A very important character in the novel `The Two lives of Grand Duke Michael` is Olga Bystrovia. She was an MI6 spy who had risen very quickly and spectacularly within the ranks of that secret service.
Olga was born as Hannah Chudasama to a poor Gujarat family living on the west coast of India. The family was steeped in the tradition of shoemaking and of a very low caste. Hannah had made her name in the village as being a highly gifted and intelligent girl and together with her devastatingly good looks and mysterious qualities, soon brought her to prominence. She realised that her talents would be better served in Europe and being of a single and determined mind, worked her passage from India to Great Britain.
Shortly after arriving in London, being bright, beautiful and having a serving spirit, she soon came to the attention of some of the wealthy society and gained a position of a housemaid to a high-ranking Police officer. She worked her way up to becoming a nanny to his 4 children shortly after the death of his wife.
Her sharpness and creative thinking were observed by her employer where he made her an offer of a junior post on the London Metropolitan Police force in a special branch which was just being formulated as counterintelligence.
She soon gained a prominent position and much of her work had become an inspiration to the expanding force of the intelligence service. She had a gift for learning languages very quickly and postings to Germany and Russia gave her the ability to speak those languages together with French. She became an ideal and very charming key person within the service.
Coming to the attention of Sidney Reilly and Cumming Smith, who was the head of the service, Olga became a reliable agent on the European front. Her name as Hannah Chudasama was dropped and from then on became known as Olga Bytsrovia.
She first met Michael when she was commissioned with Reilly to get Michael out of Russia for a 2 weeks visit to the UK. She was also with him during the return journey on board the German secret submarine which transported them to Estonia over the Baltic Sea.
When the imperative arose for the rescue of Grand Duke Michael, she was posted into Bolshevik Russia with Sidney Reilly with the sole intent of rescuing him from house arrest in Perm. However, events were moving fast in Siberia and she was sent from Perm to Ekaterinburg to monitor the ex-tsar Nicholas and assist in a failed rescue mission, therefore was not on hand to join Reilly in the plans to rescue Michael at Perm.
After Michael was brought to England to fully recover from the assassination ordeal, Olga was given the post of monitoring Michael from time to time during his recovery in hospital. They became good friends and it was clear an attachment was being formed between them. Michael was a lonely figure and very confused as to his identity and came to rely on Olga. This reliance soon developed into his falling in love with her, especially as Olga was the only person in whom he could trust. Olga equally was enamoured with the laid back friendly and very likeable personality of Michael and a strong bond was forming between them.
After the second world war when Olga had returned to MI6 and Michael had been given a post at Bletchley Park, meant that they were still in contact and marriage soon followed, where a son and heir to the imperial Russian Throne was borne. Michael died in 1947.
After Michaels death, Olga became the Matriarch to the Russian Throne. Her sole mission was to bring up their son George and protect him from the KGB within the secrecy and protection of MI6. Her life was dedicated to that end and she raised him in the knowledge of who he was, but with the assurance of the protection of the British Government.
To learn more about the adventures of Michael Romanov in ‘The Two Lives Of Grand Duke Michael’ and other well-known names he came across throughout his ‘second life’, browse the rest of the website.
