the killers of the Tsar and Tsarina and the rest of her immediate family in 1917.

Here is the Wikipedia page of the Princess Anastasia for more information on this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Anastasia_Nikolaevna_of_Russia

Was it a veiled reference to Princess Anastasia Romanov. The Talanovs seem to be fictitious and perhaps Gardner did not want to reference real events as being part of the background of the fictitious main villain Vladimir Scorpius?

So what do we think?
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).

Comments

  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    Can anyone help me out and shed some light on this for me?

    Thanks in advance! :) -{
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ggl007ggl007 SpainPosts: 388MI6 Agent
    Silhouette Man wrote:
    Can anyone help me out and shed some light on this for me?

    Thanks in advance! :) -{
    I guess only Gardner could answer you, but I think you're right and your theory sounds quite strong.
    www.archivo007.com
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    ggl007 wrote:
    Silhouette Man wrote:
    Can anyone help me out and shed some light on this for me?

    Thanks in advance! :) -{

    I guess only Gardner could answer you, but I think you're right and your theory sounds quite strong.

    Thanks, ggl007. Sadly I never noticed this in sufficient time to ask him about it but at least I did get the chance to correspond with him by email about some other Bond questions.
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ggl007ggl007 SpainPosts: 388MI6 Agent
    If you still have his email, you can always try, try, again... :D
    www.archivo007.com
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    ggl007 wrote:
    If you still have his email, you can always try, try, again... :D

    I could but do you know any good mediums? :o

    Anyway, I've found out some more important stuff than that from the late great Mr Gardner I'm happy to say. Hopefully some of it will work its way into my blog articles in time...
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • superadosuperado Regent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,656MI6 Agent
    IMO, if there was any connection to Anastasia that was intended by Gardner, it was in a general sense, alluding to the Bolshevik eradication of the Russian Aristocracy but not in the specific sense involving the contested controversies surrounding Anastasia’s fate; if anything, Gardner may have intended to tap into the speculated escape aspect of that event. I think the allusion to the “mysterious” Prince and Princess Talanov was merely meant to recall (1) the opulence and power once associated with the Russian ruling class (2) as mentioned, the wholesale slaughter of the Russian aristocracy so that any surviving personalities have been lent an air of mystery, divine favor and legend of mythological proportions, kind of like the conspiracy theories surrounding the supposed descendants of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene who rule the Illuminati.
    "...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Didn't Fleming hint at. Tatiana Romanova's family having a royal connection in
    FRWL?
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • ggl007ggl007 SpainPosts: 388MI6 Agent
    Silhouette Man wrote:
    ggl007 wrote:
    If you still have his email, you can always try, try, again... :D

    I could but do you know any good mediums? :o
    :s Ups, I don't know why, I was thinking of Benson :s :D

    Fleming wrote: "Her grandparents were distantly related to the Imperial Family. But she does not frequent buivshi circles. Anyway, all our grandparents were former people. There is nothing one can do about it.'
    `Our grandparents were not called Romanov,' said Kronsteen dryly    ."
    :v :D
    www.archivo007.com
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    ggl007 wrote:
    Silhouette Man wrote:
    ggl007 wrote:
    If you still have his email, you can always try, try, again... :D

    I could but do you know any good mediums? :o
    :s Ups, I don't know why, I was thinking of Benson :s :D

    Fleming wrote: "Her grandparents were distantly related to the Imperial Family. But she does not frequent buivshi circles. Anyway, all our grandparents were former people. There is nothing one can do about it.'
    `Our grandparents were not called Romanov,' said Kronsteen dryly    ."
    :v :D

    Oh, I see re Benson. I thought you meant Gardner! Oh that he was still with us! :#

    And thank you for that quote, ggl007. Could you tell me the chapter that features in at all?

    I'm writing a little something on alternative titles for John Gardner's Scorpius. It should (hopefully) be an interesting read for the literary Bond fan contingent out there. Here's hoping anyway! :D
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,866Chief of Staff
    Forgive me for interloping- it's near the end of Chapter Ten. :)
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Forgive me for interloping- it's near the end of Chapter Ten. :)

    No, that's quite alright, Barbel. Thank you very much! :) -{
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ggl007ggl007 SpainPosts: 388MI6 Agent
    No problem at all, Barbel. You're perfectly right, it's Chapter 10 The Fuse Burns.
    www.archivo007.com
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    ggl007 wrote:
    No problem at all, Barbel. You're perfectly right, it's Chapter 10 The Fuse Burns.

    Thank you also for your help, ggl007. :) -{
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    edited May 2016
    Am I alone in also thinking that Vladimir Scorpius and his yacht Vladem I was inspired by the private motor yacht Christina O once owned by the real-life billionaire shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis? Interestingly, he was also buried in the Island of Skorpios Cemetery!
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Agreed, -{
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    Thunderpussy wrote:
    Agreed, -{

    Thanks, TP. At least I'm not the only one who thought that! :) -{
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Some of those big luxury yachts look amazing -{ as Stromberg pointed out ...
    ... " one of the privileges of wealth "
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    Thunderpussy wrote:
    Some of those big luxury yachts look amazing -{ as Stromberg pointed out ...
    ... " one of the privileges of wealth "

    Yes, one envies the filthy rich occasionally! :D
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
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