Maria Vladimirovna
Encyclopedia
Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia , has been a claimant to the headship of the Imperial Family of Russia and pretender to the titles Empress and Autocrat of All the Russias
(historically the modern states of Russia
, Belarus
, Ukraine
, Kazakhstan
, Finland
, Estonia
, Latvia
, and Lithuania
) and Queen of Poland
, since 1992. She has used Grand Duchess of Russia as her title of pretension
with the style Imperial Highness
throughout her life, though her right to this title is disputed. She is a great-great-granddaughter in the male-line of Tsar Alexander II of Russia
.
, the only child of Vladimir Kirillovich, Grand Duke of Russia, Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and titular Emperor of Russia, and Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani
who was half-Polish
. Her paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna (née Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
). Maria was educated in Madrid and Paris, before spending a few terms at Oxford University, where she studied Russian history and literature.
On 23 December 1969, upon reaching her dynastic majority, Maria swore an oath of loyalty to her father, to Russia, and to uphold the Fundamental Laws of Russia which governed succession to the defunct throne
. At the same time, her father issued a controversial decree recognising her as heiress presumptive
and declaring that, in the event he predeceased other Romanov males whom he had recognised as dynasts, then Maria would become the "Curatrix
of the Imperial Throne". until the death of the last male dynast. This has been viewed as an attempt by her father to ensure the succession remained in his branch of the imperial family, while the heads of the other branches of the imperial family, the Princes Vsevolod Ioannovich
of the (Konstantinovichi), Roman Petrovich
of the (Nikolaevichi) and Prince Andrei Alexandrovich
of the (Mihailovichi) declared that her father's actions were illegal.
In Madrid
on 22 September 1976, Maria married Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia
, a Hohenzollern
great-grandson of Germany's last emperor, Wilhelm II and, like his bride, a great-great grandchild of Victoria, Queen of the British Empire. Franz Wilhelm converted to the Orthodox faith prior to the wedding, taking the name Michael Pavlovich and receiving the title of a Grand Duke of Russia from Maria's father.
The couple separated in 1982, a year after the birth of their only child George Mikhailovich, who had been granted the title Grand Duke of Russia at birth by his grandfather Vladimir. Following the divorce on 19 June 1985, Franz Wilhelm reverted to his Prussian name and style.
Maria Vladimirovna lives in France and Spain. She is fluent in Russian, English, French and Spanish, and also speaks some German, Italian and Arabic
.
who also claimed to have succeeded Vladimir.
Following the discovery of the remains of Emperor Nicholas II
and most of his immediate family in 1991, Maria Vladimirovna wrote to President Boris Yeltsin
, regarding the burial of the remains, saying of her Romanov cousins, whom she does not recognise as members of the Imperial family (including the grandchildren of Nicholas II's sister Grand Duchess Xenia
), that they "do not have the slightest right to speak their mind and wishes on this question. They can only go and pray at the grave, as can any other Russian, who so wishes". At the behest of the Russian Orthodox Church
Maria did not recognise the authenticity of the remains and declined to attend the reburial ceremony in 1998. She has also said regarding her Romanov cousins, that "My feeling about them is that now that something important is happening in Russia, they suddenly have awakened and said, 'Ah ha! There might be something to gain out of this.'"
Maria hopes for the restoration of the monarchy someday and is "ready to respond to a call from the people". When questioned about the ongoing rift in the Romanov family, Maria said;
In 2002, Maria became frustrated with the internal strife within the Russian monarchist movement. When representatives of the Union of Descendants of Noble Families, one of two rival nobility associations (the other, older one being the Russian Nobility Association) were discovered to be distributing chivalric titles and awards of the Order of St Nicholas the Wonderworker, without her approval, she published a relatively strongly worded disclaimer.
On January 5, 2010, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna went to Istanbul, where she met with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and Mustafa Cagrici, Grand Mufti
of Istanbul
. On 14 December of the same year, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, she made a pilgrimage to Bari, Italy, and visited Pope Benedict XVI and Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal-Camerlengo Tarcisio Bertone in the Vatican
.
All the Russias
All the Russias is the standard English translation of a term which was used to refer either to the Russian Empire, or to the Russian-inhabitated lands of the Russian Empire...
(historically the modern states of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
) and Queen of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, since 1992. She has used Grand Duchess of Russia as her title of pretension
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
with the style Imperial Highness
Imperial Highness
His/Her Imperial Highness is a style used by members of an imperial family to denote imperial - as opposed to royal - status to show that the holder in question is descended from an Emperor rather than a King .Today the style has mainly fallen from use with the exception of the Imperial Family of...
throughout her life, though her right to this title is disputed. She is a great-great-granddaughter in the male-line of Tsar Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
.
