I read that the reason an empresss dowager has precedence ove an empress consort was that in 1801 Tsar Alexander I (the one in War and Peace) was behind the murder of his father Tsar Paul I (son of Catherine the Great) and as his mother was a bit pissed about her spouse being slaughtered he gave he this as a sorry, not sorry sort of fauxpology.
Also (please correct me if I’m wrong), the word tsar sometimes means king not emperor so they were actually “tsar et imperator” King and emperor. I think it was tsar of all the russians or Russias and emperor of Russia. The change may have been to westernise the title not to upgrade it as tsar comes from the Latin Caesar meaning emperor.
And Tsarevich originally was usd by all male children prior to the grand duke/prince title being introduced and was replaced as the heir apparents title by Tsesarevich. His wife was the Tsesarevna. Daughters were called something like Tsarevna.
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