Final Months and Death
Though Catherine's life and reign included remarkable personal successes, they ended with two failures. Her Swedish cousin (once removed) King Gustav IV Adolph visited her in September 1796, the empress's intention being that her granddaughter Alexandra should become Queen of Sweden by marriage. A ball was given at the imperial court on 11 September, when the engagement was supposed to be announced. Gustav Adolph felt pressured to accept the fact that Alexandra would not be converting to Lutheranism, and though he was delighted by the young lady, he refused to appear at the ball and left for Stockholm. Catherine was so irritated at this that her health was impacted. She recovered well enough to begin to plan a ceremony where a favourite grandson would supersede her difficult son on the throne, but she died of a stroke before the announcement could be made, just over two months after the engagement ball.
On 16 November 1796, Catherine rose early in the morning and had her usual morning coffee, soon settling down to work on papers at her study. Her lady's maid, Maria Perekusikhina, had asked the Empress if she had slept well, and Catherine reportedly replied that she had not slept so well in a long time.
Sometime after 9:00 A.M. that morning, Catherine went to her dressing room and collapsed on the floor. Worried by Catherine's absence, her attendant, Zakhar Zotov, opened the door and peered in. Catherine's body was sprawled on the floor. Her face appeared purplish, her pulse was weak, and her breathing was shallow and laboured. The servants lifted Catherine from the floor and brought her to the bedroom. Some 45 minutes later, the royal court's Scottish physician, Dr. John Rogerson, arrived and determined that Catherine had suffered a stroke. Despite all attempts to revive the Empress, she fell into a coma from which she never recovered. Catherine was given the Last Rites and died the following evening at approximately 9:45 P.M. An autopsy performed on her body the next day confirmed the cause of death as stroke.
Catherine's undated will, discovered in early 1792 by her secretary Alexander Vasilievich Khrapovitsky among her papers, gave specific instructions should she die: "Lay out my corpse dressed in white, with a golden crown on my head, and on it inscribe my Christian name. Mourning dress is to be worn for six months, and no longer: the shorter the better." In the end, the Empress was laid to rest with a gold crown on her head and clothed in a silver brocade dress. On 25 November, the coffin, richly decorated in gold fabric, was placed atop an elevated platform at the Grand Gallery's chamber of mourning, designed and decorated by Antonio Rinaldi. Catherine was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.
Read more about this topic: Catherine The Great
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