society of the gilded age. In Newport, Boris Vladimirovich was invited to dinners and parties, he played tennis and even learned to play golf. He continued his trip sailing to New York City in Cornelius Vanderbilt's yacht. The grand duke was favorable impressed with the city's skyline and the modern use of electricity Boris visited president Theodore Roosevelt at his estate Sagamore Hill, on the North Shore of Long Island. Because his bad reputation had preceded him, First lady Edith Roosevelt, who regarded his presence as both "a scandal and an insult" was conspicuously absent. After six hectic weeks in America, Grand Duke Boris sailed back to Europe. Jovial and increasingly stout, Boris was famous for his wild and unpredictable behavior, but eventually these excesses began to lose their appeal. He remarked to his brother Kirill, "After a while every woman is the same, nothing is new except the face". In October 1903, he enlisted in the Tsar's retinue. On 26 February, he left Russia for the Far East to take part in the Russo-Japanese War. He served under the command of the Russian governor in the Far East at the headquarters of the commander in chief of the Army, General A.N. Kuropatkin, taking part in combat On the morning of 31 March 1904, while galloping from the heights of Dacha Hill on the rim of Port Arthur, he witnessed the sinking of the Russian battleship Petropavlovsk in which more than 600 men died; his brother Grand Duke Kirill was among the few survivors. In December 1904, for his bravery in battle, he was awarded a golden sword with the caption For Courage and was promoted to staff captain. In 1905, in Nice, Grand Duke Boris proposed to Princess Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg. They had met two years before in the Isle of Wight. She was seventeen years old and hesitated, deciding to postpone her decision until she had made her debut in society. By then she had forgotten about Boris and in the next season she met her future husband King Alfonso XIII of Spain. 1911 was a busy year for the grand duke. He was made colonel and in April he represented Russia at the Turin World Fair and the Fine Arts Exhibition in Rome during the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Italy's unification. On 22 June 1911, he represented his cousin Tsar Nicholas II at the