Nicholas was the eldest son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia.

During his childhood, he underwent no less than four operations on his leg in Germany and the United Kingdom before being entrusted to the care of Dr Nikolay Pirogov, who proscribed him gymnastic exercises.

[1] Following the promise his grandfather made upon his parents' marriage, Nicholas received the style of Imperial Highness and title of Prince Romanovsky.

After the death of his father, Maximilian de Beauharnais, in 1852, the family sold their property abroad in order to provide income for Nicholas and his siblings.

[1] After his father's death while he was still aged 9, Nicholas became very attached to his mother whom he spoke Russian with despite most members of his class preferring French.

In 1854, his mother secretly remarried to Count Grigori Aleksandrovich Stroganov, and Nicholas maintained cordial relations with his step father.

Nicolas was also close to his uncle, Tsar Alexander II, who often took Nicholas on trips with the Imperial family in Russia or abroad.

As Otto unsuccessfully attempted to persuade his brothers to raise at least one of their children in orthodoxy, the Greek population began to consider a change of dynasty.

As a cousin of the King and of Orthodox faith, the supporters of the Russian Party considered Nicholas as the ideal heir to the throne.

The candidacy of Prince Alfred offered the hope of the attachment of the Ionian Islands to Greece and the possibility of a rapprochement with the United Kingdom.

However, it was not the same for Nicholas whom Russia still considered a candidate as he was not a Romanov while the United Kingdom wanted to exclude him because of his ties with the Tsar.

Faced with the risk of Prince Alfred's accession, the Russian government officially abandoned the candidacy on Nicholas on 2 December.

[2][1] At the beginning of March 1866, Nicholas was considered for the Romanian throne in order to resolve the Eastern question in favour of Russia.

Being a nephew and therefore too close a relative of Tsar Alexander II, Nicholas would appear to be a "Russian governor" in the eyes of Romanian politicians and guarantor powers.

In the United Kingdom, William Gladstone announced that the Sublime Porte and the Protecting Powers would be meeting in conference to discuss the election to the Romanian throne but already warned that the clauses of the Treaty of Paris must be respected.

In 1865, he was appointed by the Tsar, President of the Imperial Society of Mineralogy and it was under the direction of Nicholas that a geological map of the Russian Empire was drawn up.

[1] In 1863, when Nicholas was just 20 years old when he met in Moscow Nadezhda Annenkova (1840-1911), daughter of the minor Russian nobleman Sergei Petrovich Annenkov (b.

Russian law recognized divorce, but prohibited spouses from remarrying or from being received at court except under specific circumstances.

The Tsar told Nicholas that if he leaves to find refuge in Europe, he will lose his Russian nationality, his fortune and his rank.

That year, Nicholas inherited the Stein castle following the death his aunt, Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Dowager Empress of Brazil and the family then settled there.

In 1876, Nicholas managed to expand his estate in Bavaria following the death of another of his aunts, Josephine of Leuchtenberg, due to buying from her heirs small properties in Neureuth and Seeon-Seebruck.

With their passion about the arts and sciences, they received many intellectuals including the mineralogist, Nikolai Kokcharov, and many members of the Imperial Society of Mineralogy.

[1] Nicholas received an official funeral in the presence of Tsar Alexander III, the court and many scientists on 24 January 1891.