Catherine II of Russia distracts Peter III from noticing she’s in labor with another man’s son… by burning down a house?

>After carefully concealing her pregnancy, [Catherine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Catherine_II_by_J.B.Lampi_%281780s%2C_Kunsthistorisches_Museum%29.jpg)’s son by Gregory Orlov was born in secret in April 1762. To distract Peter while she was in labor, the empress’s faithful valet Vasili Shkurin, burned down his own home, knowing that the young emperor would race off to watch the excitement. The child was given the name Alexis Gregorovich Bobrinsky: […] __________________________ **Source:** Farquhar, Michael. “Chapter 6 – Peter III (1762): “Nature Made Him a Mere Poltroon”.” *Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia*. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2014. 110. Print. __________________________ **Further Reading:** [Catherine II (Russian: Екатерина Алексеевна) / Catherine the Great (Екатери́на Вели́кая)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_the_Great) __________________________ **If you enjoy this type of content, please consider donating to my [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/HistoryLockeBox)!**