Princess Xenia Andreevna Romanovsky

Princess Xenia Andreevna Romanoff (10 March 1919 – 22 October 2000) was a direct descendant of the Tsars of Russia. She was a great niece of Nicholas II, the last reigning Russian Emperor. Biography Princess Xenia was born in Paris, on 10 March 1919, where her parents had fled after the Russian Revolution. She was the eldest child of Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia (24 January 1897 – 8 May 1981) and Donna Elisabetha Ruffo (1886–1940). Xenia Andreevna descended twice over from the Tsars of Russia. Her paternal grandfather, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, was the fourth son of Grand Duke Michael, who was the fourth son of Tsar Nicholas I. Her paternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, was the eldest daughter of Tsar Alexander III and sister to Tsar Nicholas II. Xenia's father Prince Andrew Romanoff, a nephew of the Tsar, in 1918 had married Elisaveta Fabrizievna, daughter of Don Fabrizio Ruffo, Duca di Sasso-Ruffo. During the Russian Revolution, those families had taken refuge in the Crimea, where Andrew and Elisaveta married. They escaped Russia in December 1918. Xenia's mother was already pregnant with her when they left Russian soil. Princess Xenia had two younger brothers: Michael and Andrew. Her mother died of cancer during World War II. Her father remarried and Xenia had one half sister, Olga Andreevna.