Natalia Brassova

Natalia Brassova, Countess Brasova (also known as Natalia Sheremetyeva-Romanovskaya; _ru. Княгиня Наталья Брасова; June 26 1880–January 26 1952) was a Russian noblewoman. Born a commoner, Natalia Sergeyevna Sheremetyevskaya (or Cheremetevskaya; _ru. Наталья Сергеевна Шереметевская) became part of the Romanov Dynasty.

The daughter of a Moscow lawyer, she first married at 16 to Sergey Mamontov (nephew of Savva Mamontov), rehearsal accompanist for Opera Mamontov, and later at the Bolshoi Theatre, with whom she had a daughter, Natalia "Tata". Finding Sergey socially "dull", she soon divorced him and married Rittmeister (Captain) Wulffert ( _ru. Вульферт), an army officer serving in the Regiment of Cuirassiers under Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov (1878–1918), brother of Tsar Nicholas II.

Natalia was twenty-eight years old when she met Grand Duke Mikhail Romanov, and it was said to be love at first sight for both parties. They soon became inseparable lovers, and the Grand Duke wrote to his brother the Tsar, as required, requesting his permission for them to marry. Not only because Natalia was divorced but also because she was not of royal blood, the Tsar refused to approve the marriage. According to Russian law, Mikhail, the heir presumptive to the Russian throne if the gravely ill Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia died, would lose all his rights to the Russian throne if he married without the Tsar's consent. For some time Grand Duke Mikhail lived with Natalia. She gave birth to a son on July 24, 1910 and was named George in honor of Grand Duke George, Michael's late brother.

Eventually Mikhail ignored his brother's decree and secretly married Natalia in Vienna on October 15, 1911 in a Serbian Orthodox Church. The significance of the venue was that this marriage could not be put aside by Tsar Nicholas or the Russian Orthodox Church. For this action she and Mikhail were removed from imperial succession by his brother Nicholas and exiled to England in disgrace. Natalia was not entitled to be known as Grand Duchess. Nicholas II later titled Natalya and her son Countess Brasova and Count Brasov, and legitimatized George, although he still held no claim to the throne.

Upon the outbreak of World War I, Mikhail Alexandrovich requested Nicholas' permission to return home and return to the army, with the understanding his wife and children would certainly come too. He returned home as a Russian general, leading the "Savage Division" (Дикая Дивизия) formed from Chechens and Daghestani. It was widely believed at the time that this relatively low position in the Army was Nicholas II's punishment for Mikhail's marriage. Mikhail nevertheless earned the military's highest honor, the Cross of St. George. He, unlike his brother, the Tsar, was a relatively popular military leader.

In March 1917 after Nicholas abdicated in his favor, Grand Duke Mikhail refused to succeed his brother as Tsar until it was decided by the will of the people. Mikhail and his family were first placed under house arrest in Gatchina, then later Mikhail was exiled to the remote city of Perm. Mikhail managed to smuggle his son and stepdaughter out of the country to join his mother's family in Denmark. Natalia later obeyed her husband's orders and escaped from Russia to London with a Danish passport, disguised as a Red Cross nurse. In July 1918, her husband was murdered in Perm, Russia.

Natalia Romanova died of cancer at the Laennec charity hospital in Paris on January 26 1952 in complete poverty [http://www.permonline.ru/~museum/romanov/fond/natasha/natasha4.htm Museum of Romanov, Perm - Michael and Natasha: The Death of Hope] ] , and is buried in Cimetière de Passy in Paris with their only son Georgi Romanov (Count Brassov), who died at age 20 in an automobile accident on July 22, 1931.

Like her, her daughter Tata (1903-1969) also married thrice. In 1921, at 18, she married, against her mother's wishes, future BBC broadcaster Val Gielgud, but they divorced in 1923. She later married composer and music critic Cecil Gray, with whom she had a daughter, Pauline, in 1929 but also divorced. Her third and last marriage was to Michael Majolier, with whom she had a second daughter, Alexandra.

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