Darejan Dadiani

Darejan Dadiani , also known as Daria , was Queen Consort of Kakheti, and later KartliKakheti in Eastern Georgia, as the third wife of King Erekle II . She was a daughter of KatsiaGiorgi Dadiani, a member of the princely house of Mingrelia. Darajan married Heraclius in 1750 and their marriage lasted 48 years until his death in 1798 the union producedchildren. In the final years of her husbands reign, Darejan exerted significant influence on politics and court affairs. She was skeptical of the proRussian policies of Heraclius II and his successor, her stepson, George XII, whose progeny she tried to prevent from succeeding to the throne of Georgia. After the Russian annexation of Georgia, Queen Dowager Darejan was deported to Russia proper in 1803. She died in St. Petersburg at the age of 69 and was buried at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The couples first better documented child, Princess Elene, was born in 1753, followed bymore between 1755 and 1782. As her sons grew up, Darejans desire to secure the right of succession for her offspring against Heracliuss eldest surviving son of his second marriage to Anna Abashidze, the Crown Prince George, became the cornerstone of Darejans involvement in the politics of Georgia. In the last years of Heraclius IIs life, she became more involved and influential. In 1791, Darejan persuaded her husband to overturn the principle of primogeniture in favor of fraternal inheritance, mandating in his will that after his death, his eldest son George would become king, but that after Georges death, the throne would pass to the next surviving son of Heraclius, rather than to Georges offspring. The surviving sons of Heraclius and DarejanIulon, Vakhtang, Mirian, Alexander, and Parnaozthus, emerged in the line of succession. After Heracliuss death in 1798, the now King George XII, reneged on

Source: Wikipedia