A potential bride for The Grand Duke Georgi

[Al_bina]

This scenario may be viewed as possible. Is Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna going to take a child and raise him/her as Elisabeth I of Russia did?

 

[Artemisia]

Who knows? That wouldn't be too improbable though.

I met Maria Vladimirovna during her visit to Armenia. While she was surprisingly charming, that woman has a will of steel; you could almost feel inner strength radiating from her. Maria Vladimirovna is never going to let her hypothetical chances to ascend to the Imperial Throne diminish by allowing her son and heir marry an "inappropriate" candidate.

 

[Benjamin]

The marriage of George's parents was arranged to a certain extent. Both Maria and Franz Wilhelm are well-educated, intelligent people. No reason the same thing cannot happen with George and another royal. Once an heir arrives, they can both go do their own thing.

Who knows how serious George and Rebecca are though? He may have his heart set on her. Time will tell!

 

[NGalitzine]

Assuming a marriage could be arranged with a woman of equal rank, what would be in it for her? She would already be of royal rank so status wouldn't be it, especially given the disputes within his own family. Money? I am not sure how much money Maria actually has as I have always been under the impression it was her half sister Helen who is the wealthy one. Becoming an Empress? Surely a modern young educated princess would not be that delusional. He may have a better chance as a HRH Prince of Prussia of finding a nice German aristocrat to marry, with fewer religious & rank restrictions on his choice, than as a pretender Grand Duke of Russia.

 

[AristoCat]

This scenario may be viewed as possible. Is Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna going to take a child and raise him/her as Elisabeth I of Russia did?

How disgusting; it would take a lot of work to end up finding someoen willing to have their own child ripped away from them and end up willingly tossed aside. That would take a tremendous amount of tolerance and a lack of natural motherly instinct.

 

[Al_bina]

Given the circumstances, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna had no choice, but to obey. Long gone are those days. It remains to be seen who Grand Duke Georgii will choose as a spouse.

 

[Ceallach]

Grand Duke George is apparently in a relationship with Rebecca Bettarini, daughter of the Italian Ambassador to Belgium Roberto Bettarini.

The couple earlier this year at the Brussels Antiques and Fine Art Fair: BRAFA 2012 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The caption says the picture is from August 17, 2010.

He has not stopped going to events with mama. I think he has been attending more than ever in the last year.

Mama could have ended it by now and played matchmaker for him and a nice german princess at the Prussian royal wedding or some other event.

 

[Benjamin]

That is the date when the picture was apparently taken; however, it was uploaded at the end of January, and the event title clearly states it was this year's fair. Someone likely forgot to set the correct date on their camera.

Anyways, the couple has been pictured together in a couple of recent issues of Point de Vue.

Furthermore, the couple may have known each other for awhile as Mr Bettarini was previously Ambassador to Luxembourg, where George was working before he moved to Brussels.

 

[Ceallach]

Here is a picture of her at an event in Naples in 2003, where he is not pictured, but he is listed on the organizing committee. So he should be in attendance. So they have probably known each other a long time.


Redirect Notice

 

[AristoCat]

If he gets serious, then I think that he would wreck his chances since there is no way that Russia would ever accept a Tsarina with no Russian blood, who would have an heir that would have near zero Russian blood in their veins.

 

[Ceallach]

I suspect it may already be serious if they are being open about it and it is in point de vue.

He may be in love and have given up on either finding a princess with russian blood who would be Russian orthodox, or the potential restoration of the monarchy, or both.

Maybe he has hit up every potential tsarina and been shot down miseably and has given up after over a decade of hitting his head against that brick wall.

Maybe he just does stuff with mama too make her happy.

Mama will be crushed.

What will Maria do now?

Either she can claim that rules are determined by the head of the royal house of Romanovs and she is changing the rules and uses her steely nerve to withstand the response from the other Romanovs; or she can hunt down Cecelia of Leningen and take her under her wing, groom her in Russian ways, and find her a prince.

 

[Artemisia]

Either she can claim that rules are determined by the head of the royal house of Romanovs and she is changing the rules...

She cannot change the rules.
Even if Maria Vladimirovna were universally accepted as the Head of the Imperial House (which she isn't), she would still be unable to amend any of the Imperial House Laws. To change any laws of the Russian Empire, there needs to be a Russian Empire in the first place; only then, through an Act of Parliament (Duma) could any of the laws be amended.

 

[COUNTESS]

She should be glad if he is happy. She looks like a lovely girl. There is no throne, he is just another guy. Happiness is hard to find. To strangle it with caveats that are just unrealistic, is nonsense. Maria is a dreamer. She should make sure he son is happy, not sucked into some fantasy she hopes for.

 

[Biri]

So maybe an engagement soon? Rebecca is really a nice woman!

Tsarina, Tsarina...ha,ha,ha.....Russia is a republic!

