Baronova was born in Saint Petersburg (then known as Petrograd) in 1919, the daughter of a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy, Mikhail Baronov, and his wife Lidia (née Vishniakova).

In November 1920, the Baronov family escaped the Russian Revolution by dressing as peasants and crossing the border into Romania.

During their first season in London with the Ballets Russes, English critic Arnold Haskell coined the term "Baby Ballerinas" for Toumanova, Riabouchinska and Baronova.

[2] Baronova's first principal role was Odette in Swan Lake, partnered by Anton Dolin, which she performed at 14 years old.

While in Britain in 1946, she met the agent Cecil Tennant, who asked her to marry him if she would give up ballet; he agreed and retired.

In 2014, Victoria published a pictorial biography of her mother's life entitled Irina Baronova and the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo.

In 1996, she received a Vaslav Nijinsky Medal from Poland and an honorary doctorate from the North Carolina School of the Arts.