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In 1914 Grand Duchess George of Russia came to Harrogate with her two daughters Nina and Xenia. The Duchess was the Greek wife of Grand Duke George Mikhailovitch, cousin of the Czar Nicholas II. She had left left her husband behind in Russia, where he was assassinated by the Bolsheviks in 1919.

A month after the family's arrival in England war broke out. During the First World War the Duchess ran a number of hospitals in Harrogate for wounded soldiers. One of these was Heatherdene on Wetherby Road. The Matron from 1915 was Christina MacRae and in 1917 Queen Alexandra presented a red cross brooch, made by FabergΓ©, to her during a visit to Harrogate. The Harrogate Herald of March 14th 1917 records that Nurse MacRae and three other nurses at the Grand Duchess's hospitals had been given awards for their services.

In 1920 Grand Duchess George erected a war memorial to the soldiers who died in her hospitals. It can still be seen on the corner of Wetherby Road, next to the Stray. Heatherdene was later demolished.

The brooch was later given to the Royal Pump Room Museum by a fomer colleague of Nurse MacRae.