On 1st October, the wedding of George Mikhailovich Romanov [a Spanish citizen] to his fiancé Rebecca Bettarini [a citizen of Italy] was held in St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

More than 1,500 guests crammed the historic cathedral. Guests refused to wear protective masks or practice social distancing, despite the record number of daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in Russia[1].

The Russian and some Western media outlets hailed the event as both the Romanov “wedding of the century” and the “first Romanov to marry in Russia”, since the fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917. Neither are correct.

PHOTOS: guests crammed the historic cathedral, defying protection from COVID

PHOTOS: guests crammed the historic cathedral, defying protection from COVID

For the record . . .

George Mikhailovich is “NOT” the first Romanov to marry in Russia since 1917, despite what the misinformed media are reporting! In fact, a total of six Romanov weddings have been held in Russia since 1917. It is interesting to note that the so-called “Russian Imperial House” headed by George’s mother Princess Maria Vladimirovna, has made no effort to correct this faux pas!

Between 1917 and 1920, five marriages among the members of the Russian Imperial House were concluded in Russia:

On 22nd April 1917, Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich (1887-1955) married Antonina Rafailovna Nesterovskaya (1890-1950) in Petrograd.

On the same day Prince Alexander Georgievich Romanovsky, Duke of Leichtenberg (1881-1942) married Nadezhda Nikolaevna Karelli (1883-1964) in Petrograd.

On 25th April 1917, Princess Nadezhda Petrovna (1898-1988) married Prince Nikolai Orlov (1891-1961).

On 18th July 1917, Princess Elena Georgievna Romanovskaya, Duchess of Leichtenberg (1892-1971) married Count Stefan Tyshkevich (1894-1976) in Yalta, Crimea.

On 25th November 1918, Prince Andrey Alexandrovich (1897-1981) married Duchess Elizabeth Sasso-Ruffo (1887-1940), in Ai-Todor, Crimea.

After being widowed in 1989, Prince Dimitri Romanovich (1926-2016) married Dorrit Reventlow (born 1942) in Kostroma on 28 July 1993. His second marriage was the “FIRST” time a Romanov had been married in Russia in more than a century.

Through his paternal lineage, Prince Dimitri was a great-great grandson of Emperor Nicholas I (1796–1855), who founded the Nikolaevich branch of the Russian Imperial Family. At his death on 31 December 2016, the male line of the Nicholaevich branch of the Romanov family died out.

An unimpressive guest list

In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Maria Vladimirovna’s public relations team issued press releases, detailing an impressive list of royals and dignitaries who would attend her son’s nuptials, in reality, however, none of them attended.

Prominent on the guest list was Queen Sofia of Spain, who was present at George’s christening, but she failed to attend. None of the many Romanov descendants scattered around the world were even invited, as Maria and her son, both look down their noses at them.

The guest list was unimpressive to say the very least, which included a few petty Russian politicians, although the Chairman of the Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov sent the couple a congratulation!

There were no reigning kings or queens of the European royal houses or ambassadors to represent them. The only “royals” in attendance, were a few princes and princesses and members of numerous, now defunct European royal houses.

In addition, the groom’s father Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia was notably “absent”. The wedding was also attended by Maria Vladimirovna’s half sister Helen Louise Kirby [born 1935], whose attendance, according to the Russian media, marked Helen Kirby’s first public appearance in 10 years.

Kirby is the daughter of Leonida Georgievna Bagration (1914-2010) and her first husband Sumner Moore Kirby (1895–1945), a wealthy American businessman, and one of the heirs to the F.W. Woolworth fortune.

Maria Vladimirovna is the daughter of Leonida Georgievna Bagration (1914-2010) and her second husband Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov (1917-1992). It is through her mother’s marriage to Kirby, that Maria enjoys a lavish lifestyle to this day, with homes in Madrid and Paris.

Despite the hoopla, those who gathered outside the cathedral were few and far between, many were there, simply out of curiosity.

It should also be noted, that no live broadcast of the wedding was conducted on any federal or regional TV channel in Russia. So much for the “Romanov wedding of the century!”

Kudos to Russian president Vladimir Putin

The Interfax News Agency reported that while Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had been invited to the wedding of George Mikhailovich to Victoria Bettarini in St. Petersburg, would not be attending.

Putin also stated that he would not be congratulating the newlyweds either, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to the relevant question on Friday.

“No, the president is not planning to congratulate the newlyweds in any way. Once again, this wedding has absolutely nothing to do with our agenda,” Peskov said.

This is a clear indication that Putin does NOT recognize the current descendants – Maria Vladimirovna and her son George Mikhailovich, as anything more than Russian citizens.

In addition, the Interfax News Agency does not identify Maria and George by their self-adopted and false titles, “Grand Duchess” or “Grand Duke”.

Why is this article relevant?

I am dedicated to clearing the name of Russia’s much slandered Tsar. This includes identifying those who broke their personal oath to Nicholas II, including George Mikhailovich’s great-grandfather Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (1876-1938), a member of the Russian Imperial Family, who not only lacked a moral compass, but openly defied his Sovereign, culminating in committing treason against Him in 1917.

Under no pretext can we admit to the throne those whose ancestors belonged to parties involved in the 1917 revolution in one way or another. Nor can we admit those whose ancestors betrayed Tsar Nicholas II. Nor can we ignore those who ancestors openly supported the Nazis. Thus, without any reservations, the right to the succession to the throne of the Kirillovich branch should be excluded.

Any one who supports this branch of the family, dishonours the memory of the Holy Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II.

NOTES:

[1] Russia has confirmed 7,612,317 cases of coronavirus and 210,801 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. On 1st October Russia recorded its highest coronavirus death toll for a fourth day running of 887 deaths. On 4th October, 25,781 new coronavirus cases and 883 deaths were recorded.

© Paul Gilbert. 4 October 2021