a pond. It was traditional for the male members of the Romanov family to follow a military career. From his birth, Grand Duke Boris was appointed patron of the 45th Azov Infantry Regiment, and enrolled into the Semeonovsky Life Guards and the Life Guards Dragoon regiment, the 4th Life Guard Rifle Battalion of the Imperial Family. In 1896, at the age of eighteen, he graduated from the Nikolaievsky Cavalry School with the rank of Cornet of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. The following year, he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Emperor. A Russian Grand Duke At age eighteen, upon coming of age, Grand Duke Boris received from his father a plot of land at Tsarskoye Selo on the eastern bank of the Kolonistky pond near the Moskovskaya Gate. There, in 1895, the Grand Duke built his own residence in the style of an English country house. All the materials were imported from England and construction was finished in less than a year. The estate, named Wolf Garden, compromised a cottage, coach house, stables, and a small tea house, where the grand duke could entertain his friends. The interiors were designed by Maples importing everything from England. To complement the British atmosphere, the servants were hired from England including a British butler. Boris Vladimirovich lived in Wolf Garden all year round while still serving in the army. The property was run as a modern farm and in 1899 a small house was added for the servants. From his early youth Boris was notorious for his restless life style. He was an extrovert, very social, he liked to drink, gamble and womanizing. He became a famous playboy. In 1896 during the coronation ceremonies of Tsar Nicholas II, he flirted with Crown Princess Marie of Romania, who was his first cousin and was already married. The next year, he visited her in Bucharest, fueling more rumors. She said that "he had an attractive, rather husky voice, kind eyes, and humorous smile, which crinkled his forehead into unexpected lines. Not exactly handsome, he had nevertheless great charm." The grand duke also got entangled with a Mademoiselle Demidov. He was the cause of her engagement breaking off on the eve of her wedding. The famous ballerina Anna Pavlova was one of Boris' lovers. Princess Catherine Radziwill called him "the terror of jealous husbands as well as of watchful mothers". His trips abroad became legendary, his