De Pfeffel was born on 30 July 1883. She was the younger daughter of Baron Christian Hubert Theodor Marie Karl
Pfeffel von Kriegelstein (1843–1922), son of Baron Karl Maximilian Friedrich Hubert Pfeffel von Krigenstein (1811–1890) and Karoline Adelheid Pauline von Rottenburg, natural daughter of
Prince Paul of Württemberg. Her mother was Hélène Arnous de Rivière (1862–1951), daughter of French chess champion
Jules Arnous de Rivière and his wife Joséphine de Coulhac Mazérieux (1834–1921). She had an elder sister, Marie-Louise Pfeffel von Kriegelstein (1882–1944) who was the great-grandmother of
Boris Johnson, a former British Prime Minister. ==Tennis career==