Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley (Russian: РатальÑ
Павловна Палей; 5 December 1905 â€" 27 December 1981) was
a Russian aristocrat who was a non-dynastic member of the Romanov
family. A daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, she was
a first cousin of the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II. After the
Russian Revolution, she emigrated first to France and later to the
United States. She became a fashion model, socialite, vendeuse, and
briefly pursued a career as a film actress.She was born as Countess
Natalia Pavlovna von Hohenfelsen at her parents' home, 2 Avenue Victor
Hugo (now 4 Avenue Robert Schuman), in Boulogne-sur-Seine, close to
Paris, France, on 5 December 1905. She was the youngest child of Grand
Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and his morganatic second wife, Olga
Valerianovna Karnovich, who was of Hungarian descent.Her parents had
met in St. Petersburg in 1895, when Olga Karnovich was married to an
officer, by whom she had three children. Grand Duke Paul already was
the father of two; his first wife, Princess Alexandra of Greece, had
died in childbirth. On 9 January 1897, Olga gave birth to a son,
Vladimir, by Grand Duke Paul. Olga was granted a divorce from her
husband and soon left Russia to marry Paul in Livorno, Italy, on 10
October 1902. Grand Duke Paul and Olga were still vacationing in Rome
when they were forbidden to return to Russia by Paul's nephew, the
reigning Tsar Nicholas II. Their daughter Irina was born on 21
December 1903. In 1904, Grand Duke Paul arranged through Prince Regent
Leopold of Bavaria for his wife and their children to be granted the
hereditary title of Count/Countess von Hohenfelsen, with a coat of
arms. They settled in Paris and bought a house in Boulogne-sur-Seine
that previously belonged to Princess Zenaide Ivanovna Youssoupoff. It
was there that Natalia was born in 1905, completing their family. Paul
and Olga employed a household staff of sixteen maids, gardeners,
cooks, and tutors and were avid art and old porcelain collectors.
Vladimir, Irina and Natalia had a happy and privileged upbringing and,
for a time, were utterly protected from the outside world. Though
their parents had a busy social life, the children were very close to
them and they ate their meals together, an unusual custom for children
of their time and station. On Sundays, the whole family would enter
the Russian church on rue Daru, but they would only attend private
mass with the priest who had christened Natalia.In January 1912, Tsar
Nicholas II forgave his only living uncle for marrying morganatically,
and Grand Duke Paul returned to Russia on the occasion of the
tercentenary of the Romanov family. He was followed later by his wife
and their three children. In May 1914, the family settled in Tsarskoe
Selo, in a luxurious palace filled with antiques and objects of art.
In Russia, Natalia became close to her maternal grandmother, her
half-sisters and half-brothers. Three months after they had settled
into their new life, World War I began. Natalia Pavlovna Paley Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter