Despite the January frosts, lilacs and almond bushes have bloomed again in the Tsarskoye Selo greenhouses, and have now been transferred to the private apartments of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the Alexander Palace. This unique tradition, which was adopted by the family of Nicholas II, was revived by the museum in the winter of 2022.
On 14th January 2025, the first six lilac bushes of historical varieties, including “Memory of Ludwig Speth” and “Madame Lemoine”, were placed in special tubs and brought into the Mauve (Lilac) and Maple Drawing Rooms. Their aroma filled the interiors of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna recreated rooms, which are situated in the Eastern Wing of the palace.
This year, for the first time, an almond bush of the “Tanyusha” variety with delicate pink double flowers was delivered to the Mauve (Lilac) Drawing Room.
According to the chief curator of the museum’s parks Olga Filippova, the flower exposition is created on the basis of historical materials using the old traditional methods of the 19th century. The process takes place in three stages in the museum greenhouse complex.
This year a total of 18 lilac bushes will decorate the Mauve (Lilac) and Maple Drawing Rooms. The bushes will replace each other as they bloom, ensuring continuous flowering until April. Soon, lilies of the valley, azaleas, tulips and other plants grown in Tsarskoye Selo greenhouses will be added to the flower decoration in the Alexander Palace.
For the first time in more than a hundred years, the fragrant scent of lilacs once again fill the interiors of the Alexander Palace during the cold winter months. The Tsarskoye Selo State Museum have revived the tradition, by placing lilacs in the Mauve (Lilac) Boudoir and the Maple Drawing Room of the Alexander Palace.
The Russian news agency Kommersant, has reported that a corner divan from the Lower Dacha at Peterhof, which belonged to Emperor Nicholas II and his family, is to be auctioned in St. Petersburg. The Imperial Family were photographed sitting on the divan in 1901.
The walnut Orekhov corner divan was made by the firm of Friedrich Meltzer (1831-1923), it measures 177 cm high, 110 cm wide, and can be disassembled into three tiers. The opening bid is set at 5 million rubles [$63,500 USD].
The Lower Dacha situated in the Alexandria Park, overlooking the Gulf of Finland, served as a summer residence of Emperor Nicholas II and his family during their stays at Peterhof. It was here, that the Tsar’s only son and heir, Alexei, was born on 12th August (O.S. 30th July) 1904. It was also at the Lower Dacha that Nicholas II signed a manifesto on Russia’s entry into the First World War.
During the Great Patriotic War (1941-45), the Nazis used the former Imperial residence as a base for its coastal defence. It was during this time that the former Imperial residence was looted by the invaders, who stole countless personal items (including pieces of furniture) of the former Tsar and his family. The building survived the war, and stood until 1961 when it was blown up by the Soviets – the Lower Dacha was left in ruins.
Please note that the Russian source failed to identify either the auction house or the date for the sale, however, I will endeavour to find out more details and update this post as they become available.
It is the opinion of this author, that this item should be returned to the Peterhof State Museum from where it was originally stolen. Perhaps the acquisition of this corner divan by the museum will give them an opportunity to rethink a reconstruction of the Lower Dacha to what it looked like in 1917?
Nicholas II and Vladimir Lenin are two people whose paths crossed only in absentia, through newspapers, police reports and the historical whirlwind of 1917. They never met or even saw each other in person, nor did they exchange letters. The Tsar knew Lenin as a radical emigrant, then as a “German agent”, and in the end as the man who destroyed the Russian Empire.
Recall that while Lenin and the Bolsheviks had little if anything to do with the overthrow of the monarchy in February 1917, he is certainly responsible for the coup d’etat which overthrew the Provisional Government in October 1917, and is widely believed to have given the order to murder not only the Tsar, but his entire family as well.
