Ivan lived to be twenty-three years old, surviving Elizabeth and her nephew-heir Peter III — Catherine the Great’s husband. There were even suggestions that Potemkin later married Catherine in secret, becoming her consort. “Prisoner one” or “the nameless one” was kept under lock and key, while in the outside world his name was forbidden at court, and all records of his brief reign (including books, coins and paintings) were destroyed. The sad tale came to an end in 1764, when Vasily Mirovich (a sub-lieutenant of the garrison) discovered the prisoner’s identity and attempted to free him — only for the guards to immediately kill Ivan. During his years as Anna's lover he had made many enemies, and was tremendously unpopular at court. At midnight on 5 July 1764, Mirovich won over some of the garrison, arrested the commandant, Berednikov, and demanded the release of Ivan. Our best wishes for a productive day. Ivan and his parents were imprisoned far from the capital and spent the rest of their lives in captivity. Under no circumstances was he to be delivered alive into anyone's hands, without an express written order in the Empress' handwriting. The Most Powerful Man in Russia Propositioned Her. Indeed, the desire to ensure that her lover would enjoy power and influence after her death was the primary reason the dying empress chose to name as her heir the infant rather than his mother. Ever seen the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Man in the Iron Mask, based on the real-life legend? However, the idea of Biron wielding power was not acceptable either to Ivan's parents or to most of the nobility. The first thing anyone needs to understand about the Russian imperial line of succession in this era is that it was, and this is a historical term, a complete shitshow. When news of his confinement at Kholmogory circulated more widely, young Ivan was secretly transferred to the fortress of Shlisselburg (1756) where he was still more rigorously guarded; not even the commandant of the fortress knowing the true identity of "a certain prisoner". Natalia was rumoured to have had an affair with courtier Andrei Razumovsky, but Catherine reportedly didn’t care about her grandchild’s secret parentage. Vasily Mirovich was a nobody at Shlisselburg prison who discovered the truth behind the mysterious, unnamed “Prisoner #1” and attempted to rescue him from captivity, only to activate secret orders that the prisoner be killed if any attempt at escape were ever made. The episode opens with Helen Mirren's stately Catherine the Great visiting a prisoner of unknown origins at Shlisselburg and ends with that prisoner's violent death during an ambitious guard's attempt to free him. After more than twenty years as a prisoner, Ivan was killed by his guards when some army officers (unknown to Ivan) attempted to free him. The circumstances around Ivan VI’s murder in prison are depicted more or less truthfully in Catherine the Great. She ordered th… HBO's 'Catherine the Great' trailer promises blood, drama, and a very horny empress. Catherine was a patron of the arts, literature, and education. The truth behind his incarceration is a long story, but  the real history behind Ivan VI's death is worth a miniseries of its own.