by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, the morganatic second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, was born on December 2, 1865, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the daughter of Valerian Gavrilovich Karnovich (1833-1891) and Olga Vasilyevna Meszaros (1830-1919). Her father was a doctor attached to the Imperial Court and Olga spent her childhood near the imperial palaces in Tsarskoye Selo. Pretty and sociable, Olga was noticed by the circle of army officers at the Imperial Court. She became acquainted with an officer of the Imperial Guard, an aide to Grand Duke Vladimir, Major General Erich Augustinovich von Pistohlkors (1853-1935), and the couple married on May 30, 1884.

Olga and Erich had four children:

• Alexander Erikovich von Pistohlkors (1885–1944), married Alexandra Taneyeva, the sister of Anna Vyrubova, the lady-in-waiting of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
• Olga Erikovna von Pistohlkors (1886–1887), died in infancy
• Olga Erikovna von Pistohlkors (1888–1963), married (1) Count Alexander Belzig von Kreutz (2) Prince Sergius Kudaschew
• Marianna Erikovna von Pistohlkors (1890–1976), married (1) Peter Durnowo (2) Christoph von Derfelden (3) Count Nicolaus von Zarnekau

Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich was the youngest child of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, the brother of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, and the uncle of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. In 1889, Paul married Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. Their marriage was a happy one but sadly, a short one. Alexandra died shortly after giving birth to her second child in 1891. Paul was grief-stricken and depressed. For a period of time, his brother Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (born Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine) took care of Paul’s children Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich.

As a friend of Erich von Pistohlkors, Paul often spent evenings with Pistohlkors and his wife Olga in Tsarskoye Selo to help console his grief. He appreciated Olga’s elegance and lively spirit and an affair began. At first, Olga thought the affair was unscrupulous but little by little she became flattered by it. Pistohlkors too became flattered by the attention a Grand Duke was giving his wife and turned a blind eye to the affair.

Olga gave birth in 1897 to a son known as Vladimir von Pistohlkors because his mother was still married to Pistohlkors. Eventually, Olga divorced her husband and Paul asked for permission to marry Olga from his nephew Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. This was scandalous to the imperial court, especially to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna who could not conceive that a Grand Duke would marry a divorced woman. She lobbied against the marriage with her husband and Nicholas II refused to allow Paul and Olga to marry.

Paul made a morganatic marriage to Olga on October 10, 1902, in a Greek Orthodox church in Livorno, Italy. Because he married without Nicholas II’s permission, Paul was banished from Russia, dismissed from his military commissions, and all his property was seized. His brother Grand Duke Sergei was appointed the guardian of Maria and Dmitri. Paul and Olga settled in Boulogne-sur-Seine, France near Paris.

Paul and Olga had three children:

• Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley (1897–1918), one of the five Romanovs executed on July 18, 1918, with Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna
• Princess Irina Pavlovna Paley (1903–1990), married (1) Prince Feodor Alexandrovich of Russia, had one son, divorced  (2) Count Hubert Conquere de Monbrison, had one daughter
• Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley (1905–1981), married (1) Lucien Lelong, a French fashion designer, no children (2) John Chapman Wilson, an American theatre director and producer, no children

In 1904, Grand Duke Paul arranged with Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria for Olga and their children to be granted the hereditary title of Count and Countesses de Hohenfelsen. Paul was allowed to return to Russia for the funeral of his brother Grand Duke Sergei who was assassinated by a bomb in 1905. At that time, he tried to regain custody of his children Grand Duke Dmitri and Grand Duchess Maria but Nicholas II made Sergei’s widow Elizabeth Feodorovna the children’s guardian. Nicholas II allowed Paul to visit his children in Russia but not to live there permanently.

Paul, Olga, and their three children continued to live in their mansion near Paris, France. In 1908, Paul’s daughter Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna married Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland, the son of King Gustav V of Sweden. Although Paul was not consulted about the wedding, he was allowed to attend the wedding in Tsarskoye Selo. Later in the same year, Paul, Olga, and their three children visited Russia for the first time together. Eleven-year-old Vladimir was enrolled in the Corps des Pages, a military academy in St. Petersburg that other sons of Grand Dukes had attended.