Early years: just another “seditious” revolutionary
Until 1917, Lenin for Nicholas II was just a surname in police reports. The Okhrana reported on the Social Democrats, on their split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, and on Ulyanov [Lenin] himself, who was imprisoned in Siberia, after which he went abroad. But in the Tsar’s diaries for 1900-1916, Lenin is hardly mentioned, either by name or as a threat. Nicholas worried about the Socialist Revolutionary terrorists, about strikes, about the Duma, but an extremist [Lenin] in Switzerland seemed of little interest or concern to the monarch. Historian and scientific director of the Civil Archive of the Russian Federation Sergey Mironenko [b. 1951] notes in the preface to Nicholas II’s diaries: “the Tsar saw a “gang” in the revolutionaries, but did not single out the leaders. Lenin was nothing more than a shadow.”
April 1917: “sealed train” and the German connection
It was during Nicholas II’s house arrest in Tsarskoye Selo, that he learned about Lenin’s return from Germany. For the Tsar, this was proof that Lenin was an agent of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in letters and conversations (according to Pierre Gilliard) called Lenin a “German spy”. Nicholas shared few direct words on the matter in his diary, but in the entries of April-May there is contempt for the “traitors” who collaborated with the enemy during the war. The archives confirm that the family discussed the “April Theses”[1] as madness paid for with German gold.
July 1917: Riots of the “Leninists” The summer of 1917
During the summer of 1917, the Imperial Family were being held under house arrest in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. On 3-5 (O.S.) July, riots broke out in Petrograd [St. Petersburg] – the Bolsheviks led sailors and soldiers against the Provisional Government. On 5th (O.S.) July 1917, Nicholas wrote in his diary : “We received news of serious unrest in Petrograd [St. Petersburg] caused by the actions of the Leninists.” This is one of the first direct mentions of Lenin by name. The Tsar saw Lenin as an instigator who sowed chaos in the army and the rear. When the authorities suppressed freedom of speech, Nicholas was somewhat relieved – but he already understood that this man [Lenin] was dangerous.
Escape to Finland: “disappeared like a coward”
After the failure of the July putsch [a violent attempt to overthrow a government], Lenin fled to Razliv, then to Finland. On 8th (O.S.) July 1917, Nicholas recorded in his in his diary: “Lenin and company disappeared.” The tone is contemptuous: not a hero of the revolution, but a fugitive. Pierre Gilliard claims that the Tsar commented on this, saying “it is typical for these “seditious” people to incite others, and then hide themselves.” For Nicholas, as Emperor, as an officer and as a man of honour, such behavior was contemptable.
October coup: “seizure of power by bandits”
On 7th November (O.S. 25th October) 1917, the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace in the capital. Nicholas II and his family were already in Tobolsk. They learned about the uprising through newspapers and rumours. On 26th (O.S.) October 1917, the Tsar wrote in his diary: “In the morning we received news of the coup d’état in Petrograd [St. Petersburg] carried out by the Bolsheviks under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky.” The Tsar called it “the seizure of power by a gang of bandits.” In the following entries there is pain: “Russia is dying,” he wrote. For him, Lenin became a symbol of the end of the Russian Empire, a man who destroyed everything for which they fought and lived for.
The Brest-Litovsk Peace: “Scoundrels Lenin and Trotsky”
The final blow came in March 1918, when the Bolsheviks signed and then ratified the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. Nicholas II, a patriot and former commander-in-chief of the Russian Imperial Army, declared it a national disgrace. On 3rd (O.S.) March 1918, he wrote in his diary: “Peace has been signed on incredibly difficult terms.” Then, on 9-13 (O.S.) March, the entries in his diary are full of grief – “a shameful peace”, “how hard it is for Russia”. And in one of the March entries, bluntly: “These scoundrels Lenin and Trotsky brought the country to such dishonour.” This was the harshest quote from Nicholas II’s diary – Lenin was a traitor to the Motherland for the Tsar, worse than any enemy at the front.
PHOTO: in April 2021, a bust-monument of Vladimir Lenin was vandalized in the Russian city of Murmansk. Vandals poured red paint over the monument, the colour red symbolizing the blood the Bolshevik leader spilled during his reign of terror.
