Nadejda Mikhailovna Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven (née Countess Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, until 1917 Princess George of Battenberg; 28 March 1896 – 22 January 1963), was a member of the Russian imperial family who married a German prince but became a British subject and aristocrat. She was a close relation of the British royal family.

Life

Countess Nadejda de Torby was the second daughter of

Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Михаил Михайлович; 16 October 1861 – 26 April 1929) was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. He was raised in the C ...

and his

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

wife Countess Sophie of Merenberg. She was a younger sister of Countess

Anastasia de Torby Lady Anastasia Mikhailovna Wernher (' Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby; 9 September 1892 – 7 December 1977) was a German-born Russian-British aristocrat and thoroughbred racehorse owner. She was the elder daughter of Grand Duke Micha ...

Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia with his children

Her paternal grandparents were

Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia (25 October 1832 – 18 December 1909) was the fourth son and seventh child of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia. He was the first owner of the New Michael Palace on the Palace Quay in ...

and

Princess Cecily of Baden Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna of Russia (russian: Ольга Фёдоровна; 20 September 1839 – 12 April 1891), born Princess Cäcilie of Baden, was the youngest daughter of Grand Duke Leopold of Baden and Sophie Wilhelmine of Sweden ...

. Michael was the seventh and last child of

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I , group=pron ( – ) was List of Russian rulers, Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I ...

and

Charlotte of Prussia Alexandra Feodorovna ( rus, Алекса́ндра Фёдоровна, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandrə ˈfjɵdərəvnə), born Princess Charlotte of Prussia (13 July 1798 – 1 November 1860), was empress consort of Russia, Empress of Russia as the wife of Em ...

. Her mother was daughter of

Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau (20 September 1832 – 17 September 1905), was the only son of William, Duke of Nassau by his second wife Princess Pauline of Württemberg. Marriage and issue He married morganatically in London on 1 July 1868 w ...

and his morganatic wife Natalia Pushkina, Countess of Merenberg, daughter of

Aleksandr Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

, who in turn was a great-grandson of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

's African protégé,

Abram Petrovich Gannibal Abram Petrovich Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal, or Abram Hannibal or Abram Petrov ( ru , Абра́м Петро́вич Ганниба́л; c. 1696 – 14 May 1781), was a Russian military engineer, general-in-chief, and nobleman of Africa ...

. Nicknamed "Nada", she married Prince George of Battenberg, later the 2nd

Marquess of Milford Haven Marquess of Milford Haven is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The marquessate of Milford Haven was created in 1917 for Prince Louis of Battenberg, the former First Sea Lord, and a relation by marriage to the British Royal f ...

, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on 15 November 1916. They had two children: Lady Tatiana Elizabeth Mountbatten (16 December 1917 – 15 May 1988), who died unmarried, and David Michael Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven (12 May 1919 – 14 April 1970), father of the present Marquess. During the 1934

Gloria Vanderbilt Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (February 20, 1924 – June 17, 2019) was an American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite. During the 1930s, she was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother ...

custody trial, a former maid of

Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt (born Maria Mercedes Morgan; 23 August 1904 13 February 1965) was an American socialite best known as the mother of fashion designer and artist Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandmother of television journalist Anders ...

's offered testimony regarding a possible lesbian relationship between Lady Milford Haven and her former employer. Lady Milford Haven also appeared as a witness at the trial. Before leaving for the United States to testify, Lady Milford Haven publicly denounced the maid's testimony as ''"a set of malicious, terrible lies".'' Nada and her sister-in-law,

Edwina Mountbatten Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, (''née'' Ashley; 28 November 1901 – 21 February 1960), was an English heiress, socialite, relief worker and the last vicereine of India as the wife of (the then) Rear Admiral ...

(wife of

Lord Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

), were extremely close friends and the two frequently went together on rather daring adventures, travelling rough in difficult and often dangerous parts of the world. Lady Milford Haven died in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

, France, in 1963.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milford Haven, Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of 1896 births 1963 deaths 19th-century people from the Russian Empire 19th-century women from the Russian Empire Nadejda British marchionesses German princesses Countesses of the Russian Empire Princesses by marriage Morganatic issue of Romanovs Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France

Life

Ancestry

See also

References