The very birth of the Rex parade, the King of Carnival, is linked directly to the need to impress Grand Duke Alexis Romanov. It’s fascinating how a Russian prince’s broken heart ended up giving New Orleans its most famous party.
The Russian connection to new orleans








Grand Duke Alexis Romanov was the twenty-one-year-old son of the Russian Tsar Alexander II. In February 1872, he arrived in New Orleans as part of a massive world tour. While he was treated like a global celebrity by the thousands of people lining the Mississippi River levees, his father actually sent him on this journey as a high-stakes parental intervention to end a controversial romance with a woman named Alexandra Zhukovskaya.
The James Howard was a massive luxury vessel and the largest inland steamboat ever built, measuring 318 feet long. In 1872, it carried Grand Duke Alexis Romanov down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. The sight of this enormous ship rounding the bend with a Russian royal on board drew a crowd of 15,000 spectators, marking a cinematic and pivotal moment in the city's post-Civil War history.
The arrival of Grand Duke Alexis Romanov in 1872 is credited with changing the DNA of New Orleans forever. His visit coincided with the birth of the Rex Organization, a cornerstone of modern Mardi Gras history. Although he was sent to America by Tsar Alexander II to forget Alexandra Zhukovskaya, his presence in the city became the ultimate distraction and a catalyst for the evolution of the city's most famous carnival traditions.
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