NOTES:
[1] The “April Theses” were a series of directives issued by Vladimir Lenin in April 1917, upon his return to Russia from exile. They called for the immediate withdrawal of Russia from World War I, the transfer of power to the Soviets, and the implementation of radical socialist reforms. The Theses emphasized the need for revolutionaries to break decisively with the Provisional Government and demanded “all power to the Soviets”. These proposals significantly influenced the course of the Russian Revolution and contributed to the Bolshevik coup d’état in October 1917.
PHOTO: Princess Vera Konstantinovna seated in front of a framed portrait of her beloved father Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinoivich (1858–1915). This photo was aken at the Tolstoy Foundation’s elderly care home in Valley Cottage, New York. 1988.
Today – 11th January 2026 – marks the 25th anniversary of the repose of Princess of the Imperial Blood Vera Konstantinovna, at the age of 94
It was on this day – 11th January 2001 – that Princess Vera Konstantinovna died at the Tolstoy Foundation’s elderly care home in Valley Cottage, New York in the United States.
Princess Vera was born at Pavlovsk on 24th April (O.S. 11th April) 1906, the youngest of nine children born to Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (1858-1915) and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna (1865-1927).
In exile, Princess Vera served as honorary chairman of the Association of the Members of the House of Romanov. In addition, she was an honorary member of the Russian Imperial Union-Order, and an honorary member of the Supreme Monarchical Council.
photo: In happier times . . . Princess Vera surrounded by her dolls and toys in her playroom in Pavlovsk Palace. 1910
Vera Konstantinovna was the only surviving Romanov who remembered pre-revolutionary life and her legendary relatives. She was a living embodiment of the best traditions of the House of Romanov, earning great respect in the circles of the Russian emigration.
Princess Vera recalls the February 1917 Revolution in Petrograd – she was 11 years old at the time:
“In the spring of 1917, I came home from a walk and saw a red bow on the livery of my personal lackey: “Shame on you, this is against the Tsar!” I was indignant. Then the footman replied: “The Tsar is no more!” So I learned that he had abdicated”…
“On another day, I walked with my teacher across the Field of Mars. We went to the church in the Engineers Castle. A sailor was walking towards us, he had a look of horror on his face. And on his chest he wore the St. George’s Cross. He was, of course, brave. But this image of a revolutionary wearing the St. George’s cross, made such an impression on me that I remembered it all my life …”
Princess Vera died at the Tolstoy Foundation’s elderly care home in Valley Cottage, New York, on 11th January 2001, at the age of 94.
PHOTO: rincess Vera was buried next to her brother Prince Georgy Konstantinovich (1903-1938) at the cemetery of the Russian Orthodox Monastery of Novo-Diveevo in Nanuet, New York.
Her funeral was held on 15th January 2001. She was buried next to her brother Prince Georgy Konstantinovich (1903-1938) at the cemetery of the Russian Orthodox Monastery of Novo-Diveevo in Nanuet, New York.
The Russian History Museum has prepared this brief yet interesting tribute to a woman who was a pillar to the Russian emigration in the United States, and a founding patron of the Russian History Museum in Jordanville, NY.
Princess Vera (1906- 2001), was the youngest child of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. By the time she fled Bolshevik Russia in October 1918, she had already lost half of her family. Vera was the only Romanov who remembered pre-revolutionary life and her legendary relatives, including Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna [her god-mother], and was a playmate to their younger children. Princess Vera died on 11 January 2001, at the age of 95.
Paperback edition. 148 pages + 75 black & white photographs
CLICK on the LINK below for more details, including a full list of the articles found in each issue + links to ORDER copies of the issues which interest you most:
*You can order SOVEREIGN from most AMAZON outlets, including the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Mexico and Japan – *Note: prices are quoted in local currencies
SOVEREIGN was launched in 2015, by Paul Gilbert, a British-born historian and writer, who has dedicated more than 35 years to researching and writing about Emperor Nicholas II, his family, the Romanov Dynasty and Imperial Russia. Now retired, he focuses his work on clearing the name of Russia’s much slandered Tsar.