Biography
Maria Vladimirovna was born in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, the only child of Vladimir Kirillovich, Grand Duke of Russia, Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and titular Emperor of Russia, and Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani
House of Mukhrani
The house of Mukhrani is a Georgian princely family, a collateral branch of the former royal dynasty of Bagrationi of which it sprung early in the 16th century, and received in appanage the domain of Mukhrani located in Kartli, central Georgia...
who was half-Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
. Her paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia was a member of the Russian Imperial Family. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the deaths of Tsar Nicholas II and his brother Michael, Cyril assumed the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia and later the title Emperor and Autocrat of all the...
and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna (née Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , was the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia...
). Maria was educated in Madrid and Paris, before spending a few terms at Oxford University, where she studied Russian history and literature.
On 23 December 1969, upon reaching her dynastic majority, Maria swore an oath of loyalty to her father, to Russia, and to uphold the Fundamental Laws of Russia which governed succession to the defunct throne
Abolished monarchy
Throughout history, monarchies have been abolished, either through revolutions, legislative reforms, coups d'état, or wars. The twentieth century saw a major acceleration of this process, with many monarchies violently overthrown by revolution or war, or else abolished as part of the process of...
. At the same time, her father issued a controversial decree recognising her as heiress presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
and declaring that, in the event he predeceased other Romanov males whom he had recognised as dynasts, then Maria would become the "Curatrix
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the Imperial Throne". until the death of the last male dynast. This has been viewed as an attempt by her father to ensure the succession remained in his branch of the imperial family, while the heads of the other branches of the imperial family, the Princes Vsevolod Ioannovich
Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich of Russia
Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich of Russia was a great-great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and a nephew of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. He was the last male member of the Romanov family born in Imperial Russia...
of the (Konstantinovichi), Roman Petrovich
Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia
Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia was a member of the House of Romanov.-Russian prince:Prince Roman Petrovich was born in the Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg the only son of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia and his wife Princess Milica of Montenegro...
of the (Nikolaevichi) and Prince Andrei Alexandrovich
Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia
Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia was a member of the Imperial Family of Russia. A son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia he was also the eldest nephew of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia...
of the (Mihailovichi) declared that her father's actions were illegal.
In Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
on 22 September 1976, Maria married Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia
Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia
Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia is a German businessman and member of the House of Hohenzollern, the former ruling imperial house of Germany and royal house of Prussia. From 1976 to 1986 he was known as Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia...
, a Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
great-grandson of Germany's last emperor, Wilhelm II and, like his bride, a great-great grandchild of Victoria, Queen of the British Empire. Franz Wilhelm converted to the Orthodox faith prior to the wedding, taking the name Michael Pavlovich and receiving the title of a Grand Duke of Russia from Maria's father.
The couple separated in 1982, a year after the birth of their only child George Mikhailovich, who had been granted the title Grand Duke of Russia at birth by his grandfather Vladimir. Following the divorce on 19 June 1985, Franz Wilhelm reverted to his Prussian name and style.
Maria Vladimirovna lives in France and Spain. She is fluent in Russian, English, French and Spanish, and also speaks some German, Italian and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
.
Succession claims and activities
Maria's grandfather's claim as emperor-in-exile was strongly disputed by other members of his family. One said: "To say the family is divided is a euphemism. The family is raving mad." Her father, Vladimir Cyrillovich, was considered by some to be the last male dynast of the Romanov family. When he died on 21 April 1992, Maria claimed to have succeeded him as head of the Russian Imperial Family, though this was disputed by Prince Nicholas Romanovich, a male-line great-great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas INicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
who also claimed to have succeeded Vladimir.
Following the discovery of the remains of Emperor Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
and most of his immediate family in 1991, Maria Vladimirovna wrote to President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, regarding the burial of the remains, saying of her Romanov cousins, whom she does not recognise as members of the Imperial family (including the grandchildren of Nicholas II's sister Grand Duchess Xenia
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia was a daughter of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and the elder of Tsar Nicholas II two sisters. She married her cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikailovich of Russia, with whom she had seven children....
), that they "do not have the slightest right to speak their mind and wishes on this question. They can only go and pray at the grave, as can any other Russian, who so wishes". At the behest of the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
Maria did not recognise the authenticity of the remains and declined to attend the reburial ceremony in 1998. She has also said regarding her Romanov cousins, that "My feeling about them is that now that something important is happening in Russia, they suddenly have awakened and said, 'Ah ha! There might be something to gain out of this.'"
