In Defence of David of Mukhrani
I think Prince David of Mukhrani deserves a little credit in all this. Building on the work of his father, Jorge, he has worked hard to ingratiate himself with the religious establishment in Georgia. Ultimately that resulted in marrying Princess Anna (of Gruzinsky) and providing her with a male heir. Were he not to have done this then after the death of Nugzar and his brothers, the House of Bagration would be without an heir whom the entire royal family could agree upon. Things are not ideal as they stand but how many times were dynastic marriages made to save an ancient royal line made out of love? If one was it would be unique. David has done his royal duty. He has ensured that (a) the line of Gruzinsky descended from the last reigning king of all Georgia has a male heir. He has also ensured, most importantly, that that male heir is through the male line a Bagrationi. He has given a great gift to the Gruzinksy family and to Georgian monarchists because any realistically feasible heir to the Georgian throne must be (a) male and (b) a Bagration. These things he has provided and also united his claim (albeit weak) with the far stronger claim of Nugzar thus uniting the two main branches of the Bagration family. Also, he has maintained a loveless marriage long enough for his son and heir, Giorgi, to be Christened by the Georgian patriach and acknowledged as Nugzar's heir via his daughter Anna.
I do not believe that David of Moukrani has a claim to the throne of Georgia himself but his son Giorgi DOES and it is a very strong claim - unrivaled by any other. And Prince Giorgi is a Bagration of Moukrani in the male line.
I think David deserves enormous credit for the role he has played in raising the profile of the Georgian monarchy and preserving its continuation through his son. He does not deserve to be demonized one bit. Both parties (David and Anna) have put country before their own happiness and god blessed them with a son.
PS - I expect Giorgi will be raised in Georgia (no doubt by his mother) in Mtskheta. There is no reason for David to oppose this because otherwise his efforts will have been without logic.
