[1] She was born at Geneva, Switzerland, the first child of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau-Weilburg and Russian noblewoman Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina.

Her maternal grandparents were Alexander Pushkin, the renowned Russian poet, and his wife, Natalia Goncharova.

When his mother heard of the secret marriage to a bride of unequal status, she collapsed and fell ill, then subsequently died of a heart attack in Kharkov.

They had two daughters and one son: She and her husband lived at Kenwood House in Hampstead, London, prior to World War I.

Despite their reduced circumstances, they were friends of King George V and Queen Mary, and they continued to attend society events.