 

[AristoCat]

I wonder how she would manage to end up successfully pushing her son to the forefront of he marries an Italian Catholic who has no Russian lineage and no (not even aristocratic) royal lineage at all.

 

[AristoCat]

I wonder if this is a sign that he is uninterested in being an official pretender; after all, a woman with not even aristocratic lineage with no Russian and no royal lineage would violate practically every single House Law, including that she is a Catholic, not an Orthodox Russian. There is no way that a "Grand Duke" Vladimir would be able to assert a right via a wife that has zero anything Russian about her. He isn't a prince that can end up just randomly choosing and making the subjects accept it.

 

[COUNTESS]

If they are happy, they should have a "real" life, together. Not this make believe situation comedy his mother has put together.

 

[Artemisia]

She wouldn't be able to.
If Georgi marries a non-royal lady, he will lose his (debatable) status of a dynast. His children will certainly not be ones. As such, Maria Vladimirovna could still be a claimant to the Russian Throne, but her son will not be.

There isn't a single living person nowadays, Mria Vladimirovna and Prince Nicholas included, who comply with all Romanov Household rules. As such, if the Moanrchy were ever reinstated in Russia, and if it were decided that a representative or descendant of the House of Romanov should be invited to take the Throne, it will be more or less up to the Government and people of Russia who gets invited. But I will tell this: any of the current Romanovs has more chances than Maria Vladimirovna or Prince Georgi. Because of the existing tensions with Georgia and the historical ones with Germany, there is no way a half-Georgian and half-German will ever be considered for the position. Hell, Prince Michael of Kent has more chances than either of them!

 

[Alexey 1904]

Aristocat: the last Tsaritsa had no Russian blood in her veins at all; just German, and Nicholas II might have been Emperor of Russia, but he was also a German duke, which makes it easier to see Georgi as a German prince. That way, his lady friend wouldn't have to convert to Orthodoxy. Did anyone happen to notice in the latest picture of them Georgi had a gold ring on his RIGHT ring finger. It's a fact Russian Othodox wear their wedding rings on that finger. Maybe he is secretly married, or else it's Mom's ring.

 

[Benjamin]

George has worn a ring on that finger for ages. About five years ago I noticed it and wondered the same thing, but he was definitely unattached at the time.

 

[reginalix]

It’s just a ring with family’s coat of arms. A tsarevich or a czar has to marry an Orthodox woman. A consorte Czarina has to be orthodox and of "equal birth*» (a little thing from european royalty who’s an politic opportunity). The conversion for a first Russian lady is an obligation. As for the born equality, the Russians had the solution : every royal or imperial princess "barbarian" received before the marriage her title of imperial Highness of Russia. So the Czar married officially an imperial " real " princess by the favor of Holy Spirit. Bye bye Hessen Princesses, Princesses of UK, France, Prussia, Spain etc... you aren’t enough for russian standard like your own national women aren’t enough for you.

 

[COUNTESS]

Right, the standard for a Russian Tsarina was so high, from a country that was so.........Run Georgi and have a real life, away from this charade.

 

[TomBert]

Grand Duchess Maria has already laid the foundations for possible changes to the succession in case Grand Duke Georgii makes an unsuitable marriage. In a 2009 interview she said that:

If my son’s chosen bride happens not to be from a ruling or sovereign house, the marriage will then require a change to the Family Statute, which only I can introduce and, in addition, would require also the blessing of the Orthodox Church since we are bound by a holy oath to observe the law of succession in its present form.

It will be interesting to see what would happen if it came to this.

P.S. Grand Duke Georgii is not "half-Georgian". If such divisions must be made he is quite clearly only a quarter Georgian. However, I suspect the young man himself would say he is 100% Russian.

 

[Artemisia]

He wouldn't. I have met Georgi on several occasions back in Moscow and once in London; his Russian is rather poor and I certainly didn't get the impression he considers himself Russian. On the contrary, we talked (in English) about his family and heritage, and he said he is very proud of the Georgian ancestry (which, as Armenian, certainly pleased me) and German one.
Prince Rostislav Romanov (the eventual her to Prince Nicholas' claims), on the other hand, has improved his Russian no end. That young man does consider himself to be Russian, which is somewhat strange given that he's been in Russia for less than a decade.

As for changes in the Romanov House Law, Maria Vladimirovna simply cannot do that. Even if she were universally accepted and acknowledged Head of the House (which she isn't), in order to make changes in the Imperial House laws, the Empire must exist in the first place, since the permission and approval of the Duma would be required. Maria Vladimirovna can announce a private change, but that will not have any legal effect and will certainly not be recognised by any of the other Romanov dynasts.

By saying half-Georgian and half-German, I mean Maria Vladimirovna (whose mother is Georgian) and Prince Georgi (whose father is German) respectively.

 

[Benjamin]

he said he is very proud of the Georgian ancestry (which, as Armenian, certainly pleased me) and German one.

