Natalia Brasova - Decline

Decline

To save money, in 1927 Natalia moved to Paris where living costs were less than in London. George joined her in France, but he was killed after a car accident in 1931. She was at his bedside when he died, though he had not regained consciousness after the crash. She was emotionally devastated. Natalia's granddaughter, Pauline Gray, was born in 1929, but the Grays' marriage also ended in divorce. "Tata"'s third and last marriage was to naval officer Michael Majolier, with whom she had a second daughter, Alexandra.

Natalia continued attempts to recover Michael's assets. The Polish government had seized Michael's Polish estate, and Natalia sued them for its return or compensation. By the Peace of Riga, the Poles were entitled to any imperial property in the former Russian Poland, but Natalia pointed out that Michael was already dead before the Peace, and so any of Michael's property in Poland was legally hers, as a commoner. In 1937, the court ruled against her. In 1938, she did receive a pay-out from the German courts, when the Tsar's estate in Germany was shared between all his heirs, but hyper-inflation had reduced its value. She continued to sell anything she could in a desperate attempt to raise cash.

During World War II, Natalia and her daughter were separated as Natalia lived in Paris, and "Tata" was in Britain. They were unable to communicate with each other until after the war, by which time Natalia was penniless and lived as a refugee in an attic box-room. On 23 January 1952, she died of cancer at the Laënnec charity hospital in Paris in complete poverty, and was buried in Passy Cemetery (Section 9, near the intersection with the outer wall and Section 8) in Paris beside her son George, Count Brasov.