Princess Irina of Russia

Princess Irina Alexandrovna with Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna and Princess Zinaida Yusupov and two unnamed individuals. 1913-1914.

Felix to Irina, June 1913.

“How strangely fate brings people together. Did I ever think that your small, inexperienced head already held such firmly established views on life, and that you and I understand and feel it in the same way? There are very few people like you and me in this world, and it’s almost impossible for others to understand us. You and I, in general, are deeply unhappy. We both thought that no one understood us, and that we were the only ones who felt this way. We met and immediately sensed, with some kind of supernatural instinct, that we would understand each other, as our evening conversation in the garden proved. I am certain that you and I will be happier than anyone else has ever been. Our happiness should lie in the commonality of our views and thoughts and the actions that flow from them, which should be known only to us and no one else. We will treasure this as a sacred treasure, and even our best friends will never suspect what is the key to our happiness.”

📝: Юсуповский Дворец на Мойке (VK)

Princess Irina Alexandrovna working for the Russian Red Cross in London. The photo was featured in the November edition, 1919, to announce a Christmas sale to raise funds.

Images from the Tatler, July 15th, 1936 of the Russian Ball held at Claridge’s hotel by Grand Duchess Xenia to raise funds for her Summer camp for Russian children.

Princess Irina (far right) with her mother Xenia (middle) and aunt Olga (far left) with the ladies from the Institute of Noble Maidens, 1909.

The Institute of Noble Maidens was a finishing school for girls of higher up families in late Imperial Russia and the most famous of these institutes being the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens. Others include: Catherine Institute, Saratov, Kharkov, Irkutsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Moscow School of the Order of Saint Catherine, Kiev Institute, and Rodionovsky Institute for Noble Girls. I’m unsure what institute these girls belonged to.

Princess Irina and her husband, Prince Felix during their engagement photos in 1913 by Klimbim (Olga)

@lesyoussoupoff