In 1863, while her father was Viceroy of Poland, she was given away to be raised by her childless uncle and aunt, King Karl and Queen Olga of Württemberg.

In 1871, she was legally adopted by Karl and Olga, who arranged her marriage in 1874 to Duke Eugen of Württemberg (1846–1877), a member of the Silesian ducal branch of the family.

Grand Duchess Vera spent her early years in St Petersburg and in 1861, the family moved to Warsaw when her father was appointed Viceroy of Poland.

[1] She became so unmanageable that her parents decided to send her to her aunt, Grand Duchess Olga, Queen of Württemberg, who agreed to take care of her.

On 7 December 1863, Grand Duke Constantin and his wife arrived with nine-year-old Vera in Stuttgart, entrusting her care to the childless King Karl of Württemberg and Queen Olga.

Officially this was ascribed to the more advanced medical treatment the child would receive in Germany, but it was also a way for Vera's parents to hide her embarrassing illness from the Russian court.

[1] Queen Olga was happy to take care of her niece in spite of the difficulties, and for Vera, her aunt eventually took the place of her mother.

The couple were distant cousins, as Vera was a great-great-granddaughter of Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg twice over; on her father's side and on her mother's.

Queen Olga wrote to her friend Marie von Kiderlen-Waechter, "My problem child is now a happy bride, loving and beloved.

The wedding was celebrated with great pomp in Stuttgart on 4 May 1874 in the presence of Vera's uncle, Tsar Alexander II, who, noticing the unattractiveness of his niece, remarked ungallantly, "I confess that I do not envy the young husband".

[3] Grand Duchess Vera visited Russia often and was present with her daughters in May 1896 during the coronation ceremonies of Tsar Nicholas II.

The elder of the twins, Elsa, was first engaged in January 1895 to Hereditary Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a grandson of Queen Victoria.

The engagement was quickly broken off, and Elsa married a distant cousin, Prince Albert of Schaumburg-Lippe, brother of Queen Charlotte of Württemberg.

The following year, Vera's other daughter, Olga, married her brother-in-law's younger brother, Prince Maximilian of Schaumburg-Lippe.

Olga's fate was similar to Vera's; she had three children and within a few years of her marriage, she lost a child and her husband, becoming a widow at an early age and never marrying again.

Vera Konstantinovna was very religious, but had never understood the Orthodox faith and eventually abandoned it to convert to Lutheranism in 1909, to the consternation of the Romanov family.

We were all gathered at the door, throwing rice at them, when someone knocked off poor Aunt Vera's glasses, which were smashed to atoms on the stone steps.