Colorized Czarina Alexandra Feodrovna, circa 1910-12

Here's my colorized Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia and considered the real power behind Czar Nicholas II who, by all accounts, was a weakling. A real aristocrat who asserted the imperious autocratic power of the monarchy over peasants, the Czarina was hated by the Russian people, both rich and poor, firstly because she had a German birth and was the granddaughter of Britain'sQueen Victoria (Christened Princess Alix of Hesse), a total outsider. She was blamed by some historians as the main cause behind the downfall of the Romanoff line, the emergence of the Bolsheviks, and their eventual demise. She was nevertheless a strong Russian Orthodox believer after being converted from the Lutheran religion, a loving wife and mother who doted on her children with a very strong focus on her son Alexei who was the jewel of the family. She is now Saint Alexandra the Passion Bearer of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Excellent biography at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Feodorovna_(Alix_of_Hesse)

The colorization required some research, not so much on the imperial dress, but the jewels. I started colorizing this last month and the crown was initially solid gold with bluish pearls. Then I stumbled on the real Imperial crown of the empress made by the court jeweler Bolin, It was nowhere as solid but a wire crown with more than 150 flawless diamonds from 0.5 - 3 carats with the center inverted heart-shaped diamond at 20+ carats. Unfortunately, the only photo of the crown was only in b&w. To give some color distinction, I used pinkish pearls against the dead whites on the diamonds. (A version of this crown in all diamonds by Faberge was an option.) Revised and composited the real crown on the image with perspective and shadowing corrections.

I could not find an online resource on the necklace which was probably one of the many jewels she brought with her to Ekaterinburg and never found. I just guessed solid gold asymmetrically studded in pearls. Removed what looks like the back of the chair behind the empress which I considered more of an eyesore than anything.