When I first moved to London in 1970 I lived as a lodger in Parkhill Rd, in Hampstead. My landlady was called Princess Gagarin, and she designed wallpaper, was about 75 years old and said she was one of the Russian royalty who had escaped in 1917. She also said she was the great aunt of Yuri Gagarin. The other lodger was a postgraduate student of Russian History, and he seemed to have no doubts about her story, despite the story that Yuri came from peasant stock.
In fact, I don’t think the two stories are inconsistent. I see nothing strange in the following fictional family tree.
Best wishes, Bill
