Anna Pavlovna of Russia

Anna Pavlovna of Russia ( ; ; – 1 March 1865) was Queen of the Netherlands by marriage to king William II of the Netherlands. She was a Russian patriot who upheld a strict royal etiquette in the Netherlands, where she never felt at home, and identified more as an Imperial Russian Grand Duchess than a Dutch queen. She had no political influence, but was active within charity. Youth Anna Pavlovna was born in 1795 at Gatchina Palace, the eighth child and sixth daughter of Paul I of Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg), and thus was Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia. Her father became the emperor in 1796, and was deposed and killed in 1801, when she was six years old. Anna Pavlovna's brother Alexander succeeded to the throne. Anna was raised by her mother at the summer residence of the Romanovs, Tsarskoye Selo. She spent her childhood there with her two younger brothers, Nicholas (1796–1855) and Michael (1798–1849). Anna was tutored by the Swiss governess Louise de Sybourg ('Bourcis') and received a broad education, including foreign languages (Russian, German and French) and mathematics. She was good at handicrafts and painting.