Grand Duchess Kira Kirilovna of Russia was born on 9 May 1909, at her parents' house on Avenue Henri Martin in Paris.

Named after her father, she was the second child of Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia, and his wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

In addition, her mother had divorced her former husband, Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse, the brother of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

In 1908, after the death of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich and before Kira's birth, Nicholas II restored Kirill to his rank of captain in the Imperial Russian Navy and his position as aide de camp to the emperor.

They settled at the Cavalier's house in Tsarskoye Selo as her father, a captain in the Russian Navy, was attached to a nearby naval academy.

Kira's early years were spent in luxury at her father's palace at 13 Glinka Street in Saint Petersburg, where her parents entertained their guests lavishly.

During World War I, Kira's father served as the commander of a unit of the Naval Guards, while her mother oversaw a motorized ambulance.

[3] Her children were: Kira was called upon to testify in the case of Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia.

[8] In later years, Kira was disappointed when her eldest son, Friedrich Wilhelm, renounced his rights to the title and married a commoner.

She was in good spirits on a visit to her brother Grand Duke Vladimir of Russia at Saint-Briac in September 1967, where she ate well and dumped several spoonfuls of sugar into her coffee, commenting, "God forbid I should eat anything healthy!"