Countess Bruce is Catherine’s oldest friend and most trusted confidante ... Taken from Catherine at birth and raised by his great aunt, Empress Elizabeth, and tutor, Minister Panin, Paul never formed ...

In 1745, after being received into the Russian Orthodox Church, and changing her name to Catherine, she married Grand Duke Peter, grandson of Peter the Great and heir to the Russian throne.

Massie in Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman ... the newly crowned empress grew increasingly jealous of her friend’s genius and talents, viewing her as a rival for prominence at ...