 A celebrated beauty during her youth, she was later regarded as one of the most beautiful queens in Europe.She was born in 1859 in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now Italy), as the first child of Russian colonel Petre Keșco (1830–1865) of Bessarabia, member of the collateral branch of family and Moldavian Princess Pulcheria Sturdza (1831–1874).Her father was the son of Ioan Keșco, a Marshal of Nobility of 
Bessarabia, and Romanian noblewoman Natalia , daughter of Iordache Balș, Grand treasurer of Moldova and Princess Ruxandra (1785-1844).