Peter & Catherine

 Peter & Catherine 

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 Catherine the Great, was the longest-serving female ruler in Russian history.

But before this Prussian-born princess could reign, she had to overcome a loveless marriage to an unstable heir, that resulted in a power struggle that turned deadly.

 Catherine first met her future husband, at the age of 10.
Peter also happened to be her second cousin.

Based on her writings, she found Peter detestable upon meeting him.
She disliked his pale complexion and his fondness for alcohol at such a young age.

Peter also still played with toy soldiers, and had a very immature way of thinking.

 Catherine was bright, pretty, and vivacious.
Despite their obvious differences, Peter and Catherine were married on 21st August 1745, Catherine was 16, Peter was 17.

The marriage was a disaster, from the start.
He abandoned her on their wedding night, to party with friends - and things went downhill from there.

 An increasingly unhappy Catherine turned to reading, and learning to speak Russian.

Her letters and memoirs, are filled with tales of his boorish, drunken and frequently cruel behaviour.

Peter, meanwhile, spent his time with soldiers, both toy and real, forming guards’ units that he ceaselessly trained.

 The bright, pretty, vivacious teen quickly charmed the Russian people.
Catherine formed close ties with many in the Russian nobility and the Church.

The couple had a volatile marriage, lasting 17 years.
Unsurprisingly, both Peter and Catherine, found solace in the arms of others.

Catherine would later imply in her memoirs that the couple’s son Paul was not fathered by Peter, but by Catherine’s first lover, Sergei Saltykov.

 Loveless since the start of their arranged union, the Russian rulers, were ultimately torn apart by a coup that would overthrow Peter III, and brought Catherine to the throne.

She would rule Russia for 34 years, as Empress of Russia under the title of Catherine II.

 Catherine's great-great-granddaughter, Olga Constantinova of Russia, was the paternal grandmother of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Philip's descendants ~ King Charles, Prince William and Prince George, are the three direct heirs to the throne of the United Kingdom, and they are all directly linked to Catherine The Great!

The Tudor Intruders (and more)
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 Source~SchoolHistory
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 Photo: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images