He is able to achieve this through his blog, social media, conferencesand SOVEREIGN. It is through these venues that he challenges the negative myths and lies about Nicholas II, which have existed for more than a century. He is the author of more than a dozen books, which explore the life and reign of Nicholas II, based on research from Russian archival and media sources.
From 1986 to 2018, he travelled to Russia 29 times, visiting St. Petersburg, Moscow, Ekaterinburg and Crimea. In the 1990s, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Gilbert organized annual Romanov Tours, which offered visits to the Imperial Palaces, palaces of the grand dukes and grand duchesses in and around St. Petersburg, museums, among others.
PHOTO: SOVEREIGN publisher and editor Paul Gilbert. Ekaterinburg. July 2018
These tours featured lectures by leading authors and Romanov historians and museum curators. Several tours included visits to the State Archives of the Russian Federation (GARF) in Moscow, to view photo albums, letters, diaries and personal items of Nicholas II and his family.
Some of the highlights of these tours included the Alexander Palace in 1996 – one of the first groups from the West to explore the interiors of Nicholas and Alexandra’s private apartments; the Grand Kremlin Museum in Moscow; Livadia Palace in Crimea, among others.
One of the highlights of his career, was organizing and hosting the 1st International Nicholas II Conference, held on 27th October 2018, in Colchester, England. It was a memorable event, which brought together more than 100 people from almost a dozen countries. A second conference is in the works.
About SOVEREIGN
There are few monarchs in history about whom opinion has been more divided than the last Emperor and Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II (1868-1918).
Myths and lies about the “weak-willed”, “incompetent”, “bloody” tsar, were created on the basis of gossip, slanderous fabrications and Bolshevik propaganda in the early 20th century. For more than 70 years, the Bolsheviks and the Soviets were perfectly content to allow these myths and lies to stand. Sadly, they remain deeply rooted in the minds of both Westerners and the Russian people to this day.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Nicholas II has undergone nothing short of a renaissance in modern-day Russia. Much of this is thanks to the efforts of the Russian Orthodox Church and monarchist groups. He has been the subject of hundreds of new biographies and historical studies, documentaries, exhibitions, discussion forums, etc. In 2002, Tsar’s Days was revived in Ekaterinburg, an annual event which draws tens of thousands from across Russia and abroad to honour the memory of Nicholas II and his family.
Sadly, many of today’s academically lazy, British and American historians and biographers, prefer to rehash the popular negative myths and lies of Nicholas II’s early 20th century detractors. Few – if any of these “experts” – have traveled to Russia to utilize the vast archival sources now available to researchers. Instead they focus on Nicholas II’s failures, and seldom reflect on the many accomplishments he made during his 22+ year reign.
It was these very myths and lies, which compelled Gilbert to launch SOVEREIGN in 2015.
In 2024, SOVEREIGN was relaunched with a new format, which now features articles researched and written by Paul Gilbert and published on this blog. Gilbert has researched these works from Russian archival and media sources. Beginning with the No. 12 Winter 2024 issue of SOVEREIGN, these articles are now available in a printed format for the first time!
In addition, are a number of First English language works by Russian historians and experts, based on new archival documents discovered since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Thanks to this new generation of post-Soviet historian, we can now review the life and reign of Russia’s last Emperor and Tsar through Russian eyes, instead of Soviet ones! They challenge and put to rest many of the lies and myths presented over the past century by their Western counterparts. Their works are based on facts and information from reliable Russian sources.
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SOVEREIGN was launched in 2015, and has published a total of 15 issues. Please note, that issues No. 1 through 11 are now out of print, although used and second-hand copies are available on eBay and Amazon.
Issues No. 12 to 16 are available exclusively from Amazon – please refer to the links below. The No. 17 Sunner 2026 issue will be published in June 2026.
Current issues of SOVEREIGN
– CLICK on the LINK below for more details, including a full list of the articles found in each issue + links to ORDER copies of the issues which interest you most:
Further to my article How Yeltsin justified the demolition of the Ipatiev House (published on 20th February 2020), I present the following article, researched from Russian media sources. This new article presents some interesting details about the demolition of the infamous house where Russia’s last Tsar, along with his family and four faithful retainers were all brutally murdered by members of the Ural Soviet [Bolsheviks] in the early morning hours of 17th July 1918.
