Catherine Dolgorukova: Secret Wife of the Russian Tsar

Three million rubles in a special account, an apartment in the Tsar’s palace, and four illegitimate children. This is not the plot of a Russian soap opera, but the true story of a young aristocrat who won the heart of the most powerful ruler in Europe. Catherine Dolgorukova, for years, lived as the 'wife before God’ of Tsar Alexander II, while his lawful wife slowly faded in neighboring chambers. The court called her the brazen mistress, yet she calmly waited for her turn.

A Tsar with a Fervent Temperament

Alexander II was known for his amorousness even before ascending the throne. He changed lovers so frequently that no one at court was surprised anymore. Before Catherine, he succumbed, among others, to the charms of her distant cousin, Alexandra Dolgorukova, so when he became interested in another member of this family, no one expected anything serious. She was supposed to be just one of many, a fleeting affair for the aging ruler.

The romance began around 1866, when Catherine was still a student at the prestigious Smolny Institute. She came from an impoverished branch of an aristocratic family, which under normal circumstances would have barred her from entering the highest circles. 

Yet fate put her in the Tsar’s path, and this time, he did not intend to stop at a short-lived flirtation. The nineteen-year-old princess with an empty purse became the obsession of the fifty-year-old autocrat.

The correspondence preserved between the lovers leaves no illusions as to the nature of their relationship. They exchanged letters nearly every day, and their content proves the strong mutual attraction and a temperament far from courtly restraint. Empress Maria Alexandrovna, after giving birth to many children and struggling with the harsh Petersburg climate, fell into such poor health that doctors forbade her marital relations. Alexander found his own solution to the problem.

Right Under the Lawful Wife’s Nose

In 1867, the Tsar arranged an apartment for Catherine near the Winter Palace. Officially, appearances were maintained, but in reality, the couple stopped hiding. Their intimate meetings took place in the palace itself, just a few rooms away from the ailing empress’s bedroom. With each year, Alexander flaunted their relationship more and more brazenly.

In the 1870s, the ruler began openly demanding acceptance of this relationship from his family and entourage. Catherine bore him four children, one of whom died in infancy. 

The remaining three bore the surname Yurievsky, meant to legitimize their origin without granting them rights to the throne. The Tsar treated them as his true offspring, though formally they remained illegitimate.

Shortly before Maria Alexandrovna’s death, Alexander brought Catherine to live permanently in the Winter Palace. The court and imperial family watched this with growing distaste, but no one dared oppose the autocrat. Catherine gained the nickname 'brazen mistress,’ a name that carried all the contempt of the Petersburg aristocracy for the calculating intriguer waiting for the rightful ruler’s death.

Six Weeks of Mourning and Three Million Rubles

Maria Alexandrovna died on June 3, 1880. The Orthodox Church recommended a one-year period of mourning before remarriage. Alexander waited six weeks. The wedding with Catherine caused the greatest scandal the court had seen in decades. The Tsar not only married his despised mistress but also openly disregarded tradition and decency.

The three children received princely titles and were recognized as legitimate descendants. Alexander opened a special account, depositing over three million gold rubles for his new wife and offspring. He secured their finances in a way that left no doubt about his intentions. From an impoverished aristocrat, Catherine became one of the richest women in Russia.

The young couple’s happiness lasted less than a year. In March 1881, the group Narodnaya Volya carried out an assassination plan against the Tsar. Alexander survived the first bomb explosion and, instead of fleeing, stopped to aid the wounded. At that moment, Polish student Ignacy Hryniewiecki detonated a second device, tearing off both the ruler’s legs.

Widow in Exile

The dying Tsar was taken to the Winter Palace. By his bedside gathered the heir Alexander with his wife Dagmar, their son Nicholas, and Catherine. The young Tsar’s wife did not restrain the emotions she had to suppress as an official lover for years. She ran into the room, threw herself towards the dying man, and began kissing his hands, calling him by name. When Alexander died, she fainted and had to be carried out.

The new Tsar Alexander III did not wish to see his stepmother at court. Catherine took her children and moved to Nice, where she spent the rest of her life. In 1882, she published memoirs about her deceased husband under the male pseudonym Victor Laferté. The work, written in French, described intimate details of the Tsar’s life and circumstances of his death and was an act of revenge against the family that had rejected her.

Catherine outlived her husband by more than forty years and died in 1922 in a world completely different from the one she had known. The Romanov Empire no longer existed, and her children were scattered across Europe. From 'brazen mistress,’ she became a relic of an era that ended with her passionate lover’s last breath on the blood-stained steps of the St. Petersburg palace.