21 Facts About Catherine Dolgorukova

Catherine Dolgorukova was the elder daughter of Prince Michael Mikhailovich Dolgorukov and his wife, Vera Gavrilovna Vishnevskaya.

Catherine Dolgorukova had one younger sister, Princess Marie Mikhailovna Dolgorukova, Countess von Berg.

Catherine Dolgorukova was a direct descendant of Anastasia Romanova, the wife of Prince Boris Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolensky, one of the Seven Boyars of 1610.

In 1859,10-year-old Catherine Dolgorukova met 41-year-old Alexander II when he paid a visit to her father's estate.

Catherine Dolgorukova's mother appealed to Court Minister Count Nikolay Adlerberg, who arranged for Alexander to pay for their education and that of their four brothers.

Catherine Dolgorukova visited her at the school and took her for walks and on carriage rides.

Catherine Dolgorukova had liberal opinions, formed in part by her time at the school, and she discussed them with him.

Catherine Dolgorukova later arranged for her to become a lady-in-waiting to his wife, who was suffering from tuberculosis.

Catherine Dolgorukova liked the Emperor and enjoyed being in his company, but she did not want to become one of a series of mistresses.

Catherine Dolgorukova saw her three or four times a week when she was escorted by the police to a private apartment in the Winter Palace and they wrote to one another every day and sometimes several times each day, often discussing the pleasure they found in making love.

Alexander II and Catherine Dolgorukova went to great lengths to hide their relationship.

Catherine Dolgorukova was accused of scheming to become Empress and influencing Alexander towards liberalism.

Courtiers spread stories that Alexander's dying wife was forced to hear the noise of Catherine Dolgorukova's children moving about overhead, but the rooms of Empress Marie and Catherine Dolgorukova were far apart.

Catherine Dolgorukova promised to crown her as Empress on 1 August 1881.

Catherine Dolgorukova granted her the title of Most Serene Princess Yurievskaya and legitimized their children, but he stipulated that they had no right to the throne as children of a morganatic marriage.

Alexander and Catherine Dolgorukova's marriage was tremendously unpopular with the Russian public.

Catherine Dolgorukova was angry about the way Alexander's family treated her.

Catherine Dolgorukova quieted her objections by making love to her on a table in her rooms and leaving her behind.

Nicholas II recalled that Catherine Dolgorukova was offended when he refused to be the sponsor when her daughter Olga married the Count of Merenberg in the spring of 1895.

Catherine Dolgorukova's son George was an abysmal failure in the Imperial Russian Navy, as Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia informed her by letter, but he was granted a place in the Cavalry School.

Catherine Dolgorukova survived her husband by forty-one years and died just as her money was running out.