Line of succession to the former Russian throne

Coat of Arms of the Tsar

The Monarchy of Russia was abolished in 1917 following the February Revolution, which forced Emperor Nicholas II to abdicate. The issue of who is the current Pretender is open to debate.

Potentially eligible successors in March 1917

The numbers preceding the names indicate the position in the line to the throne. For instance, Alexei Nikolaevich was the first in line, as the Emperor's only son. The numbers following the names indicate descent and genealogical seniority from Nicholas I of Russia. For instance, Alexei Nikolaevich, 1.2.1.1, as follows from Nicholas I:[1]

Many of the individuals on this list died childless; some were killed during the Russian Revolution.

Claims since 1917

Michael Alexandrovich (1917-1918)

Brother of Nicholas II, who abdicated in his favour in 1917.

Cyril Vladimirovich (1924–1938)

At first, many members of the Imperial House either did not believe or were wary of acting on news of the demise of the immediate imperial family. However, camps started to be formed in the monarchist movement, where Paris was a focal location. Several monarchists grouped around Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich, who was first in the line of succession after the execution of Alexei Nikolaevich and Michael Alexandrovich. Many of Cyril's opponents grouped around a young grand duke, Dmitri Pavlovich, who was next in the line of succession if Cyril and his brothers, the Vladimirovichi, were ineligible (Paul Alexandrovich, who had been ahead of Dmitri, had been killed in 1919), though Dimitri himself refused these advances, and himself supported Grand Duke Kirill as Emperor.[2] Several grouped around the old Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, appreciating his career as general and former commander-in-chief, or his position as the oldest member of the imperial dynasty. On August 8, 1922, Nicholas was proclaimed as the emperor of all Russia by the Zemsky Sobor of the Priamursk region convened in Vladivostok by general Mikhail Diterikhs. At the time, Grand Duke Nicholas was already living abroad and consequently was not present at the Sobor. Two months later the Priamursk region fell to the Bolsheviks.

Nicholas and Dmitri actually never publicly proclaimed themselves pretenders, but Cyril Vladimirovich assumed on 8 August 1922 the position of curator of the throne. On 31 August 1924 he proclaimed himself Cyril I, Emperor of all the Russias. With the assumption of the Imperial title his children were elevated to the title and styles of Grand Duke and Grand Duchesses of Russia according to the Statutes of the Imperial Family and the Laws of the Russian Empire.[3] Grand Duke Cyril's role as head of the House was recognised, and the oath of loyalty signed by every male dynast of the House of Romanov, except Grand Duke Nicholas, his brother Grand Duke Peter, and the latter's son, Prince Roman Petrovich.[4] Nicholas, one of the other monarchist alternatives, died in 1929. Cyril held his court-in-exile in France, erecting a secretariat for the monarchist movement.

Vladimir Cyrillovich (1938–1992)

In 1938 Cyril died, and was succeeded as pretender by his only son Vladimir Cyrillovich, who deliberately assumed the title of "Grand Duke" rather than that of Emperor.[5]

The Vladimirovichi supporters claim that Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich, was the sole male dynast of the Imperial House to enter into an equal marriage after 1917. Opponents refute the equality of this marriage. In 1946, responding to a question from the Spanish Royal House on whether the House of Bagration-Moukhrani could now, after the dissolution of the Russian Empire, be considered of Royal (i.e. equal) rank, the Grand Duke issued a statement confirming the formerly sovereign status and royal titulature of the senior branch of the Royal House of Georgia.[6] On August 13, 1948, he married Her Royal Highness Princess Leonida Bagration-Moukransky. The Grand Duke's marriage to Princess Leonida is controversial; some consider it to be morganatic (though the princess descended from a dynasty that had ruled as kings in Armenia and Georgia since the early Middle Ages until 1810, it had been reduced to the status of Russian nobility for over a century prior to the Russian Revolution — Leonida's branch had not been regnant in the male line as Kings of Georgia since 1505.[7] The Romanov Family Association, whose bylaws prohibit support of anyone for Russia's defunct throne, recognised neither Vladimir Cyrilovich nor his daughter Maria Vladimirovna as rightful claimants.

However, having recognised the Mukhransky branch of the House of Bagration as a former royal dynasty in 1946 in his claimed capacity as head of the (likewise deposed) House of Romanov, he declared his 1948 marriage to Princess Leonida to be dynastic, notwithstanding her family's status as Russian subjects at the end of the monarchy. From the time of their marriage in 1948 she assumed her husband's rank, bearing the title Grand Duchess of Russia and the style Her Imperial Highness.