Maria hopes for the restoration of the monarchy someday and is "ready to respond to a call from the people". When questioned about the ongoing rift in the Romanov family, Maria said;
In 2002, Maria became frustrated with the internal strife within the Russian monarchist movement. When representatives of the Union of Descendants of Noble Families, one of two rival nobility associations (the other, older one being the Russian Nobility Association) were discovered to be distributing chivalric titles and awards of the Order of St Nicholas the Wonderworker, without her approval, she published a relatively strongly worded disclaimer.
On January 5, 2010, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna went to Istanbul, where she met with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and Mustafa Cagrici, Grand Mufti
Grand Mufti
The title of Grand Mufti refers to the highest official of religious law in a Sunni or Ibadi Muslim country. The Grand Mufti issues legal opinions and edicts, fatwā, on interpretations of Islamic law for private clients or to assist judges in deciding cases...
of Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. On 14 December of the same year, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, she made a pilgrimage to Bari, Italy, and visited Pope Benedict XVI and Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal-Camerlengo Tarcisio Bertone in the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
.
Awards
- Order of St. Andrew the First-CalledOrder of St. AndrewThe Order of St. Andrew the First-Called is the first and the highest order of chivalry of the Russian Empire.- Russian Empire :The Order was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great, in honour of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia...
- Dame Grand Cross Order of St CatherineOrder of St CatherineThe Order of St Catherine was an award of Imperial Russia.Instituted on November 24, 1714 by Peter the Great on the occasion of his marriage to Catherine I of Russia...
- Order of St. Alexander NevskyOrder of St. Alexander NevskyThe Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire.-History:The introduction of the Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was planned by Emperor Peter I of Russia...
- Order of the White Eagle
- Order of St. Anna 1st ClassOrder of St. AnnaThe Order of St. Anna ) is a Holstein and then Russian Imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia...
- Order of Saint Nicholas the WonderworkerOrder of Saint Nicholas the WonderworkerThe Imperial War Order of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker was originally a medal, instituted in 1929 by the Russian pretender, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich and conferred on Russian veterans who had fought in the First World War...
1st Class - Order of St. Anastasia
- Order of Saint Stanislaus 1st ClassOrder of Saint StanislausThe Order of Saint Stanislaus , also spelled Stanislas, was an Order in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and The Kingdom of Poland between 1765 and 1831 and of Russian Empire from 1831 to 1917.-History of the Order of Saint Stanislaus:Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland, established the...
- Dame Grand Cross Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Order of St. Olga 1 Class (Patriarch Alexius IIPatriarch Alexius IIPatriarch Alexy II was the 15th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church....
, Russian Orthodox ChurchRussian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
) - Order of St. Paraskeva 1 Class (Moldovan Orthodox ChurchMoldovan Orthodox ChurchThe Moldovan Orthodox Church is an autonomous church under the Russian Orthodox Church, whose canonic territory covers the Republic of Moldova....
) - Order of St. Barbara 1 Class (Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous Church of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate...
) - Dame Grand Cross Order of Saint Michael of the WingOrder of Saint Michael of the WingThe Pontifical, Royal and Distinguished Order of Saint Michael of the Wing is the oldest Portuguese order of knighthood. Unlike many other Portuguese orders, it has not been nationalized as a decoration of the state by the post-1910 Portuguese Republic, and as a result the Duke of Braganza remains...
(Duarte Pio, Duke of BraganzaDuarte Pio, Duke of BraganzaDom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza , is the 24th Duke of Braganza and a pretender to the throne of Portugal.-Birth and education:...
) - Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Queen of Sheba (Crown Council of EthiopiaCrown Council of EthiopiaThe Crown Council of Ethiopia was the constitutional body which advised the reigning emperors of Ethiopia and acted on behalf of the Crown. The council’s members were appointed by the emperor....
) - Order of the Republic (Pridnestrovian Moldavian RepublicTransnistriaTransnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
) - Lady of the Grand Collar of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia and the Tunic of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Irakli Bagration of MukhraniIrakli Bagration of MukhraniIrakli Bagration-Mukhraneli was a Georgian prince of the Mukhrani branch of the former royal dynasty of Bagrationi....
) - Cross of Russian Nobility Association 1st Class
Ancestors
External links
- Grand Duchess Maria's Official Site
- Vladimir Romanov's personal attorney Brien Purcell Horan's essay in support of Maria's claim
- Argument in favour of Maria's claim by Guy Stair SaintyGuy Stair SaintyGuy Stair Sainty, KC*SG is an art dealer and author on royal genealogy and heraldry.-Life and education:Guy Stair Sainty was born on 7 December 1950, the eldest son of Christopher Lawrence Sainty and his second wife Virginia Cade Stair. His father was Chief Engineer and Director of Carrier...