She was the daughter of Wassily von Engelhardt (1720–1794), member of the Baltic German nobility and his spouse Yelena Alexandrovna Marfa Potemkin (d. 1775), niece of Grigory Potyomkin.

[1] They were initially uneducated and ignorant, but were soon given a sophisticated polish and made to be the most favoured women at the Russian court; they were treated almost as if they were a part of the Imperial family, and were to be known as : "almost Grand Duchesses" and as the "jewels" and ornaments of the Russian court.

[1] She became a lady in waiting in 1777, and for a time, Empress Catherine's illegitimate son Bobrinskij was in love with her.

Her relationship with Bobrinskij took place after his affair with her sister Aleksandra was ended in 1779, and was to continue on and off sporadically for the rest of his life.

[1] In 1780, she spent some time in the countryside with her sister Varvara, and it is possible that she gave birth to her uncle's child.