The fate of the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg is a story about how the Soviets first tried to turn the site of the regicide into a museum of the revolution, and then, frightened by its symbolic power among a growing number of Orthodox faithful, decided to wipe it off the face of the earth. The murders of the Imperial Family in 1918 and the demolition of the Ipatiev House in 1977 became two acts of the same drama, separated by almost six decades, but connected by one goal – the management of historical memory.
PHOTOS: during the late 1920s and 1930s, it was customary for Communist Party apparatchiks to arrive at the Ipatiev House in Sverdlovsk [Ekaterinburg] in large tour groups, where they would pose – many of them smiling – in front of the bullet-damaged wall of the cellar room in which the Imperial Familu had been brutally murdered by a Bolshevik firing squad in the early morning hours of 17th July 1918.
The fate of the Ipatiev House during Soviet times
The Ipatiev House was a stone mansion built in the 1880s in the pseudo-Russian style. It was situated on the corner of Karl Liebknecht and Clara Zetkin Streets (formerly called Voznesensky Prospekt and Voznesensky Lane). It was initially bought by the engineer Nikolai Ipatiev (1869-1938), and then requisitioned by the Bolsheviks in 1918, as a prison for the Nicholas II, his wife, their five children and four faithful retainers, from April to July 1918.
In Soviet times, it’s fate was paradoxical. At first, the Museum of the Revolution was set up here, and in the “murder room” situated in the basement, tourists posed to have their photos taken. Later, in the 1930s, the museum closed, and the Anti-Religious Museum was established. In subsequent years, it housed educational institutions, then an archive, and during the Great Patriotic War (1941-44) served as a warehouse for the art treasures evacuated from the Hermitage in Leningrad [St. Petersburg].
By the 1970s, a growing interest in the fate of Russia’s last Tsar in the West, that a quiet, unofficial pilgrimage to him began to manifest itself around the former Ipatiev House,. On the days marking the anniversary of the regicide, candles appeared at the walls of the Ipatiev House, people made the sign of cross and prayed. For the authorities, this set off alarm bells.
PHOTO: the demolition of the Ipatiev House did not deter Orthodox Christians from coming to the site to light candles and offer prayers for Russia’s repentance. Sverdlovsk [Ekaterinburg] 1990
Andropov’s secret note
In the summer of 1975, after learning of the pilgraimages to the Ipatiev House, KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov (1914-1984) appealed to the Politburo with a note marked “SECRET”. It said:
“Anti-Soviet circles in the West periodically inspire various kinds of propaganda campaigns around the last Tsar and his family, and in their connection to the former mansion of the merchant Ipatiev in the city of Sverdlovsk [Ekaterinburg].
“The Ipatiev House continues to stand in the center of the city… The mansion is not of any architectural or other value, only a small part of the townspeople and a few tourists are interested in it.
“Recently, foreign specialists have begun visiting Sverdlovsk. In the future, the number of foreigners may increase significantly and the Ipatiev house will become an object of interest for them.
“In this regard, it seems expedient to instruct the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee of the CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union] to resolve the issue of demolishing the mansion as part of the planned reconstruction of the city.”
Andropov was wrong about the lack of “architectural and other value”: the stone mansion was a fine example of pseudo-Russian Art Nouveau style, it was perfectly inscribed in the city’s landscape – one-story on one side and two-story on the other, and inside it was decorated with stucco molding and casting, which by the 1970s were still well preserved.
Nevertheless, the house was indeed the object of growing interest for both locals and foreigners. On the day marking the anniversary of the murders of the Tsar and his family, candles were placed at the threshold of the house, while believers crossed themselves and bowed at the walls. Their numbers grew each year, acting as a precursor to Tsar’s Days.
