Olga Alexandrovna Zherebzova, née Zubova, also known as Madame Gerebtzoff , was the sister of the celebrated Zubov

Zubov

Zubov was a Russian noble family which rose to the highest offices of state in the 1790s, when Platon Zubov succeeded Count Orlov and Prince Potemkin as the favourite of Catherine II of Russia....

 brothers, Prince Platon

Platon Zubov

Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov was the last of Catherine the Great's favourites and the most powerful man in Russian Empire during the last years of her reign....

 and Counts Nicholas

Nikolay Zubov

Count Nikolay Alexandrovich Zubov was the eldest of the Zubov brothers who, together with Count Pahlen, masterminded the conspiracy to assassinate Tsar Paul of Russia....

 and Valerian

Valerian Zubov

Count Valerian Aleksandrovich Zubov was a Russian general who led the Persian Expedition of 1796. His siblings included Platon Zubov and Olga Zherebtsova....

.

After her brothers' fall from grace following Catherine II's death, they conspired with Count Pahlen to assassinate her successor Paul whom they viewed as the author of their misfortunes. The conspirators met and discussed their plans at Zherebtsova's house. Some maintain that she appropriated the funds the British government passed through her lover Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth

Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth

Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth GCB, PC , known as The Lord Whitworth between 1800 and 1813 and as The Viscount Whitworth between 1813 and 1815, was a British diplomat and politician.-Early years:...

 to the conspirators. "Once diplomatic relations with England were broken, Whitworth was ordered to leave the capital with all his staff".

Zherebtsova followed Lord Whitworth to England where she was shocked to learn about his prospective betrothal to the widow of John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset

John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset

John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset was the only son of Lord John Philip Sackville, second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. He succeeded to the dukedom in 1769 on the death of his uncle, Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset...

. It was rumored that Madame Gerepzof extorted from her rival some 10,000 pounds before turning her attention to the Prince Regent

Prince Regent

A prince regent is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e.g., due to the Sovereign's incapacity or absence ....

, whose mistress she is said to have become. She is even said to have given birth to a natural son, named George Nord, after his purported royal father.

In the declining years of her life, Madame Gerebtzoff returned to the Russian capital, where she again became immersed in court intrigues through her powerful son-in-law, Prince Aleksey Orlov. In the 1840s, she was the patron of Alexander Herzen

Alexander Herzen

Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen was a Russian pro-Western writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism", and one of the main fathers of agrarian populism...

, who would recall her character and opinions with admiration in his memoirs "My Past and Thoughts":