Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna (seated, right) in the Tsarskoe Selo Palace Hospital in 1914 with her daughters Olga (left) and Tatiana (directly behind her mother). 'Alix' found life as the Russian Empress difficult. She was profoundly shy and in poor health, but passed through a proper nursing course and encouraged her daughters to do the same. Sh eworked diligently in the hospital she herself had founded, nursing wounded soldiers and assisting witht he most distressing operations and dressings. She took individual cases to heart and befriended the men, but her work did not gain universal support. Some criticised her for not taking a more prominent role while others could never forget that she was born in Germany. The nurse next to Tatiana is Alexandra's friend Anna Vyrubova.