Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna. 1930.

Today – 7th March 2025 – marks the 30th anniversary of the return of the remains of *Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (1876-1938) and his wife *Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna (1876-1936) to Russia.

• It is interesting to note that to this day, the Legitimists [formerly Kirillists] address Kirill as “Emperor Kirill I” and Victoria as “Empress” with the titles “Imperial Majesty”, all of which are complete nonsense! The Russian monarchy, the Empire and the Russian Imperial Family ceased to exist upon the death of Emperor Nicholas II on 17th July 1918.

On 7th March 1995, the dying will of the traitor grand duke in exile – Kirill Vladimirovich and his wife Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna was fulfilled. Their remains, were exhumed from Coburg, Germany and transferred to St. Petersburg, where they were reinterred in the Grand Ducal Mausoleum of the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

PHOTO: The Ducal Mausoleum, the burial place of members of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on the grounds of Glockenberg Cemetery in Coburg.

On 3rd March 1995, at 11:30 a.m., in the Tomb of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in the presence of Princess Leonida Georgievna (1914-2010), the tombs of Kirill and Victoria were opened. After the removal of the tombstones, a niche with both coffins opened. Their outer plating had fallen into extreme disrepair and fell apart when touched. During the dismantling, metal crosses with lids and plates were found (one with the name, title and dates of the life of Victoria Feodorovna, and the other with the monogram of Kirill Vladimirovich). Then the inner coffins, in which the bodies rested, were brought to the surface. The remains of Victoria Feodorovna were the first to be examined. Her skeletonized remains were preserved in the same position in which the deceased had been laid in the coffin.

PHOTO: The coffins of Grand Duke Kirill I Vladimirovich and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna before being transferred from Coburg to St. Petersburg.

After the transfer of the remains of Victoria Feodorovna to a new coffin, the exhumation of the body of her husband took place. The coffin of Kirill Vladimirovich had a glass window through which it was possible to see the face of the deceased. Looking through this window in 1995, those present at the exhumation were shocked: the decayed face of the grand duke was revealed. Its features had not changed much 57 years after his funeral in 1938.

PHOTO: a rather morbid photo depicting the decayed body of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich in his coffin, taken in the Tomb of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha during the exhumation, 3rd March 1995.

When the remains of Kirill and Victoria were placed in new coffins, Archbishop Feofan (Galinsky) of Berlin and Germany served a pannikhida [a liturgical solemn service for the repose of the deceased]. Finally, the lids are closed, the coffins are sealed and covered with national flags. After a heartfelt farewell to Vladyka Feofan, Princess Leonida Georgievna departed Coburg to escort the coffins to Russia on the ship Anna Karenina.

PHOTO: view of the Grand Ducal Mausoleum of the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg, where Kirill and Victoria’s remains were reinterred in March 1995.

On 6th March, the first day of Great Lent, the Spanish-born Princess Maria Vladimirovna, arrived in St. Petersburg by plane with her son, Prince George Mikhailovich-Hohenzollern. The next day, early in the morning, the Anna Karenina arrived. From the port, the cortege proceeded to the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the coffins were carried into the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The burial ceremony was scheduled for 12-00. After the arrival of the Leonida, Maria and George, the clergy, Mayor of St. Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak (1937-2000) and representatives of the administration of St. Petersburg, a pannikhida was held, which was served by Bishop Lev (Tserpitsky) of Novgorod Bishop Simon (Getya) of Tikhvin. At the end of the pannikhida, the coffins were lowered into pre-prepared niches with military honours.

PHOTO: Princess Maria Vladimirovna pays her last respects to her grandfather and grandmother, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna. The Grand Ducal Tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg, 7th March 1995.

Temporary slabs were installed on the graves (later they were replaced by permanent marble ones) and wreaths were laid. The traitor Grand Duke and his wife found eternal repose next to their son Prince Vladimir Kirillovich (1917-1992).

It was Kirill’s daughter-in-law Princess Leonida, who arranged for Kirill and Victoria’s reinterment in St. Petersburg. It was only due to her vast wealth, left to her by her first husband Sumner Moore Kirby. (1895-1945), a wealthy American businessman, and one of the heirs to the F.W. Woolworth fortune. The cost of new coffins, transport to Russia, two tombs with marble slabs must have been staggering!

Given Kirill’s lack of a moral compass and his act of treason against his Sovereign in March 1917, it is this author’s belief that Kirill and Victoria’s remains should have never left in Coburg – PG

***

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, who betrayed Tsar Nicholas II. Nor can we ignore those whose ancestors who openly supported the Nazis. Thus, without any reservations, the right to the succession to the throne of the Kirillovich branch should be excluded!

Any person who supports this branch of the Romanov dynasty, dishonours the memory of the murdered Holy Tsar Martyr Nicholas II.

© Paul Gilbert. 7 March 2025