Rumors spread around the city that UNESCO was going to make the Ipatiev House a “monument to human barbarism”[1] along with Auschwitz. And yet the then leadership of the city – the secretary of the regional committee Yakov Petrovich Ryabov (1928-2018) and the chairman of the city executive committee Vasily Vasilyevich Gudkov (1926-2018) – was in no hurry to carry out the order. Opponents of the demolition of the building included not only local historians, but even the communists – “how can you destroy the monument to the revolution, where the bloody tyrant suffered a well-deserved punishment?,” they cried.
This story ended two years later, when the new secretary of the regional committee, Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007), was instructed to carry out the order of the Politburo, of Which he complied in September 1977.
PHOTO: the demolition of the Ipatiev House was carried out on 22-23 September 1977
Could the Ipatiev House have been saved?
In his Russian-language memoir Исповедь на заданную тему / Confession on a Given Topic (1990), the first president of Russia wrote that the building was demolished in one night, immediately after he received a secret package from the Politburo: “It was impossible to resist … In addition, I could not prevent this — the decision of the highest authority of the country, official, signed and formalized accordingly. Not to comply with the Politburo Resolution? I… I could not even imagine the consequences. But even if I had disobeyed, I would have been left without a job… And the new first secretary of the regional committee, who would have replaced me, would still have carried out the order nevertheless.”
Yeltsin was sometimes accused of being overzealous, they say, Ryabov was in no hurry to carry out the order from Moscow. One source claims that there was no “secret package” addressed personally to Yeltsin (this document was indeed never found in the archives), but simply Yeltsin on his own initiative rushed to fulfill an order made two years prior.
It is now impossible to say whether this is true or not. But it is possible that there was an order from Moscow. The year 1978 was approaching – the year which marked the 110th anniversary of the birth of Nicholas II and the 60th anniversary of the execution of the Imperial Family. The “unhealthy interest” in the Ipatiev House would certainly have manifested itself.
In addition, UNESCO could have assigned the Ipatiev House the status of a World Heritage Site, and then it would have been impossible to demolish this building. In a word, whether in writing or orally, but, to all appearances, Boris Yeltsin received an order not to delay any longer.
Before the demolition, local museum workers had the opportunity to take out castings and other fragments of décor from the house. They are now on display in the permanent exhibition The Romanovs in the Urals in the Poklevsky-Kozell House Museum of the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore in Ekaterinburg.
PHOTO: Prince Dimitri Romanovich (1926-2016) near the cross, where the Ipatiev House stood until 1977, demolished after a secret order of the Politburo. 1992
NOTES:
[1] There isn’t a single, officially designated “UNESCO monument to human barbarism”; rather, the term refers to sites where UNESCO and others condemn acts of cultural destruction, looting, or desecration, often by extremist groups or occupying forces, seen as barbarism against shared human heritage.
The following NEW title was compiled and edited by independent researchers and Romanov historian Paul Gilbert was published in August 2024.
This fascinating new study features 14 chapters on this tragic event, which include the memoirs of a British intelligence officer and journalist, and two First-English translations. In addition, 11 chapters were written by Paul Gilbert, based on new documents sourced from Russian archival and media sources over the past decade.
Please refer to the link provided for further details about the content of this new title . . .
Russia’s last emperor and tsar remains one of the most documented persons in history. He has been the subject of countless books, and articles for scholarly periodicals, magazines and newspapers.
I have UPDATED the 2024 edition of this booklet with 4 additional pages. My 2026 edition features a NEW article about Nicholas II’s libraries and his vast book collection; 8 black and white photos; and I have added even more titles to the bibliography. The highlight of my NEW 2026 edition is a list of more than 125 English-language books on the life and reign of Nicholas II.
My UPDATED 22-page booklet, is now available to download, print and/or save. It’s FREE!
The bibliography provides a comprehensive list of both scholarly and popular works. Many are generally of limited value and even mislead readers, however, they have been included because they played a significant role in shaping Western opinion of the last Tsar. In some instances, these works have been responsible for the creation and perpetuation of widely subscribed to generalizations, stereotypical images, and myths. In a sense, then, the fact that many of these sources contain inaccuracies, exaggerations, and oversimplifications, and are sometimes guilty of tendentiousness, does not lessen but rather constitutes their historical value.
