The family fled Russia in 1919, following the
Bolshevik October Revolution by joining a group of people who had been evacuated by the British fleet. King
George V of the United Kingdom was the cousin of the last Tsar and maternal nephew of widowed Empress
Maria Feodorovna. King George V persuaded Prime Minister
David Lloyd George to send a ship to
Crimea to save his aunt, but the Empress refused to leave unless those who wished to flee the country with her were also rescued. The British sent additional ships to evacuate the entire group, including the Vassiltchikov family. They took refuge, initially in
France, where she and her sister Princess
Marie Vassiltchikov (1917–1978), called Missie, were educated at the Lycée of
St Germain-en-Laye. Tatiana von Metternich published several books, some of them illustrated with her own
watercolours. After her husband's death, the hall was named "Fürst-von-Metternich-Saal". Concerts of sacred music are performed in the
Basilika; chamber music, including the annual composer's portrait, in the Fürst-von-Metternich-Saal; open-air concerts are performed in various courts; and the annual "Sommerfest" takes place on all public grounds of the estate. She served as the first president of the festival's
curators until her death and was kept on the list as "Gründungsvorsitzende" (founding president). Upon her husband's death in 1992 she faced that he had left a considerable portion of his fortune to a mistress, which meant she was forced to sell her remaining share of Schloss Johannisberg to the Oetker family. She was permitted to remain at the Schloss until her death; suffering ill health in her last years. She adopted a relative, Don Alvaro de Salinas, as her heir. She sponsored charity projects, especially in the
Order of Saint Lazarus, which she joined in 1978. She succeeded her husband as the organization's "Grand Bailiff" in Germany until her death at Schloss Johannisberg on 26 July 2006. She and her husband are buried next to the Basilika of Schloss Johannisberg. ==Awards==