Princess Catherine Alexandrovna Yurievskaya

Princess Catherine Alexandrovna Yurievskaya (Russian: Екатерина Александровна Юрьевская, Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Yurievskaya; 9 September 1878 (O.S.) – 22 December 1959) was the natural daughter of Alexander II of Russia by his mistress (later his wife), Princess Catherine Dolgorukova. In 1880, she was legitimated by her parents' morganatic marriage. In her own family, she was known as Katia. After her father's assassination in 1881, her mother brought her up in France. She was married there in 1901, having two sons, but was widowed in 1910. Her second marriage came during the First World War in Russia, and she suffered hardships during the ensuing Russian Civil War. In the 1920s, she became a professional singer. In 1932, she moved to the UK where she settled on Hayling Island in Hampshire, where she died in 1959. Early life Catherine was born at Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 9 September 1878, while her mother was still the mistress of Tsar Alexander II. When she was less than two, her parents' morganatic marriage on 6 July 1880 legitimated her, and she acquired the surname of Yurievsky, the title of knyagina (princess) and the style of Svetlost (Serene Highness).