Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia
Hohenzollern (agnatic)FatherPrince Franz Wilhelm of PrussiaMotherGrand *ss Maria Vladimirovna of RussiaReligionRussian Orthodox
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Георгий Михайлович Романов, romanized::Georgiy Mikhaylovich Romanov, also spelled Romanoff; German: Georg Mikhailowitsch Romanow; born 13 March 1981) is the heir apparent to Maria Vladimirovna, a claimant to the disputed Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia. He is the only child of Maria and her former husband, Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia. George's mother attributes to him the *le of Tsesarevich and he bears, as a *le of pretence, the prefix of "Grand Duke" with the style of Imperial Highness which is still being questioned. As the son of a cadet member of the branch of the House of Hohenzollern which formerly ruled the German Empire and Kingdom of Prussia, he is also sometimes en*led "Prince of Prussia" with the style of Royal Highness.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Education and career
- 3 Heir to his mother
- 4 Marriage
- 5 Honours
- 5.1 Russian Dynastic honours
- 5.2 Foreign Dynastic honours
- 5.3 Ecclesiastical Honours
- 6 Ancestry
- 7 References
- 7.1 Further reading
- 8 Notes
- 9 External links
Early life
George was born in Madrid in 1981, the son of Grand *ss Maria Vladimirovna of Russia (daughter and heir of Vladimir Cyrillovich, Grand Duke of Russia) and her husband Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia (*led at the time: Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich), (son of Prince Karl Franz of Prussia and Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath).
George was baptised on 6 May 1981, in Madrid; his godfather is Constantine II of Greece. Also present at the baptism were King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain and Simeon II and Queen Margarita of Bulgaria. The announcement that George Mikhailovich would be known as a Russian Grand Duke prompted Prince Vasili Alexandrovich, then president of the Romanov Family *ociation, to respond in writing that "The Romanov Family *ociation hereby declares that the joyful event in the Prussian Royal House does not concern the Romanov Family *ociation since the newborn prince is not a member of either the Russian Imperial House or of the Romanov family". This response was ignored by Grand Duke Vladimir as he had already selected his daughter to succeed him according to the Pauline laws, and because the marriage between her and Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia was deemed dynastic. Prior to their wedding, the Grand Duke and his first cousin, then Head of the House of Hohenzollern, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, had made a dynastic agreement that any child born from this marriage should be raised as a Romanov. Therefore, George is considered a dynast of both houses (Romanov and Hohenzollern), as his father has never renounced his Prussian royal *le.
His father, who stopped using his Russian *le after his separation, has said of his son, "I have his German p*port right here; I always carry it with me. It says he is Prince George of Prussia".
George spent the first years of his life in France before moving to Spain. There he and his mother lived, along with his maternal grandmother, in the home of his maternal aunt, Helen Kirby, who inherited a significant fortune from her father, Sumner Moore Kirby.
Education and career
George was educated at Runnymede College in Madrid, D'Overbroeck's College, Oxford and at St Benet's Hall, Oxford.
In Brussels, he worked at the European Parliament where he was an *istant to Loyola de Palacio, former European Commissioner for Transport and Energy. Later he moved to Luxembourg where he was employed at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Atomic Energy and Security.
On 12 December 2008, he was appointed an aide to the Director General of MMC Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian nickel-mining company. In 2012 he was nominated chief executive of Metal Trade Overseas, the main sales hub for Norilsk Nickel in Switzerland. In 2014 he started his own company, Romanoff & Partners, in Brussels.
Heir to his mother
On 21 April 1992, upon the death of his maternal grandfather Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich, George's mother claimed to have succeeded as the sovereign and Curatrix of the Throne of Russia, making him, to supporters of his mother, heir-apparent and tsesarevich. He visited Russia for the first time shortly thereafter to attend the funeral of his grandfather. His claim to the throne is contested.
In 1996, when he, his mother, and his grandmother Leonida returned to Russia after living in Madrid, one of President Boris Yeltsin's former bodyguards was *igned as tutor to the 15-year-old prince. He was also set to study at a Russian Naval college but these plans were dropped.
On 17 July 2018 he participated, along with his mother, in the liturgical commemoration of the centenary of the **inations of Saints Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their children conducted in Yekaterinburg by Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow.
Marriage
In January 2021, the family announced that George was engaged to marry Victoria Romanovna Bettarini (born Rebecca Virginia Bettarini in Rome on 18 May 1982), having received the permission of Grand *ss Maria. His mother decreed that Bettarini would have the *le of Princess, with the predicate "Her Serene Highness" and the right to use the surname Romanova from her marriage, which therefore implies that theirs is a morganatic union. Dr. Victoria Bettarini is the Director of the Russian Imperial Foundation. She is daughter of Roberto Amedeo Simeone Bettarini (born in Taranto on 5 May 1947), an Italian diplomat, amb*ador in Luxembourg from 2006 to 2010 and in Brussels from 2010 and 2013, and wife Carla Virginia Cacciatore (born in Rome, Italy, on 30 April 1945), whom he married in Kinshasa, Zaire, on 13 August 1977.
They married on 24 September 2021 in a civil ceremony in Moscow. The religious wedding took place on 1 October in Saint Petersburg, at Saint Isaac's Cathedral. Around 1500 guests attended the ceremony, including King Simeon II of Bulgaria and his wife Queen Margarita; King Fuad II of Egypt; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa of Qatar; Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza and his wife Isabel, *ss of Braganza; Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Piedmont; Crown Prince Leka of Albania and his wife Crown Princess Elia; Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg and his husband Gauthier Destenay; Prince Louis Alphonse de Bourbon and his wife Princess Marie Marguerite de Bourbon; Prince Aimone, 6th Duke of Aosta and his wife, born Princess Olga of Greece; Russian monarchist and billionaire Konstantin Malofeev; Sarah Fabergé; European historian and socialite, Stéphane Bern as well as many members of Russian, Spanish and European nobility.
Following the wedding events, a gala wedding supper was held at the Russian Museum of Ethnography in St. Petersburg. The 500 guests included members of the royal houses of Albania, Afghanistan, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Prussia, Qatar, and Spain. The following day, a Wedding breakfast "à la Russe" was hosted by George's mother, the Grand *ss Maria, held at Constantine Palace and was attended by a smaller amount of 700 guests before their departures.
Honours
Russian Dynastic honours
- House of Romanov: Knight of the Imperial Order of Saint Andrew
- House of Romanov: Knight of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky
- House of Romanov: Knight of the Imperial Order of the White Eagle
- House of Romanov: Knight Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order of Saint Anna
- House of Romanov: Knight Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order of Saint Stanislas
Foreign Dynastic honours
- Prussian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Black Eagle
- Portuguese Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
- Italian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
- Italian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
- :Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Ecclesiastical Honours
- Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia: Medal of Saint Raphael of Brooklyn, 1st Cl*
- Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe: Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
Ancestry
References
Further reading
- M*ie, Robert K. (1995). The Romanovs The Final Chapter. Jonathan Cape. ISBN:0-224-04192-4.
Notes
External links
- Official Website of the Russian Imperial Family (in English)