In 1969 Vladimir, expressing his opinion that the House of Romanov faced almost inevitable extinction in the dynastic male line, he proclaimed his daughter Maria Vladimirovna the future curatrix of the throne, implying that she would ultimately succeed. That act angered other dynasts and groups in monarchist circles. After this proclamation three Romanov dynasts, Princes Vsevold, Andrei and Roman wrote to Vladimir, addressing him as Prince rather than Grand Duke, asserting that Maria Vladimirovna's mother was of no higher status than the wives of other dynastic Romanov princes. They also said that they did not recognise Maria Vladimirovna as a Grand Duchess and that his proclamation declaring her the dynasty's future curatrix was illegal.[8]

In 1989, when Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia (who also was the President of the Romanov Family Association, see discussion of succession controversy below), died, Vladimir immediately proclaimed his daughter as the dynasty's heiress, as Prince Vasili was the last male other than Vladimir recognised as a dynast.

Maria Vladimirovna (1992–present)

When Vladimir Cyrilovich died in 1992, Maria Vladimirovna proclaimed herself the new Head of the Imperial House,[9] assuming the position of Head of the House and proclaiming her son George Mikhailovich the heir-apparent. Her son, who was born in 1982, was given the patronymic "Mikhailovich" because from 1976 until her divorce in 1985, Maria was married to His Royal Highness Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, who was granted the title "His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia" by Vladimir. Maria styles herself "Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia" as her title of pretension, and her son styles himself "His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Georgi Mikhailovich of Russia" as his title of pretension.

Nicholas Romanov (1992–2014)

In 1979, seven undisputed male and female dynasts founded the Romanov Family Association (RFA), which by the end of the same year had admitted more than half of the surviving undisputed dynasts into its membership, as well as a fair number of those male-line descendants Vladimir did not recognize as dynasts because of morganatic birth. Vladimir Cyrillovich never joined the association and neither has his daughter Maria.

The RFA, while still including the last two surviving females recognised dynasts among its membership, chose Prince Nicholas Romanov, as its president in 1989, following the death of Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia, the only undisputed male dynast still living at that time other than Vladimir Cyrillovich. The RFA's official position, expressed in its founding charter, is that the Russian nation should determine which sort of government its people desire and, if the choice is monarchy, who should be monarch. Nonetheless, once Vladimir was no longer alive, Prince Nicholas Romanov was recognised as the head of the Imperial House of Romanov while serving as third president of the RFA by the members of the family, with the exception of Maria Vladimirovna and her son George Mikhailovich.[10] Nicholas took "H.H. Prince of Russia" as his title of pretension following the death of Vladimir Cyrillovich in April, 1992.[11][12] After Nicholas' death in 2014, his brother Prince Dimitri Romanov took up the claim. In July 2009 Dimitri had affirmed that his brother Nicholas, and not Maria Vladimirovna, was the Head of the Imperial Family, simultaneously declaring, however, that pursuant to a 1992 family meeting he attended in Paris, all of the then living senior male descendants of the House of Romanov agreed not to put forward any claim.[13]

Nikolas Kirillovich (2013–present)

Karl Emich of Leiningen also known under Christian Orthodox name Nikolai Kirillovich Romanov

Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen (born 1952), recently converted to the Orthodox faith,[14] is a new pretender to the Russian throne under the name of Prince Nikolai Kirillovich of Leiningen. He is the grandson of Grand Duchess Maria Cyrillovna of Russia, (sister of Vladimir, and aunt of Maria Vladimirovna), and great-grandson of Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia. The Monarchist Party of Russia supports Prince Nikolai as the heir of the Russian throne, since they are of the opinion that Maria Vladimirovna Romanova and Nicholas Romanov are not dynasts.[14] In early 2014, Nikolai Kirilovich declared himself Emperor Nicholas III (successor to Nicholas II). The micronation known as the Imperial Throne (or Imperial See) was created for the purpose.[15] As a member of the House of Leiningen, Prince Nikolai would be the first non-Romanov monarch since 1613 if he were to become the monarch of Russia.

Karl Emich was disinherited and gave up use of the Leiningen Fürstliche title because of his parents' disapproval of his second, morganatic marriage to a commoner.[16] His younger brother Andreas became the Prince of Leiningen,[16] In 2007, however, Nicholas married Countess Isabelle von und zu Egloffstein and in 2010, they had an only son, Emich, in 2010.

