In 1762 Catherine's husband became Tsar Peter III but he ... the process of Westernisation begun by Peter the Great. During her reign she extended the Russian empire southwards and westwards ...

For Catherine the Great, jewelry was about much more than adornment. The formidable Russian empress - who reigned from 1762 to 1796 after overthrowing her own husband, Peter III - understood that ...

They begin an affair whilst she is still married to her unpleasant husband, Emperor Peter III ... s death and his mother’s new lovers. Taken from Catherine at birth and raised by his great aunt, ...