Editing Felix Yusupov (section)

==World War I==
When World War I broke out in August 1914, both he and his wife were briefly detained in Berlin. Irina asked her relative, Crown Princess [[Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Cecilie of Prussia]], to intervene with Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]]. The Kaiser refused to permit the Yusupov family to leave but offered them a choice of three country estates to live in for the duration of the war. Felix's father appealed to [[Luis Polo de Bernabé|the Spanish ambassador in Germany]] and won permission for them to return to Russia via neutral [[Denmark]] to the [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] and from there to Saint Petersburg.<ref>G. King, pp. 114–115.</ref>{{citation needed|reason=It seems all the family members were on the same train. See here [http://www.rulit.net/books/the-last-tsar-emperor-michael-ii-read-311858-12.html]|date=January 2014}}

The Yusupovs' only daughter, Princess [[Irina Felixovna Yusupova]], nicknamed Bébé, was born on 21 March 1915.<ref>King, p. 116</ref> She was largely raised by her paternal grandparents until she was nine. Felix and Irina, raised mainly by nannies themselves, were ill-suited to take on the day-to-day burdens of child-rearing. Bébé adored her father but had a more distant relationship with her mother.<ref>King, pp. 257–258</ref>

After the death of his brother [[Nicholas Yusupov|Nicholas]] in a duel in 1908, Felix was the heir to an immense fortune. Consulting with family members about how best to administer the money and property, he decided to devote time and money to charitable activities and converted a wing/floor of the [[Liteyny Avenue|Liteyny House]] into a hospital for wounded soldiers.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Felix was able to avoid entering military service himself by taking advantage of a law exempting only sons from serving. Irina's first cousin, Grand Duchess [[Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia|Olga]], to whom she had been close when they were children, was disdainful of Felix: "Felix is a 'downright civilian,' dressed all in brown, walked to and fro about the room, searching in some bookcases with magazines and virtually doing nothing; an utterly unpleasant impression he makes – a man idling in such times," Olga wrote to Nicholas on 5 March 1915 after paying a visit to the Yusupovs.<ref>Bokhanov, Alexander, Knodt, Dr. Manfred, Oustimenko, Vladimir, Peregudova, Zinaida, Tyutyunnik, Lyubov, editors, <!--Xenofontova, Lyudmila, translator,--> ''The Romanovs: Love, Power, and Tragedy,'' Leppi Publications, 1993, p. 240</ref>

"Yusupov's plan, as he described it in his book, was to seek closer acquaintance with the healer [[Grigori Rasputin]], and win his confidence. He asked Rasputin to cure a slight malady from which he suffered."<ref>B. Pares (1939), p. 400.</ref> These sessions stopped early January 1915 when, according to [[Maurice Paléologue]], the most absurd stories were spread about [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alexandra Feodorovna]] being the Starets' lover, Rasputin was also accused of [[espionage]] for Imperial Germany, and the tsarina was called nothing but "the German woman" (her birth nationality).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gwpda.org/memoir/FrAmbRus/pal1-08.htm|title=Maurice Paléologue. An Ambassador's Memoirs. 1925. Vol. I, Chapter VIII.|website=www.gwpda.org}}</ref> The men did not meet again for almost two years.<ref>D. Smith (2016) Rasputin, p. 576</ref> In February 1916 Felix began studies at the elite [[Page Corps]] [[military academy]] and tried joining an [[Imperial Russian Army]] regiment in August.<ref>Ronald C. Moe (2011) Prelude to the Revolution: The Murder of Rasputin, p. 494-495.</ref>

[[File:FelixIrinaBebe.jpg|thumb|Felix and Irina with their daughter Irina Jr. in 1916]]
The heavy losses by the Russian military gave rise to a lot of rumors that Yusupov’s family was involved in [[misprision of treason]], according to [[Alexander Spiridovich]]:
{{Blockquote|Sunday, June 13, 1915: There were also stormy demonstrations at the gates of the [[Marfo-Mariinsky Convent|Convent of Martha-and-Mary]], the abbess of which is the [[Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna]], the Empress's sister and widow of the Grand Duke [[Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia|Sergei]]. This charming woman, who spends her whole life in devotion and good works, has been smothered with insults, for the people of Moscow have long been convinced that she is a German spy ….

All this news has caused the greatest consternation at [[Tsarskoye Selo]]. The Empress is violently attacking Prince Yusupov….<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gwpda.org/memoir/FrAmbRus/pal2-01.htm|title=Maurice Paléologue. An Ambassador's Memoirs. 1925. Vol. II, Chapter I.|website=gwpda.org|accessdate=2 January 2023}}</ref>}}

On 19 June 1915, after anti-German pogroms in Moscow, he was dismissed from the post of chief of the Moscow Military District, and on September 3, 1915 from the post of commander-in-chief over Moscow.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.liveinternet.ru/users/4723908/post479591133/|title=Обсуждение на LiveInternet - Российский Сервис Онлайн-Дневников|website=liveinternet.ru|accessdate=2 January 2023}}</ref>