The first official emperor of all Russia not only cut a window to Europe, but also made a habit of collecting mistresses. He didn’t start a harem, he wasn’t a Muslim, but Peter had a special “bed register”, and in it there were contact details for the girls with whom the head of state had a desire to have intimacy. No commitment, as they say. And there was a certain Maria Hamilton among them …
Maria was a Russianized Scottish young lady, at court she was in the status of a maid of honor and cheated on Peter with his own orderly Ivan Orlov. So - she wanted love, but the emperor invited me to bed several times, and even forgot. Maria was madly in love with Orlov, so much so that, at his insistence, she had abortions to hide the fact of their relationship. And he, the scoundrel of the sovereign, quickly lost interest in her, even began to beat her, but the restless Scottish woman did not lag behind.
So this “santa barbara” would have continued if Peter had not once lost an important paper and had not summoned the orderly on this matter. But the emperor formulated the thought vaguely - Orlov realized that he was required to return the loss and immediately froze. After all, he had long ago drank those small jewels that Maria had stolen from Peter's wife in order to give her lover. And instead of looking into the situation, in the heat of the moment, Petru confessed, forcing him to think hard.
History remembers that the Russian autocrat had a tough temper - he ordered the execution of Maria. Officially for the murder of her children, because she strangled one of them with a newborn. But in fact … on the day of the execution, the girl was dressed in a strict and beautiful festive outfit. Peter personally gave her his hand, helping her to climb the scaffold. Everyone expected that the emperor would now have mercy on his mistress, but the command sounded and the executioner's ax lowered. Peter raised his severed head and kissed the cold lips. They say that for some time the remains of Maria Hamilton were kept in formalin in Kunskamer, but whether that is true or not is unknown.