I trust that this booklet will be a useful research tool for scholars, historians, teachers, writers and the general reader. It includes titles which are current, out of print, as well as a number of titles which have yet to be published.
As new books are published, this booklet will be updated accordingly. If you know of any other titles which are not listed in this bibliography, please feel free to bring them to my attention. You can e-mail me at royalrussia@yahoo.com
PAUL GILBERT
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I am committed to clearing the name of Russia’s much slandered Tsar. In exchange for this NEW UPDATED 22-page booklet, please consider making a small $5 or $10 donation in aid of my research. These donations are of great assistance in helping me offset the cost of obtaining and translating documents from Russian archival and media sources, which are often paid for out of my own pocket. It is these documents which help present new facts and information on the life and reign of Nicholas II. In addition, my research continues to debunking many of the myths and lies which exist more than a century after his death and martyrdom.
Please note, that there is NO obligation, the booklet is FREE to every one! ENJOY!
The Tsarskoye Selo State Museum has published the first volume of a unique catalog of the wardrobe of Emperor Nicholas II and his family. The first volume is dedicated to the uniforms of Nicholas II.
The Tsarskoye Selo State museum houses the world’s largest collection of uniforms of the last Russian Tsar and clothes of members of his family – more than 800 items. The collection comes from the Alexander Palace, the last and favorite residence of Nicholas II.
The catalog contains photographs and descriptions of more than 350 items. The author of the catalog is the curator of the Men’s Costume Collection, senior researcher at the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve, Alexei Rogatnev. [Note: the link features a 10-minute video of Rognatnev talking about the Alecander Palace’s collection of Nicholas II’s uniforms]
“During the reign of Nicholas I, there was a rule without exceptions: the Emperor was an officer of the Russian Empire. Therefore, he was obliged to wear a military uniform, and only on trips abroad could he wear civilian dress. Even when he was not engaged in affairs related to the management of a huge empire, Nicholas II wore a uniform: in photographs from the Romanov family albums, we see him playing tennis in the summer jacket of a naval officer and shoveling snow near the Alexander Palace in the uniform of a colonel of the 4th Imperial Family Life Guards Rifle Regiment,” he notes.
“In the last few decades of the 19th century, thanks to the passion of Alexander III and Nicholas II for hunting, the rule was somewhat relaxed – when hunting, members of the Imperial Family wore comfortable, specially tailored suits. Thus, most of the wardrobe of both the emperor and the grand dukes was a collection of uniforms of the various units of the regiments of the Russian Empire and European countries,” Rogatnev added.
The catalog is based on documents from the museum collection, the most valuable are from the inventory lists of the Alexander Palace Museum, which were compiled in 1938-1939. They contain a complete list of the wardrobe of the Imperial Family as of 22nd June 1941, and make it possible to recreate the composition of the pre-war collection, the method and place of evacuation, and to identify lost items.
Among the numerous sources that were used in researching for the catalog, the wardrobe records of Nicholas II, in particular, which uniform he wore. Entries in these books were made only on the days the Emperor participated at official events held in St. Petersburg and mirrored those of the Chamber Fourier journal. They do not contain records of the Emperor’s foreign travels, while traveling on the Imperial Train, and under other similar circumstances. These records also contain factual inaccuracies that can be identified by cross-referencing several sources.
Thanks to the study of the annual reports, which are stored in the Russian State Historical Archive, we can see the expenditures for the manufacture of most of the uniforms of Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsesarevich Alexei and the Grand Duchesses. These accounts make it possible to determine the amount spent on uniforms by year, to systematize the internal structure of the wardrobe by military units, to determine the main and secondary suppliers of uniforms, military accessories, and shoes.
Emperor Nicholas II and his family made the Alexander Palace their permanent residence rom 1905. Personal items, including their respective wardrobes, were not tied to a certain place, but accompanied them, wherever they stayed, be it the Winter Palace, Peterhof, Livadia, Spala, Moscow or abroad. But most of the Emperor’s wardrobe invariably remained in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo.
