Catherine the Great and her Many Lovers

Catherine the Great was empress of Russia from 1762 until she died in 1796. She was born in 1729 in Poland and in 1744 was taken to Russia to marry the young Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne and not of a sane mind. For seven years during their marriage Peter spent his time playing with toy soldiers and dogs and showed no interest in sex. In fact he had a physical disability, a very tight foreskin, which may have played an important part in that matter. Finally the empress Elizabeth gave Catherine the permission to take a lover, which she did and was soon pregnant. She convinced Peter it was his own child, as was the plan anyway. In the meantime he had been circumcised so that he could perform the sexual act.

Catherine developed a taste for young soldiers. She had a special area built in her bedroom, which was curtained off and where she received her lovers. Gregory Orlov was her on and off lover for around thirteen years. He was said to possess excellent equipment, unbelievable ‘stamina’ and an insatiable appetite for sex.
When Peter and Catherine ascended to the throne after the empress Elizabeth died, in 1761, Catherine became even more confident. Peter’s childish and irrational behaviour was annoying her as well as others. In June 1762 he was murdered by the Orlov brothers and Catherine was sole ruler. Now, she was free to enjoy herself to the full. She had several lovers at the same time and they were expected to perform as and when needed. If they did not satisfy they were kicked out of the palace, but given a handsome sum of money first. Her young men were carefully vetted for fear of diseases. The court physician would first examine them thoroughly; then they would be passed on to the Countess Bruce, who would interview them, inform them of what the empress liked and did not like in bed. Then she would proceed to try them out, to ensure they were all they were all they promised to be. Only then would they be ‘delivered’ to a suite of rooms, where a box of 100,000 roubles would be waiting for them, as a gift for the services they were about to render. That same evening, the young man would be presented at court with the empress on his arm and at ten o’clock they would retire to her bedroom…
Over the years, the walls of Catherine’s bedroom were filled with miniature portraits of her lovers.

When Gregory Orlov had the audacity to seduce his own thirteen-year old cousin, Catherine gave him a smart pension and promptly sent him packing. He was soon replaced by Gregory Potemkin. He had one eye, was over-sexed. They were extremely close and rumour had it that they had married.