She was skeptical of the pro-Russian policies of Heraclius II and his successor, her step-son, George XII, whose progeny she tried to prevent from succeeding to the throne of Georgia.

In 1762, Heraclius of Kakheti succeeded on his father's death as king of Kartli, thus uniting both eastern Georgian kingdoms into a single state.

[5] After the death of George XII in December 1800, the Russian general Ivan Lazarev issued the Tsar Paul I's order to all the members of the royal family, beginning with Darejan, forbidding the nomination of any heir to the throne.

[6] After Paul's death in March 1801, Darejan applied to the new tsar, Alexander I, to confirm her eldest son, Iulon, as the new king and protect her and her kin from harassment from George XII's heir Prince David and his supporters.

However, the Russian government proceeded with the outright annexation of the Georgian kingdom, bringing the millennium of the Bagratid rule in Georgia to an end.

The State Council confirmed the decision and instructed Knorring to "strengthen all measures for the transport of Queen Darejan and other members of the royal family to Russia, because their presence in Georgia will always be a cause and reason [for the development of] parties hostile" to the Russian hegemony.

Once, the general angered her by wearing his hat and coat at her house and interrupting an interview at noon, declaring it was time for his vodka.

[10][11] Darejan, known to the Russians as the tsaritsa Darya Georgyevna, was allowed to settle down in St. Petersburg, where she lived in a rented house in the parish of the Church of St. Simon and Anna.

[12] Darejan, Queen Dowager of Georgia and Lady of the Russian Order of St. Catherine, Grand Cross, was buried at the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.