In 1912, Nicholas II finally relented and decided to pardon his only surviving paternal uncle. Grand Duke Paul’s titles and properties were returned and Nicholas II recognized Paul’s marriage to Olga. Paul decided to continue living in France at that time. He returned to Russia again in 1913 for the 300th-anniversary celebration of the Romanov dynasty. At that time, Paul decided to move back to Russia and made plans for a house to be built at Tsarskoye Selo. Upon its completion in May 1914, Paul and his family moved back to Russia – a decision that would prove fatal to Paul and his son Vladimir.  In 1915, Nicholas II gave Olga the title Princess Paley which would also be extended to her children.

After the February Revolution in 1917, Nicholas II abdicated and the Romanov dynasty ended. Paul and his family continued to live in their Tsarkoye Selo home. However, with the rise of the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution in 1917, the situation became much worse for the Romanovs. Paul could no longer afford to keep up his home, so the family moved to a nearby dacha (cottage) that belonged to his nephew, Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich.

In March 1918, all the male members of the Romanov family were ordered to register at Cheka headquarters, and then they were sent into exile in internal areas of Russia. Olga and Paul’s son Prince Vladimir Paley was arrested in St. Petersburg on March 26, 1918, along with three sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, a grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia:  Prince Ioann, Prince Konstantin, and Prince Igor. Olga and her family never saw Vladimir again. On July 18, 1918, the day after the execution of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family, Prince Vladimir Paley, Prince Ioann, Prince Konstantin, Prince Igor, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, the widow of Paul’s brother Sergei, were murdered by the Bolsheviks. See Unofficial Royalty: Execution of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Five Other Romanovs for more information.

Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich had avoided the exile order because he was too ill to travel. He remained in the dacha near Tsarskoye Selo. The Bolsheviks were determined to round up all the Grand Dukes still in Russia and so Paul was arrested on August 13, 1918. Olga was forced to live with friends. She desperately tried to save her husband from prison and execution but to no avail. On January 28, 1919, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich along with three other Grand Dukes were executed by a firing squad in the courtyard of the Peter and Paul Fortress. See Unofficial Royalty: Execution of Four Russian Grand Dukes for more information.

Later in 1919, after Paul’s execution had been confirmed, Olga, accompanied by her two daughters Irina and Natalia, fled Russia, hoping that her son Vladimir was still alive. With the help of a White Army officer, they walked for three days, crossing the frozen Lake Ladoga, the largest lake entirely in Europe. The Bolsheviks had installed light projectors around the lake that were used to find people attempting to escape. Many times Olga and her daughters had to lie down on the ice and be covered with a white sheet to avoid being seen. Olga, her daughters, and the White Army officer walked across the lake to Finland and continued to the safety of the city of Helsinki.

In 1920, Olga settled in Paris, France. She sold the house she and Paul had lived in at Boulogne-sur-Seine and bought another in one of the upper-class neighborhoods of Paris. With her few remaining jewels, Olga bought a villa in Biarritz where the family would often gather. Later, Olga sold her homes and bought a much smaller one in Neuilly. Olga published her memoirs about her life in Russia during the years 1916-1919. She used her own resources to help other Russian exiles. In 1926, she organized an annual charity bazaar to raise funds for Russian exiles. Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, Princess Paley died in exile in Paris on November 2, 1929, at the age of 64. She was buried at Colombes Gabriel Peri Cemetery in Colombes, France.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Princess Olga Paley. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Olga_Paley [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
• Flantzer, S. (2018). Execution of Four Russian Grand Dukes. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/execution-of-four-grand-dukes/ [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. (2018). Olga Karnovitch Paley. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Karnovitch_Paley [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
• Hall, Coryne. (2006). Little Mother of Russia – A Biography of Empress Marie Feodorovna. Teaneck, N.J.: Holmes & Meier.
• Perry, J. and Pleshakov, K. (2008). The flight of the Romanovs. New York: Basic Books.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. (2018). Палей, Ольга Валериановна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B9,_%D0%9E%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].