| “ | Monsieur, if I had recognized that man, do you know what I should have liked to have done? I I should have liked to have called my servants, flogged this man to death, and throw him on the rubbish heap. That is what was done with such a man when I was young, monsieur. Make no mistake. I would have stabbed him in his slept and been proud to confess. | „ |
| ~ Princess Dragomiroff stating her hatred towards Cassetti when she "learned" his true identity (in the 2010 film) |
| “ | I could tell you who we are, but all you need to know... is that the people that you killed are all in Heaven, Mr. Cassetti, while you are going to Hell. That baby must have been so scared when you killed her. Did you not think... that we would not search the world... to get justice to those good people that we loved? | „ |
| ~ Princess Dragomiroff as she and her allies executing Cassetti (in the 2010 film) |
Princess Natalia Dragomiroff (Russian: Наталья Драгомирова, Natal'ya Dragomirova) is one of the major protagonists of Agatha Christie's 1934 Hercule Poirot novel, Murder on the Orient Express, and its adaptations. She is a Russian aristocrat and the godmother of the late Sonia Armstrong, as well as one of the twelve Armstrong Family's familiars who murdered Samuel Ratchett a,k.a. Lanfranco Cassetti.
She was portrayed by the late Dame Wendy Hiller in 1974, Leslie Caron in 2001, Dame Eileen Atkins in 2010, and Dame Judi Dench in 2017.
History[]
Princess Dragomiroff was a wealthy Russian aristocrat who lived in Paris, France. Her husband had realized his wealth before the Russian Revolution and had invested it in Europe, where they lived after leaving Russia. At the time of the events in the book, the Princess lived at 17 Avenue Kléber in Paris and was a naturalized French citizen, although her husband also had an estate in Germany.
Princess Dragomiroff frequently visited America and became great friends with the Shakespearean Broadway actress Linda Arden, becoming an admirer of her work. The two of them became best friends, and Dragomiroff even became the godmother to Arden's daughter, Sonia Goldenberg, who would later marry Colonel Armstrong and become the mother of Daisy Armstrong.
After the kidnap and murder of Daisy Armstrong as well as the deaths of the family and their maid Susanne, the perpetrator, Lanfranco Cassetti, was arrested and tried, but got off on a technicality because of his wealth and influence. Linda Arden gathered a group of interested parties for the purpose of avenging the crime and bringing the criminal to justice. Princess Dragomiroff joined in and boarded the Orient Express with the rest of the group.
Just prior to boarding the Orient Express at Stamboul, Princes Dragomiroff had been staying as a guest at the Austrian Embassy. In the 2010 film, it was implied that she hid Cassetti's money (blackmailed from Daisy's kidnapping) away according to the plan so that the culprits would return the fortune back to the Armstrong relatives. Upon the discovery of her relation to the Armstrong Family, as well as her involvement of the murder, Princess Dragomiroff was spared by Poirot alongside the other culprits for their sympathetic motives.
