Prince George Alexandrovich Yuryevsky

Prince George Alexandrovich Yuryevsky (; 12 May 1872 [30 April 1872 O. S.] – 13 September 1913) was the natural son of Alexander II of Russia by his mistress (and later wife), Princess Catherine Dolgorukova. The morganatic marriage of George's parents on 6 July 1880, eight years after his birth, resulted in the legitimation of their three surviving children, and George gained the style of Serene Highness. Family and early life George's mother, Catherine Dolgorukova, met Alexander II when he visited the Smolny Institute in the autumn of 1864. She became his mistress in July 1866, despite early resistance. Their affair caused great scandal at court, with Alexander's heir (the Tsarevich) in particular protesting, though it was to be in vain. The Emperor was devoted to Catherine and promised to marry her as soon as he was "free," meaning when his estranged and sickly wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna finally died. George ("Gogo") was the first child of Catherine and Alexander and was born in the Emperor's study on 12 May 1872, in a difficult birth that almost killed his mother. Alexander had ordered that if the circumstances called for it, Catherine, and not the child, must be saved; but mother and son both lived, and the father happily wrote "The Lord is so generous. I praised God, in tears I thank Him". Three more siblings later followed: Olga, Boris, and Catherine. Their births further tied the couple together. The devotion Alexander showed to his mistress and children concerned all around him, many feeling that the relationship damaged his reputation irreparably. In 1878, Alexander secretly had his children legitimated with noble status under the name of "Yuryevskii," clearly marking his second family as Russian, compared to the German heritage of his other children. When revolutionary groups like the Nihilist movement increased in power, the Emperor's "first family", as well as the princess and their children, removed themselves to the Winter Palace for security reasons, where their rooms were said to be directly above the dying Empress. Legitimation