Princess Cecilie of Prussia, the Crown Princess of Germany, expressed belief in Anderson’s identity. Her support was significant because of her social standing and her proximity to European royal circles.
Lili Dehn, a close personal friend of the Tsarina Alexandra, met Anderson and said she recognized her as Anastasia.
A graphologist compared Anderson’s handwriting with known samples of Anastasia’s writing and declared them consistent. Anthropologist Otto Reche examined photographs and physical measurements and declared the facial resemblance too close to be coincidental.
These endorsements were serious — the people making them had known Anastasia personally and were not casual observers. The weight of their testimony contributed substantially to the case’s durability. The German courts that examined the matter for more than thirty years could not simply dismiss a body of testimony that included people who had lived with the imperial family.
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## The Architecture of Doubt: Who Said She Was Not
For every supporter who declared Anderson to be Anastasia, there was a skeptic of comparable credibility who declared her an impostor.
The skeptics were, by most accounts, more numerous among those who had known the real Anastasia well.
Grand Duchess Olga, the Tsar’s surviving sister, visited Anderson in Berlin in the 1920s, spent time with her, and concluded she was not her niece. Olga’s rejection was unequivocal. She said she had been looking at “a stranger.”
Princess Irene of Prussia, Tsarina Alexandra’s sister and thus Anastasia’s aunt, attended a meeting arranged specifically so she could observe Anderson. She left without acknowledging recognition. Her later statement was that Anderson was not her niece.