Succession controversy

In applying Romanov House Law to determine headship of the dynasty, it must be determined if there are surviving male dynasts of the House of Romanov and then which among them is entitled to claim the Romanov legacy pursuant to house law. If only one male Romanov dynast survives, his claim precedes that of any female Romanov dynast or any male lawfully descended in the female line from a male Romanov dynast. If no Romanov male dynast survives, semi-salic succession is invoked, and the title passes to the last surviving male dynast's closest female relative. In that case, one must assess who the last surviving male dynast was: Some consider this to have been Vladimir Cyrillovich, while others uphold that status for Paul Romanovich and, subsequently, his brother Nicholas Romanovich. Still others have supported the claims of other surviving male relatives in the male lines of Grand Dukes Dimitri Pavlovich or Alexander Nikolayevich. Females of male-line Romanove descent who have been deemed by some to have succeeded the last male include Maria Vladimirovna and Catherine Ioanovna (of the Konstantinovich branch of the family). Semi-salic succession as applied under the house law might also allocate the claim to the defunct Russian throne to a male who descends through dynastically valid marriages in the female-line from Alexander III, Alexander II or Nicholas I, provided that he is or is willing to become Orthodox.

Line of Maria Vladimirovna

If one accepts Vladimir Cyrillovich's marriage to Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhranskaya as non-morganatic and he was succeeded by his daughter Maria Vladimirovna then the line of succession is:

  1. HI&RH Grand Duke George Mikhailovich (born 1981), who has been styled Grand Duke of Russia since birth, also a Prince of Prussia (a title which he does not generally use)

George is, as yet, the only descendant of Grand Duchess Maria. If both died without further male heirs, the succession would then follow semi-Salic law and the right to the Imperial Crown will presumably pass either to Andreas, Prince of Leiningen (however he might be non-dynastic), as the nearest male relation to Maria and her son that is not descended from Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich through morganatic marriage, or to the nearest non-morganatically descended male Orthodox relative, arguably Alexander Karađorđević, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia.

Further lines after Maria Vladimirovna’s son

  1. HSH Andreas, Prince of Leiningen (born 1955): He is a grandson of Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia (sister of Vladimir and aunt of Maria Vladimirovna), and great-grandson of Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia. His eldest brother is a claimant to the Russian throne since 2013. He is also a second cousin of George Mikhailovich, as his paternal grandmother (Maria) was the eldest sister of George’s maternal grandfather (Vladimir). He is the head of the Leiningen Princely House. However, he might be non-dynastic as his grandmother Maria’s marriage with Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen may have been morganatic.
  2. HSH Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen (born 1982): He is the son of the previous. He might be non-dynastic as his great-grandmother Maria’s marriage with Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen may have been morganatic.
  3. HI&RH Georg Friedrich of Hohenzollern, Prince of Prussia (born 1976): He is grandson of Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (sister of Vladimir and aunt of Maria Vladimirovna), and great-grandson of Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia. He is also a second cousin of George Mikhailovich, as his paternal grandmother (Kira) was the younger sister of George’s maternal grandfather (Vladimir). Prince Georg Friedrich is the head of the Prussian Royal House and German Imperial House.
  4. HRH Alexander Karađorđević, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia (born 1945): He is a great-grandson of Marie of Romania, daughter of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (Maria Alexandrovna was aunt of Cyril Vladimirovich, the father of Vladimir Cyrillovich and therefore grandfather of Maria Vladimirovna). He is the head of the Yugoslavian/Serbian Royal House.

Line of Dimitri Romanov

The line of succession to Prince Dimitri Romanov, the younger brother of the deceased Prince Nicholas Romanov, based on descent from Emperor Nicholas I of Russia is:

  1. Prince Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov-Ilyinsky (born 1954)
  2. Prince Michael Pavlovich Romanov-Ilyinsky (born 1960)
  3. Prince Andrew Andreevich (born 1923)
  4. Prince Alexis Andreevich (born 1953)
  5. Prince Peter Andreevich (born 1961)
  6. Prince Andrew Andreevich (born 1963)
  7. Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich (born 1985)
  8. Prince Nikita Rostislavovich (born 1987)
  9. Prince Nicholas Christopher Nikolaievich (born 1968)
  10. Prince Daniel Joseph Nikolaievich (born 1972)
  11. Prince Jackson Daniel Danilovich (born 2009)

Arguments

Did the marriage of Vladimir Cyrillovich to Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhransky violate House Laws?

Did the marriage of Cyril Vladimirovich to Princess Victoria Melita violate House Laws?

Did the marriage of Cyril Vladimirovich's father to Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin violate House Laws?

Did the marriage of Nicholas Romanov's father to Countess Praskovia Dmitrievna Sheremeteva violate House Laws?

