Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova (née Taneyeva; ); 16 July 1884 – 20 July 1964) was a Russian Empire lady-in-waiting, the best friend and confidante of Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna. Early life Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva was born in Oranienbaum as the daughter of Aleksandr Taneyev, Chief Steward to His Majesty's Chancellery and a noted composer. Her mother, Countess Nadezhda Tolstoy, was descended from Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov. Due to these connections, she was attached to the imperial court at an early age. She had two younger siblings: Sergei and Alexandra. She was a childhood playmate of Felix Yussupov, who later spearheaded the murder of Rasputin. Yussupov found her unattractive: Life at court The Tsarina valued Anna's devotion to her and befriended her, ignoring women of more distinction at the court. In 1905, at the age of twenty, she was given a position at court for the first time. She went on holidays with the Romanovs in three succeeding years. In 1907, Anna married nobleman Alexander Vasilievich Vyrubov, an officer appointed in the Imperial chancellery. A few days before, she was warned by Rasputin that the marriage would be an unhappy one. According to Vyrubova, her husband was mad and went for treatment in Switzerland. The couple divorced within a year and a half. It is said that her husband was upset after he found out she had contacted Rasputin. Lili Dehn has another view. Vyrubova's mother reportedly told interrogators following the February Revolution that her son-in-law "proved to be completely impotent, with an extremely perverse sexual psychology that manifested itself in various sadistic episodes in which he inflicted moral suffering on her and evoked a feeling of utter disgust." Vyrubova became one of Rasputin's adherents and on the order of the Tsarina, she went on a trip to his home village of Pokrovskoye to investigate the rumours about Rasputin. She visited some monasteries in the area. Vyrubova's importance grew at the court, as the friendship with Milica of Montenegro and her sister Anastasia deteriorated. "With the death of Father John of Kronstadt, "Father" Grigori became, in her eyes, the only mediator with God, the only man with effective prayers. He was called to replace Father John." In 1909 she received to hieromonk Iliodor in her house for a meeting with the Tsar. Around Easter 1912 Vyrubova stashed Rasputin on a train to Yalta, so he could visit the Imperial family in the Livadia