Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
Born Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, she was a daughter of Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg and his wife, Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. She belonged to a junior branch of the House of Württemberg and grew up in Montbéliard receiving an excellent education for her time and station. In 1776, when Grand Duke Paul (the future Paul I of Russia), became a widower, Sophie Dorothea was chosen by Frederick II of Prussia, her maternal great uncle, and by Empress Catherine II of Russia, as the ideal candidate to be Paul’s second wife. They met in a state dinner in Berlin and their engagement was quickly arranged.
Duchess Sophie Adelheid in Bavaria
Her parents were Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, head of a cadet branch of the Bavarian royal family, and an ophthalmologist of recognized reputation, and his second wife, the Infanta Maria José of Braganza, third daughter of King Miguel I, exiled monarch of Portugal. Her paternal aunt was Empress Elisabeth of Austria ("Sissi"). She was also the sister of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians, consort of Albert I and of Marie Gabrielle, wife of the last crown prince of Bavaria, Rupprecht, later the head of the House of Wittelsbach. She was named after her father's first wife, Princess Sophie of Saxony, the mother of her half-sister Amalie.