Other arguments

Support

Maria Vladimirovna has the support of most monarchist groups and followers,[24] most societies of Russian nobles — including the Assembly of the Russian Nobility,[24] and recognition of her claim by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church,[24] Kirill I Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia who, in a televised March 2013 interview, stated "Today, none of those persons who are descendants of the Romanoffs are pretenders to the Russian throne. But in the person of Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and her son, Georgii, the succession of the Romanoffs is preserved — no longer to the Russian Imperial throne, but to history itself" (Сегодня никто из лиц, принадлежащих к потомкам Романовых, не претендует на Российский престол. Но в лице Великой княгини Марии Владимировны и ее сына Георгия сохраняется преемственность Романовых — уже не на Российском императорском престоле, а просто в истории).[25] The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad has also recognised Maria Vladimirovna as Head of the Russian Imperial House.[26]

The Romanov Family Association (RFA) has as members most of the morganatic descendants of the dynasty.[24] Its president was acknowledged as the foremost family representative when Nicholas II and his family's remains were interred in St. Petersburg in July 1998, and at several other government-sponsored memorial occasions. By contrast, Maria Vladimirovna has, at those same events, generally been acknowledged as occupying the foremost position in church-organised solemnities, such as masses for relic veneration.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Official Court Calendar, 1917
  2. ↑ Graf, H.G. (1998). In the Service of the Imperial House of Russia. HBP. p. 580.
  3. ↑ Romanov, Kirill I. "Manifesto on the Assumption by the Grand Duke Kirill Wladimirovich, Curator of the Imperial Russian Throne, of the Title of Emperor of All the Russias, 31 August/13 September 1924.". www.imperialhouse.ru. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Horan, Brien Purcell. "Russian Imperial Succession". www.chivalricorders.org. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Romanov, Vladimir. "An Announcement by the Office of the Head of the Russian Imperial House on the Decision by the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Wladimir Kirillovich, to Retain the Title of Grand Duke, 18/31 October, 1938". www.imperialhouse.ru. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Romanov, Vladimir Kirillovich. "Decree of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, on the Recognition of the Royal Rank of the House of Bagration, 22 November/5 December 1946.". www.imperialhouse.ru. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Cyril Toumanoff, "The Fifteenth-Century Bagratides and the Institution of Collegial Sovereignty in Georgia". Traditio. Volume VII, Fordham University Press, New York 1949–1951, pp. 169–221.
  8. ↑ Massie, p 269
  9. ↑ Romanov, Maria Vladimirovna. "Paschal Message of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, to all the Russian People on the Death of Her Most August Father, the Head of the Russian Imperial House". www.imperialhouse.ru. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Massie p. 274
  11. ↑ "Nikolai Romanov Prince of Russia Presentation". nikolairomanov.com. 2002-09-26. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  12. 1 2 3 Horan, Brien Purcell (September 1998). "The Russian Imperial Succession". Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  13. ↑ The Romanoff Family Association. Press Releases by Prince Dimitri. July 2009. (Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  14. 1 2 (Russian) n:ru:Монархическая партия объявила об обретении наследника российского Императорского престола — Russian Wikinews, 11.06.2013
  15. ↑ (Russian) n:ru:Виртуальная «Российская империя» с одобрения Николая III обретает государственный суверенитет — Russian Wikinews, 15.04.2014
  16. 1 2 Paterson, Tony. The Guardian. A Pauper Prince's Palatial Quest. 22 June 2000. (retrieved 16 February 2016)
  17. ↑ Maria Vladimirovna's website
  18. ↑ Almanach de Gotha, Russie, (Gotha: Justus Perthes, 1944), page 107.
  19. ↑ Romanov, Nicholas II. "Decree of Emperor Nicholas II Concerning the Recognition of the Wedding of Grand Duke Kirill Wladimirovich and Granting to His Wife and Descendants Those Rights Belonging to Members of the Russian Imperial House". Ukaz'. Russian Imperial House. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal and Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery. Paris. 2002. pp. 780-782, 795-799, 822. (French) ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
  21. ↑ "Almanach de Gotha", Russie, (Gotha: Justus Perthes, ends. 1922-39), pages var., (French) "en mariage non conforme aux lois de la maison".
  22. ↑ "Almanach de Gotha", Russie, (Gotha: Justus Perthes, 1944), page 107, (French) "en mariage non conforme aux lois de la maison".
  23. ↑ Tolstikovich, Aleksandr (26 February 2015). zakatov-den-pobedy-v-dome-romanovyh/ "Александр Закатов: День Победы в Доме Романовых" Check |url= value (help) (No 2-3 (2155)). Rossisskie Vesti. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Perry, John C. and Pleshakov, Constantine (1999). The Flight of the Romanovs. New York: Basic Books. pp. 353–359,. ISBN 0-465-02462-9.
  25. ↑ Kirill I, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (9 March 2013). The Shepherd’s Word (Television). Russia: Press Service of the Moscow Patriarchate.
  26. ↑ "Feast-Day Celebrations at the Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady "of the Sign"". www.synod.com. Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. Retrieved 3 August 2014.

Bibliography

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