Pannikhida in Memory of the Russian imperial Family Held In Paris

(Translated from the French original)

On December 11, responding to the request of His Highness Prince Stephane Belosselsky-Belozersky, a descendant of the Rurikid dynasty and president of the Assembly of the Russian Nobility in France (ANRF), His Eminence Metropolitan John of Dubna presided over a pannikhida in memory of the parents of Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia: Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna of Russia.

Present at the service were His Imperial Highness Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia and Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Romanovna.

At the end of the service, Metropolitan John, addressing the Imperial family, presented a plaque with a print of the coat of arms of the Romanovs dated 1896 in memory of the memory of their ancestors and stressed the importance of continuing the work of the dynasty.

After his speech, Bishop John awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky to the Heir-Tsesarevich Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, the highest decoration of the Archbishopric of the Orthodox Churches of the Russian Tradition in Western Europe,  as a reward for his support and loyalty to the Archdiocese. The Archbishop also awarded Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Romanovna the Medal of St. Mary of Paris (Sokbtsov), a high decoration of the Archdiocese of the Orthodox Churches of the Russian Tradition in Western Europe, as a reward for her charitable commitment.

In the evening, the Assembly of the Russian Nobility in France (ANRF) organized a charity dinner at the Yacht Club de France, for the benefit of the charities of the Imperial Foundation. The auction raised 40,000 euros, which will support the Foundation's many projects. In line with the charitable works that have always been set up on Daru Street, the ANRF and the Imperial Foundation will launch a joint charitable action near the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

The original announcement is available here.

H.I.H. Grand Duke George of Russia & H.S.H. the Princess Romanoff visit Paris

This month, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and his wife, Princess Victoria Romanovna visited Paris for a series of events both, personal and official.  The Grand Duke and his wife have both spent a great deal of their lives in the French capital, and the city is an important and beloved place to both of them. 

On December 12th, at the invitation of His Eminence Metropolitan Jean de Dubna, Archbishop of the Western European Parishes of the Russian Tradition in France, the Heir-Tsesarevich and Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia and his wife Princess Romanoff arrived at Paris’ famous Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky to participate in a pannikhida (memorial service for the dead) to pray for the souls of the Grand Duke’s Grandparents, the Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich and Grand Duchess Leonida Guéorgievna of Russia.

The interior of the Cathedral St. Alexander Nevsky, rue Daru, Paris.

After the memorial, His Eminence spoke of the important work being done by the Grand Duke and his wife in Russia and abroad.  To recognize this work, the Metropolitan presented the Grand Duke with the Western European Parishes of the Russian Tradition’s highest award, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, for his services to the church.  

His wife, the Princess Romanoff, was awarded the prestigious Medal of St. Mother Maria (Skobtseva) for charitable works of mercy. Princess Romanoff noted that the medal inspired her “to work harder and to do better” to assist those in need.

HSH the Princess Romanoff, H.E. Metropolitan Jean de Dubna, HIH Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia

L’Union Interalliee

That evening, the Grand Duke and Princess Romanoff led the festivities at a charity dinner which was organized to benefit the Russian Imperial Foundation and held at the Cercle Interalliée in Paris.  The private club was founded in Paris in 1917. The founders, who included the Count of Beaumont, Paul Dupuy, the Count J. de Bryas, Arthur Meyer, and M.J de Sillac, suggested establishing a place of welcome providing moral and material resources to the officers and personalities of the Allied nations, in order to develop positive relations.  The club has survived for over 100 years as a diplomatic and cultural bastion in Paris.

Princess Victoria Romanovna worked closely with the President of the Association de la Noblesse Russse de France, Prince Stephane Guéorguievitsch Belosselsky-Belozersky and with noted Russian art expert and Commisaire-Priseur M. Cyrille Boulay to organize a dinner and charity auction which brought 40,000 Euros to help assist the Russian Imperial Foundation with its work in Russia and abroad.

Prince Stephane Belosselsky-Belozersky and HSH the Princess Romanoff at the evening benefit.

