On 30 September 2021, a gathering of former kings, members of royal houses, and the nobility of Russia and the countries of Europe surprised the world. They had arrived in Saint Petersburg for the wedding of the heir of the House of Romanov, the Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, and his bride, the Italian Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, known since her conversion to Orthodoxy as Victoria Romanovna.
Noted royal historian Marlene Koenig, remarked in an article on the event that the guests joked together, referring to the planes carrying the notables as “Air Gotha.”[I] Jest aside, Koenig also pointed out that it was the largest single gathering of royalty and the high nobility in Saint Petersburg since the beginning of the First World War[ii]
On the first night of the three days of events in St. Petersburg, the Grand Duchess Maria hosted a small dinner at the former palace of her great-grandparents, Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Vladimir. The evening was a chance to welcome family members and distinguished guests, and to distribute the family honors which are traditionally awarded at important dynastic events.
At Grand Duchess Maria’s own wedding in 1976, her father Grand Duke Vladimir awarded the Imperial Order of St. Andrew the First-Called to, King Constantine of Greece, King Leka I of Albania, and Tsar Simeon of the Bulgarians. Another King at the wedding, King Umberto II of Italy, had been awarded the Order by Nicholas II himself at his birth in 1904. At the Vladimir Palace, Grand Duchess Vladimir was pleased to award the same order to HM King Fuad II of Egypt, and to King Leka’s son, Crown Prince Leka of the Albanians.
Her Imperial Highness was also pleased to award the Imperial Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class to HE Jean-Marie Musy, Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to Spain, and the Imperial and Royal Order of St. Stanislas, 1st class, to close family friend HH Prince Joachim Murat, Prince of Pontecorvo[iii],
After the awards, the palace was opened to five hundred of the more than 1500 guests expected the following day at the wedding of Grand Duke George and Victoria Romanovna.
We give all credit to the extraordinary Royal photographer DAVID NIVIERE for these exceptional photographs of the event. All copyright belongs to the photographer.
Notes:
[i] “Air Gotha Arrives in St. Petersburg” Royal Musings, 29 September, 2021 (http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2021/09/air-gotha-arrives-in-st-petersburg.html)
[ii] While guests at the reburial of the Dowager Empress counted the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark, the former King of Greece, the Crown Prince and Princess of Serbia, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent among the guests who stood by Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna’s side at the reburial, those attending the wedding included King Simeon of Bulgaria, King Fuad II of Egypt, Crown Prince Leka of the Albanians, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and other members of the royal houses of Albania, Afghanistan, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, France [Bourbon and Bourbon-Orléans], Greece, Italy [Savoy and Aosta], Liechtenstein, Naples (Murat),Portugal, Prussia, Qatar, and Spain.
[iii] HH the Prince is the heir to headship of the House of Murat. Joachim Murat was created the 1st Prince Murat by his brother-in-law Emperor Napoleon I, and ruled as Joachim-Napoleon, King of Naples, from 1808-1815.
