Rasputin cer­tain­ly played an impor­tant role in the Romanov’s down­fall. But I’m not sure their sto­ry would have turned out dif­fer­ent­ly if the monk hadn’t been a part of it. After all, Rasputin only held sway with the impe­r­i­al cou­ple because they believed he could save their hemo­phil­i­ac son, Alex­ei. Heir to the throne – their only son – they were des­per­ate to cure him. Before Rasputin appeared on the scene, they’d already called in dozens of med­ical spe­cial­ists. When that didn’t work they turned to herbal­ists and mys­tics. Alexan­dra espe­cial­ly believed in the heal­ing pow­er of faith and prayer. She spent hours on her knees, either in the small room off her bed­room or in the place chapel, beg­ging God for a mir­a­cle. She ago­nized. She blamed her­self for pass­ing on the ter­ri­ble dis­ease. Then she heard about Rasputin and his mirac­u­lous pow­ers of heal­ing. Of course she believed the monk was the answer to her prayers. She was ripe for it.   Did it actu­al­ly mat­ter that it was Rasputin? I don’t think so. I believe she would have seized on any­one who claimed to have heal­ing pow­ers. If not Rasputin, some oth­er char­la­tan. That’s why I say the sto­ry prob­a­bly wouldn’t have turned out dif­fer­ent­ly. Some oth­er char­la­tan would have played Rasputin’s role. And he or she would have been just as exploita­tive. Alexan­dra was ripe for that, too.

So what might have changed the Romanov’s sto­ry? Genet­ics. Imag­ine how dif­fer­ent­ly events might have played out if Alex­ei had not been born with hemo­phil­ia. Out from under the dai­ly anguish of her son’s dis­ease, with no need for a Rasputin, Alexan­dra might have respond­ed dif­fer­ent­ly to the Russ­ian peo­ple. They might have respond­ed dif­fer­ent­ly to her. Would it have stopped the Rev­o­lu­tion? No. And yet, it might have quelled the tor­rent of hatred the peo­ple ulti­mate­ly felt towards the Empress. It might even have saved the monarchy.