Tatiana von Metternich was born in Petrograd on January 1, 1915, into the family of Prince Illarion Sergeyevich Vasilychikov, a member of the IV State Duma, and Lydia Leonidovna, née Princess Vyazemskaya. She and her sister Maria, who also became a memoirist, studied in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

In September 1941, Tatiana married Prince Metternich and moved with him to the estate of Königswarte in western Czechoslovakia. After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans, they settled in Rheingau, where they restored the Johannisberg Castle. Based on local vineyards, they created the popular sparkling wine "Prince Metternich," in which Tatiana participated in the blending.

In 1976, she published her memoirs titled "The Woman with Five Passports," which were translated into Russian in 1999.

In 1978, Tatiana joined the Order of Saint Lazarus, representing its interests in Germany. In 1987, she supported the creation of the Rheingau Music Festival by providing Johannisberg Castle for concerts.

After 1991, Tatiana frequently visited Russia and actively engaged in charity work in Saint Petersburg. After her husband's death in 1992, she sold the castle to Dr. Oetker but continued to live there until her death in 2006. She had no children.

In the summer of 1996, over a glass of dry rosé wine "Fürst von Metternich" at Johannisberg Castle, I asked Tatiana Illarionovna about the reasons for her family's emigration from Russia. After a pause, she took a book by Ivan Bunin and read an excerpt from his speech "The Mission of the Russian Emigration," delivered in Paris on February 16, 1924. She emphasized that the emigrants voluntarily left their homeland, not accepting the new life in Russia, and went abroad to avoid a senseless death.