Many members of Parisian and White Russian society were brought together to make the event a success. The guests included (among many others):  

HIH Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and HSH Princess Victoria Romanovna

HRH Prince Ali Fouad of Egypt, Prince of the Sa’id

HRH Princess Noal of Egypt, Princess of the Sa’id, Princess of Afghanistan

TH Prince and Princess Joachim Murat, Prince and Princess of Pontecorvo

HRH Princess Antonella de Bourbon-Orléans

H.E. M. Jean-Marie Musy, Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Prince and Princess Michel Bariatinsky

Princess Nadine Bariatinskaya

Prince and Princess Stephane Belosselsky-Belozersky

M. Laurent-Marie Dolgoruky

Prince Michel Troiekouroff

Count Jacquelin d’Oultremont

Count and Countess Guy de Chavanne

Countess Perrine de Chavanne

Baron von Pfeften

Baron Frédéric de Gaiffier d’Hestroy

HH Prince Joachim Murat, Prince of Pontecorvo and HIH Grand Duke George Mikhailovich with the newly-baptized Prince Joachim Murat leave the Invalides in Paris.

On December 12, the couple were present privately at the baptism of HH Prince Joachim Murat (b. 5 Aug, 2021), son of TH Prince and Princess Joachim (Yasmin) Murat, Prince and Princess of Ponte Corvo.  The father of the newly-baptized prince is the son of HH Prince Joachim, 8th Prince Murat.  The Murat dynasty began with Joachim Murat, Marshal of the French Empire and brother-in-law of Emperor Napoleon I.  Joachim Murat, husband of Princess Caroline Bonaparte, reigned as Grand Duke of Berg (1806-1808) and then as King of Naples (1808-1815).

The Grand Duke and his wife arrived at the Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides for the baptism, and were among the other royal and noble guests who stood at the event.  The Grand Duke and his wife last saw their great friends the Prince and Princess de Ponte Corvo at their wedding in St. Petersburg in October of this year.

Andrew Romanoff “de jure” Tsar? Not really.

To the editor:

Why did the Instagram account Royalty and Protocol describe the late Andrew Romanoff (who died on November 28, 2021 at age 98) as “Head of the Russian Imperial House and de jure Tsar of Russia?” I thought that his father’s morganatic marriage prevented him from being a member of the dynasty?

RESPONSE FROM RL:

You are correct.  The Russian monarchy had an “equal marriage” law.  A Russian dynast had to marry a wife from another royal family in order to transmit membership in the dynasty to his children.  The morganatic marriage of Andrew Romanoff’s father to a non-royal spouse meant that Andrew was not a member of the Imperial House and therefore could never be the Head of the Imperial House.

Some monarchies, like that of Britain, do not have equal marriage rules.  If the Russian dynasty did not have a strict equal marriage rule, then Andrew Romanoff would indeed have been a member of the dynasty.  But even then, according to male primogeniture, he would not have been the senior male dynast and thus could not be the head of the dynasty.  Ahead of him by male primogeniture would be Prince Dmitri Romanovsky-Ilyinsky and his brother Michael.  Thus, under this scenario, Andrew would only have been third in line.  This was also true of the morganatic Nicholas Romanovich Romanoff, who wrongly proclaimed himself head of the Romanoff family in 1992, following the death of the Grand Duke Vladimir.  If there had been no equal marriage law, Nicholas would have been fourth in line by male primogeniture, after Prince Paul Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (only son of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich) and his two sons, Dmitri and Michael.

We looked at the Instagram account to which you refer.  Its focus seems to be on the correct way to curtsey and bow.  Please understand that Instagram does not lend itself to complexity, and one cannot expect the people behind such an account to understand the intricacies of the Russian dynasty’s Pauline law.

Death of Andrew Andreevich Romanov, Prince Romanovsky

Russian Legitimist has learned of the death of Prince Andrew Andreevich, son of HH Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia, and his morganatic wife, Princess Elisabeth di Sasso-Ruffo.

Prince Andrew was 98 years old, and reposed in the Lord at his home in Inverness, California.

A well-known artist and illustrator, Prince Andrew is survived by his wife, Inez, his three sons Alexis (1953), Peter (1961) Andrew (1963) his granddaughter, Natasha Romanov, his half-sister, Olga Romanov.

Prince Andrew was the eldest Romanoff descendant, but because of his parents’ morganatic marriage, he was not a dynastic member of the Russian Imperial House.

To the servant of God, Andrew, memory eternal!

Sources:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1873379592929526/permalink/3097838353816971/

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2021/11/prince-andrew-andreevich-romanoff-1923.html?m=1

https://gothanjou.blog/2021/11/29/andrei-andreievitch-romanov-1923-2021/

The Russian Legitimist Mourns the Death of Fra’ Matthew Festing.

