[1][2] She is believed to be an illegitimate daughter of Tsar Alexander II, and as Antoinette Bayer, is said to have been ordered to leave Russia on 48 hours' notice.

[1][2] Fleming, reportedly finding his wife too impetuous, left the island in 1897 for Naples, where he worked as a diplomat at the British consulate, he died in 1922.

[1][2] Antoinette remained and continued to develop the botanical garden park,[4] and her island residence became a centre of intense cultural and business activities.

[1] After the First World War, Antoinette became deeply in debt due to failed business ventures and high-risk investments to which she was prone and even began to engage in smuggling between Italy and Switzerland, where her islands became the ideal base.

[2] In 1926, Hamburg department store magnate Max Emden purchased the islands, demolished the existing house and replaced it with a Palazzo style villa, designed by the Berlin architect Alfred Breslauer.

Emden continued the baroness's exotic partying, entertaining young ladies who would water-ski and dance naked in the garden.

While the smaller island has been left in its natural state, the botanical garden (Parco botanico del Canton Ticino) on San Pancrazio is home to approximately 1,500 plant species, among which are azaleas, rhododendrons, Japanese palm trees, numerous camellias, Japanese banana, bamboo, magnolia, agaves, cypress, yucca, California poppies.