He was tutored by the Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps (1820–1881), composed pieces for the piano and violin and authored several books on the subject of music.

The year after, he graduated from Saint Petersburg State University, Faculty of Law and was admitted to His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery as a secretary.

In June 1856 he was back in favour and created Master of Ceremony at Emperor Alexander II's coronation.

The marriage was originally deemed illegal, because of the bride and groom being too closely related according to Russian law, but the union was legalised by order of Alexander II.

The Yusupov family spent most of its time abroad to improve Princess Tatiana's failing health.

On 15 October 1884, the request was approved by the Government Senate, on the condition that the transfer would only occur after Prince Nikolai's death.

Prince Yusupov was a trustee of the Alexander Marinsky School for the Deaf from 1881 onwards, and an honorary member of both the Demidov House of Charity and the Red Cross.