She was a regent of Serbia in 1355 and 1356 for her son Stefan Uroš V. She was the daughter of despot Sratsimir and Keratsa Petritsa of the Shishman family, a descendant of Tsar Ivan Asen II.

She was the sister of tsar (emperor) Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria, John Komnenos, Michael and Theodora.

Fine, she is the same "Irene" who was wife of Gregorios Preljub, the Serbian governor of Thessaly who died in late 1355 or early 1356.

On her husband's death in 1355, Helena inherited part of Bulgarian lands between the lower Vardar and the Mesta.

According to the Bulgarian historian Plamen Pavlov, today one of her hands is kept in silver box in the Savina monastery near the town of Herceg Novi on the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro and is virtually unknown in Bulgaria.