Prince Felix Yusupov and Princess Irina Alexandrovna On The Murder of Rasputin in 1916

This is a fascinating interview conducted on French television in 1967. The couple being interviewed are Prince Felix Yusupov (1887-1967) and his wife Princess Irina Alexandrovna (1895-1970), niece of the last Tzar of Russia, Nicholas the Second. The topic of the interview is the part by the prince played in the murder in 1916 of the monk Grigori Rasputin, the faith healer who it seemed influenced decisions of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna. The murder took place in the Yusupov family’s Moika Palace in Saint Petersburg and the participants were a group of nobles, led by the prince and the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, and the right-wing politician Vladimir Purishkevich. Rasputin was lured into the palace with the intimation that the princess would be present though in fact she was in the Crimea at the time. There are various accounts of what happened next, with some reflective comment from his daughter Maria, the subject of a separate upload on this channel. The most extended and mythic version of events has the monk led down to a cellar where there was an attempt to kill him with cyanide-laiden cakes and wine. When this was unsuccessful - or seemed to be too prolonged - he was shot a number of times. The conspirators then left but Prince Felix Yusupov had forgotten his coat and returned to the cellar to retrieve it. Rasputin struggled to his feet and attempted to strangle the prince. The other conspirators, arriving on the scene, shot the monk again and, when this did not seem entirely successful, finally clubbed him to death. The body was then thrown into the Neva River from the bridge to Krestovsky island. This is a translation into English of this 1967 interview in French: Interviewer: Prince Felix Yusupov, you killed Rasputin? Prince: Yes Interviewer: How old are you prince? Prince: Nearly eighty Interviewer: How old were you when you killed Rasputin? Prince: Twenty-nine Interviewer: Prince, are you part of the Imperial Russian family? Prince: No, but my wife is the niece of the Emperor Nicholas the Second Interviewer: Princess, were you aware of the plan of your husband? Princess: Yes, I was aware of it. Interviewer: And did you approve? Princess: Yes. Interviewer: Princess, we have said - we have repeated, that you had been in (unclear) Rasputin to his home the night of the murder? Is that true? Princess: It is not at all true. Interviewer: Why? Princess: Because I was not there, I was in Crimea. Interviewer: Prince, in the evening of your life, when you think about Rasputin again, what sentiment comes to you at the thought of him? Prince: Disgust. Interviewer: Did you have a personal interest in the murder of Rasputin? Prince: None. Interviewer: Prince, in identical circumstances, if you had to make the same decision, would you do again what you did then? Prince: Yes. Interviewer: All of your life you have refused to let anyone tell your story. The films that have been made about Rasputin have been made without your (approval). And now, for the first time you have authorized our film. And for the first time, you appear before the camera. Prince Yusupov, why? Prince: Because the other films did not tell the true story. Interviewer: The man who has just spoken to you, the man who killed Rasputin, that man will now revisit his memories. Enjoy