The former does not surprise me, but the latter does as he rarely, if ever, mentions his father in public. But obviously his personal feelings must be otherwise.

 

[branchg]

As for changes in the Romanov House Law, Maria Vladimirovna simply cannot do that. Even if she were universally accepted and acknowledged Head of the House (which she isn't), in order to make changes in the Imperial House laws, the Empire must exist in the first place, since the permission and approval of the Duma would be required. Maria Vladimirovna can announce a private change, but that will not have any legal effect and will certainly not be recognised by any of the other Romanov dynasts.

Maria can change the Pauline Laws, which have no legal effect anywhere, anytime she wants to. Whether they are accepted or recognized is another matter altogether. Since the rest of the family does not accept her as Head of the Imperial House nor do any of them follow the Laws, the matter is irrelevant.

I do not believe she will accept an unequal marriage for Georgi. It would call into question her claim even further and weaken her branch's position as the only line still unblemished by unequal marriages.

 

[Ceallach]

Other non-reigning royal houses have changed their laws such as the Austrians, but not amicably since it always goes over badly with people affected by the previous law. You do not need the government's approval when you are a pretender, just when you have some official role. However, it will be up to the government who they recognize, if they ever recognize someone as the would-be monarch. This may come down to a PR battle if Georgi marries a commoner.


Maria and Georgi have the Gotha, church, and recognition of other monarchies right now. While Rostislav is trying to appear more Russian and be the man of the people - living there and speaking the language well. Rostislav could up the stakes if he can accomplish wht Georgi has not and marry a royal or even noble with Russian blood.


While Rostislav's mother was a commoner and not Russian; on his father's side is a Galitzine grandma and a Russian royal grandpa who is the son of two Russian royals - one the sister of the Tsar. If he hooks up with another Russian royal/noble -
Tolstoy, Yusupov, Paley, Obolensky, Belosselsky, Khilkoff, etc it will be like throwing down the gauntlet and this becomes a chess match. Rostislav may want to hunt down the Austrian Galitzine girls who also have Russian grandmas (Lopukhin, Czernichev-Besobrasov = 3/4 Russian blueblood); or a Russian princess such as the Romanovsky-Ilyinskys.

 

[NGalitzine]

I would love to see him marry a non-Russian, non-Orthodox, non-heiress, commoner just to see what his mother would try to do to make it all OK so that she could maintain the pretensions to the long lost throne, and also to see the rebuttal from the other members of the Romanov family. It would be quite funny to watch.
I just hope when he tells her of his choice that he has a medical team on standby.

 

[AristoCat]

I would love to see him marry a non-Russian, non-Orthodox, non-heiress, commoner

I just hope when he tells her of his choice that he has a medical team on standby.

I don't think Mumkins would handle it well if he ended up marrying someone who isn't Russian or Orthodox or at least royal.

While Rostislav's mother was a commoner and not Russian; on his father's side is a Galitzine grandma and a Russian royal grandpa who is the son of two Russian royals - one the sister of the Tsar. If he hooks up with another Russian royal/noble -
Tolstoy, Yusupov, Paley, Obolensky, Belosselsky, Khilkoff, etc it will be like throwing down the gauntlet and this becomes a chess match. Rostislav may want to hunt down the Austrian Galitzine girls who also have Russian grandmas (Lopukhin, Czernichev-Besobrasov = 3/4 Russian blueblood); or a Russian princess such as the Romanovsky-Ilyinskys

To be frank, as a result of his more direct lineage, Rostislav has a more direct and justifible claim than say, Georgi who has in fact no direct descent from Nicholas II that is as close as Rostislav has. If Rostislav marries a Russian, a commoner Russian, it would end up with him actually tying himself to his country and then ending up with a more impessive PR tactic. If he marries a Romanovsky-Ilyinskys, then I am sure that it will end up unting another branch with his side and then grouping everyone against Maria and her twit son.

Prince Rostislav Romanov (the eventual her to Prince Nicholas' claims), on the other hand, has improved his Russian no end. That young man does consider himself to be Russian, which is somewhat strange given that he's been in Russia for less than a decade.

I think Rostislav is a lot more interested in Russia as in living there, not at all just using it as a platform for the occasional appearance. Anyway, he probably only just moved there now that it has been considered safe enough, which is qutie frankly a wise choice. He is the first Romanov to have moved there and I frankly think that it is best that he assume headship. The other monarchies might not recognize him, but he has the family behind him, not just the PR or press or Kremlin. The Gotha might recognize Maria, but it does not mean that it will work out in reality.

 

[Ceallach]

There are Russian nobles that have lived or are living in Russia too. The Austrian Galitzine family lived there from 1997-2008 when Peter Galitzine took a job in Chicago. One went to University in Belgium and now china; not sure where the others are. There are Obolenskys, Lermontovs, and Troitskaya-Mirkovichs living there trying to get their homes back. Otherwise they don't make the news much, but there are potential noble brides who have grown up or are living in Russia.