Sophie of Merenberg [SEP] father
Sophie of Merenberg
Countess Sophie Nikolaievna of Merenberg, Countess de Torby (1 June 1868 – 14 September 1927), also known as "Countess Torbay", was the elder daughter of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau and his morganatic wife, Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina (who had been granted the title of Countess of Merenberg).
Early life.
She was born at Geneva, Switzerland, the first child of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau and Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina. As the marriage of her parents was considered morganatic, she
with his father to talk to Tsar Alexander III. However, his mother and the Empress Maria Feodorovna made it impossible for him to marry Catherine. Olga Feodorovna opposed the misalliance vehemently. "He has so openly provoked me" she wrote of her son, mentioning his "lack of respect, affection and attention". To break off the relationship, the parents decided to send him abroad.
While in Nice, in 1891, Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich fell in love with Countess Sophie von Merenberg, daughter of Prince Nikolaus