Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (Russian: Великая Княгиня Мария Павловна; 18 April [O.S. 6 April] 1890 – 13 December 1958), known as Maria Pavlovna the Younger, was a granddaughter of Alexander II of Russia. She was a paternal first cousin of Nicholas II (Russia's last Tsar) and maternal first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (consort of Elizabeth II). Her early life was marked by the death of her mother and her father's banishment from Russia when he remarried a commoner in 1902. Grand Duchess Maria and her younger brother Dmitri, to whom she remained very close throughout her life, were raised in Moscow by their paternal uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1908, Maria Pavlovna married Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland. The couple had only one son, Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland later Count Bernadotte af Wisborg. The marriage was unhappy and ended in divorce in 1914. During World War I, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna served as a nurse until the fall of the Russian monarchy in February 1917. In September 1917, during the period of the Russian Provisional Government, she married Prince Sergei Putyatin. They had one son, Prince Roman Sergeievich Putyatin, who died in infancy. The couple escaped revolutionary Russia through Ukraine in July 1918. In exile, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna lived briefly in Bucharest and London before she settled in Paris in 1920. In the 1920s, she opened Kitmir, an embroidering fashion atelier that achieved some level of success. In 1923, she divorced her second husband and after selling Kitmir in 1928, she emigrated to the United States. While living in New York City, she published two books of memoirs: The Education of a Princess (1930), and A Princess in Exile (1932). In 1942, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna moved to Argentina where she spent the years of World War II. She returned permanently to Europe in 1949. She died in Konstanz, Germany, in 1958. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was born 18 April  [O.S. 6 April] 1890 in Saint Petersburg. She was the first child and only daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia, born Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. The baby was named after her late paternal grandmother, the Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and her paternal aunt and godmother, the Empress Maria Feodorovna. Maria was not yet two years old when her mother died from complications after giving birth to Maria's younger brother, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia in 1891.Grand Duke Paul was so distraught by the unexpected death of his young wife that he neglected his two small children, who were left in the care of his elder brother, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who had no children of his own. Once he recovered emotionally, Grand Duke Paul took the two children away with him. A commander of the Imperial horse Guards, Grand Duke Paul loved his children, but as was customary at the time, he refrained from showing them spontaneous affection. Maria and her brother were raised by governesses and tutors, but they adored their father who visited them twice a day. The children spent Christmases and later some summer holidays with Grand Duke Sergei and his wife Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna. The couple set aside a playroom and bedrooms for the youngsters at their country home, Ilinskoe. Maria Pavlovna childhood was spent in splendor. Her early memories were of magnificent palaces and lazy country estates populated by armies of servants. Until she was six, Maria spoke Russian badly as all of her governesses and the immediate family spoke English. Later she had another governess, Mademoiselle Hélène who taught her French and stayed with her until her marriage. At the age of seven she traveled in her own personal railway car accompanied by her governess to visit Germany and France. On Sundays, she and her brother were allowed to play with children from aristocratic families. Growing up without a mother and with a frequently absent father, Grand Duchess Maria and her brother Dimitri became very close, relying on each other for affection and companionship. In 1895, Grand Duke Paul began an affair with a married woman, Olga Valerianova Pistolkors. He was able to obtain a divorce for her and he eventually married Olga in 1902, while the couple was staying abroad. As they had married defying Nicholas II's opposition, the Tsar forbade them to return to Russia. Left fatherless, twelve-year-old Maria and eleven-year-old Dmitri moved to Moscow placed under the custody of their uncle Grand Duke Sergei and his wife, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna, a sister of the Tsarina Alexandra. Maria and Dimitri resented their aunt and uncle, blaming them for the forced separation from their real father, who had abandoned them. Grand Duke Sergei was strict and demanding, but devoted and affectionate towards the children. Marie wrote in her memoirs: "In his fashion he loved us deeply. He liked to have us near him, and gave us a good deal of his time. But he was always jealous of us. If he had known the full extent of our devotion to our father it would have maddened him." Maria Pavlovna also commented that she could not entirely disagree with those who thought Grand Duke Sergei heartless, self-centered and cruel. Maria had a somewhat strained relationship with her aunt. Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna found difficult to relate to the children and was cold and distant towards them. The teenage Maria was described by her maternal aunt, Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna of Russia, as "full of life and very jolly, but inclined to be self-willed and selfish, and rather difficult to deal with." Grand Duke Sergei, who served as Governor General of Moscow, was a polarizing figure. Targeted by the SR Combat Organization, he was assassinated by a terrorist bomb at the Kremlin in February 1905. The bomber had refrained from an earlier attack because he saw that Grand Duchess Elisabeth, along with fifteen-year-old Maria and her younger brother Dmitri were in the carriage and did not want to kill women and children. After the assassination of their uncle, both children were emotionally distraught, particularly Dmitri. Grand Duke Paul claimed the custody of his children, but the Tsar made Elisabeth their guardian. Grand Duke Paul was allowed to visit them, but not to return to Russia permanently. After her husband's assassination Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna regretted treating the children poorly and became closer to them.