The Russian Legitimist expresses it condolences to the members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta on the passing of their former Prince and Grand Master, Fra’ Matthew Festing. At a ceremony at the Magistral Palace in Rome in 2014, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, HIH the Grand Duchess Maria, Dame Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the SMOM, invested Fra’ Matthew with the Imperial Order of St. Andrew. In 2015, The Tsesarevich and Grand Duke George of Russia, Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the SMOM, welcomed Fra’ Matthew to St. Petersburg during the latter’s grand magistral visit to the former imperial capital. May Fra’ Matthew rest in peace.

Memory Eternal to the Servant of God, Matthew!

30th Anniversary of the Return of the Romanovs to Russia.

On November 5, 1991, began the first visit to the Homeland of the Head of the Russian Imperial House of Romanov, HIH Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, after the 1917 Revolution.

This visit marked the beginning of a full-fledged process of returning the Romanov Dynasty to the public life of modern Russia and other countries belonging to the territory of the former Russian Empire.

30 years ago today, on November 7, 1991, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich and Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna arrived at the Piskarevskoye Cemetery at 10-30, where they honored the memory of the victims of the Siege of Leningrad by laying a wreath at their memorial.

Before laying the wreath, the Grabd Duke made a speech: "Laying a wreath at the Piskarevskoye cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of victims of the Siege of Leningrad, as well as defenders of the city, are buried, I want to honor the memory of all Russians who lost their lives during World War II. (...) The people have had many tragic trials over the past 70 years. I bow down today before the bright memory of millions of compatriots - fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, our children - all those who fell victim to the inhuman war, and I ask God for the repose of their souls. Eternal memory to them!"

Subsequently, the Grand Duke repeatedly said that it was his time at the Piskarevskoye cemetery that was the most moving for him during his visit to his homeland.

After the reception at the Mariinsky Palace and its inspection, the Imperial Couple proceeded to the Smolensk Cemetery, where they prayed in the chapel of St. Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg.

The Grabd Duke and Duchess were greeted by the rector of the then-restored church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, ruined during the years of persecution, Archpriest Viktor Moskovsky (1949-2020). Since the visit to the chapel of Blessed Xenia was not initially included by the organizers in the program of the visit and was initiated by Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich and Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, Father Victor did not know about the arrival of Their Imperial Highnesses. But it was the absence of formality that gave this meeting and joint prayer a special quality

Then a reception was held at the K-2 residence on Kamenny Island on behalf of the Mayor of St. Petersburg A.A. Sobchak. The reception was attended by city leaders and mayors of the twin cities of the Northern Capital.

After the reception, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich and Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna visited the House of Scientists - the former palace of the Grand Duke’s grandfather, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, inspected it and watched fireworks over the Neva from the balcony.

On November 8, the Imperial Couple toured Kamenny Island, then laid flowers at the monument to the founder of the city, Emperor Peter I the Great ("The Bronze Horseman"), visited the Naval School and Peterhof.

On November 9, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich and Grabd Duchess Leonida Georgievna visited Tsarskoye Selo, visited the Hermitage and attended a performance of “La Traviata” at the Mariinsky Theater.

***adapted from a FB post by Aleksandr Zakatov.

Imperial Photo Galleries Now Online!

The Russian Legitimist has made several galleries of rare and interesting Romanov photographs available to the general public!

On the home page, “Imperial Photo Galleries” has been added as one of the menu choices, and there follows an interesting dropdown menu featuring many important events and persons.

From rare and unusual images of the members of the Imperial House before the revolution to candid shots of the Imperial House in exile, these images will be of interest to scholars and collectors.

The photographs may not be used for publication without written permission, as copyrights belong to the holders who made them available to us, but the links may be shared widely.

The galleries available include:

American College Newspaper’s View of the Imperial Wedding!

Reporter Victoria Eluszkiewicz of the Lowell “Connector” has written a charming piece Bout rhe imperial wedding:

“Even though Duke George was born in Spain, raised in France and educated in England, he never lost the sense of his Russian identity. Russian was his first language. I respect those who are passionate about their heritage and their history. I also liked that he did not completely conform to typical royal rules, deciding to marry a non-royal. Victoria was the daughter of Italian diplomats. They met in Belgium and chose to marry, not out of obligation, but out of love for each other. The looks on their faces at the wedding were those of pure love, as if they were made for one another.”

Brava!

The full article may be read HERE.