Princess Yekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova, Princess Yurievskaya

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2016

Princess Yekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova, Princess Yurievskaya; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Yekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova, Princess Catherine Dolgorukov in English, was first the mistress and then the second and morganatic wife of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia.  A morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank which prevents the husband’s titles and privileges from being passed to the wife and any children born of the marriage.

Catherine was born on November 14, 1847, in Moscow, Russia, and came from the Russian princely House of Dolgorukov, noted for their service to the Russian tsars and emperors. Her parents were Prince Mikhail Mikhailovich Dolgorukov and Vera Gavrilovna Vishnevskaya. Her father was the grandson of Prince Alexei Grigorievich Dolgorukov, known for his closeness to Peter II, Emperor of All Russia. Prince Alexei’s daughter Ekaterina Alekseyevna Dolgorukova was engaged to Peter II, but the wedding never took place because of Peter’s death from smallpox. Vera Gavrilovna’s great-grandfather, Colonel Vishnevsky, an important official in the court of Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia, found an impressive singer in a rural church and brought him back to the Russian court. Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky joined the court choir and caught the eye of Empress Elizabeth and he became her lover and eventually her morganatic husband.

In August 1857, ten-year-old Catherine first met Emperor Alexander II when a military maneuver was held at her family’s estate. When Catherine’s father went bankrupt, Alexander II took it upon himself to pay for the children’s education. The boys were sent to a military academy in St. Petersburg and the girls were sent to Smolny Institute, also in St. Petersburg. In 1865, filling in his wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who was ill, Emperor Alexander II made an official visit to the Smolny Institute. He was immediately attracted to the now 17-year-old Catherine.

Catherine and Alexander began to meet in the gardens near the Winter Palace, and Catherine’s mother and the headmistress of the Smolny Institute encouraged her in her relationship with the emperor. Likely, Catherine and Alexander were first intimate on June 12, 1866, at the Belvedere Pavilion near the Peterhof Palace.  By the autumn of 1866, the couple was secretly meeting at the Winter Palace, and in 1867, their affair was public knowledge.

Catherine as a teenager; Credit – Wikipedia

In June 1867, Alexander II went to the 1867 World’s Fair in Paris where a Polish immigrant Antoni Berezowski shot at the carriage carrying Alexander II, two of his sons, and Emperor Napoleon III of France. Luckily, only a horse was hit. Shaken by the assassination attempt, Alexander II asked for Catherine to come to Paris. When they returned to St. Petersburg, Alexander II arranged for Catherine to live near the Winter Palace. Preserved letters show a sincere and passionate love for each other. Alexander II arranged for Catherine’s older sister to marry one of his adjutant generals, so Catherine could officially live with her sister.

Catherine and Alexander II had four children who were legitimized in 1880 and given the title Serene Highness Prince/Princess:

Alexander and Catherine with two of their children; Credit – Wikipedia

Shortly before Alexander II’s wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna died, Alexander II moved Catherine and her children to the Winter Palace. This further exacerbated the hostile attitude many members of the Romanov family and the Russian court had toward Catherine. The court was divided into two factions: Dolgorukov supporters and supporters of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander III. On June 3, 1880, Empress Maria Alexandrovna died from tuberculosis.

Six weeks later, on July 18, 1880, Alexander II made a morganatic marriage with Catherine. This marriage caused a scandal in the Imperial Family and violated Russian Orthodox rules regarding the waiting period for remarriage following the death of a spouse. Alexander granted his new wife the title of Princess Yurievskaya and legitimized their children who were then styled Prince/Princess (Knyaz/Knyaginya). On September 5, 1880, Alexander II deposited 3,302,910 gold rubles in an account at the State Bank for Catherine and her children.

The three surviving children of Catherine and Alexander; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 13, 1881, Emperor Alexander II fell victim to assassination when a bomb was thrown into his carriage. He asked to be returned to the Winter Palace to die. As the Imperial Family heard the news, they arrived at the Winter Palace. The sight that greeted them was grim. Alexander II’s face and body were intact, but his legs were gone up to his knees. The room began to get crowded as more family members arrived. Alexander II’s eldest son Alexander (the future Alexander III) and his Danish wife Dagmar (Maria Feodorovna) arrived. Dagmar was still wearing her skating costume and carrying her ice skates as she planned to go ice skating. Dagmar’s husband stood in disbelief and their eldest son 13-year-old Nicholas (the future Nicholas II) was clinging to a cousin for comfort. Catherine hysterically ran into the room, threw herself on her husband’s body, kissed his hands, and called out his name. For 45 minutes, those in the room watched as Alexander II’s life ebbed away. At 3:35 PM, he died, and as the Imperial Family knelt to pray, Catherine fainted and was carried from the room, her clothes drenched with his blood.

Catherine, circa 1872-1873

Shortly after Alexander’s funeral, Catherine left Russia forever. She moved to France and, in 1888, settled in Nice on the French Riviera. Catherine died on February 15, 1922, at the age of 74, forgotten and ignored, her obituary only three lines long. She was buried at the Cimetière orthodoxe de Caucade in Nice, France.

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