The catalog of Nicholas II’s uniforms will be of interest to historians, specialists in Russian military costume, art historians, museum employees and everyone who is interested in the reign of Russia’s last Tsar.
The catalog is currently only available in the Tsarskoye Selo museum shops in the Catherine and Alexander Palaces, in the Russia in the Great War Museum (located in the Sovereign Military Chamber), as well as book kiosks found in the Catherine Park.
NOTE: this catalog is ONLY available in Russian, there is NO English language edition available, nor does the museum have any plans on issuing such. 296 pages, richly illustrated throughout.
Drawing of Emperor Nicholas II (1914) Artisit: Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878-1927)
Please note that the articles provided (by links) are for information purposes only, they do not reflect the opinion of the administrator of this blog – PG
Russia’s last Emperor and Tsar Nicholas II, his family, the Romanov dynasty and the history of Imperial Russia, continue to be the subject of books, exhibitions and documentaries. In addition, they continue to generate headlines in the media.
The following articles were published by American and British media services, in the Summer: July, August, and Autumn: September, October, November and December 2025. Click on the title [highlighted in red] below and follow the link to read each respective article:
What kind of holiday would it be without cannons? Without masquerades and music?! Here’s how the holidays were celebrated in Tsarist Russia, by the Empresses Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II.
Historians, describing the life of Duchess Elizabeth Pierrepoint Kingston, call it “rich in adventure”. This euphemism conceals a real adventure, complete with bigamy, an escape to Russia and a ship full of treasure.
Elena Molokhovets’s book ‘Gift to Young Housewives’ went through 29 editions from 1861 until the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. The “culinary bible” of the Russian Empire taught women left without servants the art of managing a household. We’ve selected some tips from it that are still relevant today.
Ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska was not only the prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater, but also a socialite, known for her affairs with several Romanov grand dukes.
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In tsarist times, a trip from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ was a real adventure that could stretch on for weeks or even months. Of course, there were already roadside inns for travelers, but these were not up to the standard required for emperors and their entourage. Therefore, “travel” palaces had to be specially built – luxurious mansions where one could rest, spend the night and continue the journey with renewed energy. Anna Sorokina takes a look at 8 of these “Travelling Palaces”.
Two representatives of the ultra-conservative TV channel Spas brought a flag depicting emperor Nicholas II from the occupied Ukrainian city of Vuhledar to the archipelago of Severnaya Zemlya.
Every now and then, a quiet object in the museum’s collection reveals an extraordinary story. For decades, a heavy leather-bound album, its cover elegantly embossed in gold with the words “Views of His Own Palace and Rooms, St. Petersburg” lay, largely unnoticed, in the Russian History Museum’s archives. According to old museum records, it showed the interiors of the Anichkov Palace, home of Emperor Alexander III.
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On this day – 31st December 2016 – Prince Dmitri Romanovich Romanov died in Copenhagen, Denmark at the age of 90. Following the death of his brother Prince Nicholas Romanovich in 2014, Dmitri became his rightful successor as Head of the House of Romanov.
Through his paternal lineage, Prince Dmitri was a great-great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855) and his consort, Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1798-1860), who founded the Nikolaevichi branch of the Russian Imperial Family. He is a second cousin of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II.
Dmitri was born on 17th May 1926 in in the villa of his grandfather, Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich (1864-1931), in Cap d’Antibes on the French Riviera. He was the youngest son of Prince of the Imperial Blood Roman Petrovich (1896-1978) and his wife Princess Praskovia Dmitrievna (née Countess Sheremeteva, 1901-1980). In connection with the birth of their son, a congratulatory telegram addressed to Dmitri’s parents was sent from Denmark to France by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928).
Prince Dmitri spent the first ten years of his life in France. He was brought up entirely in the Russian spirit under the guidance of his paternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna (1866-1951). Dimitri Romanovich’s teachers were graduates of the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg [established by Catherine the Great in 1765]. Every Sunday, the family visited the home church, where young Dimitri served in the altar.
PHOTO: Prince of the Imperial Blood Roman Petrovich and his wife Princess Praskovia Dmitrievna (née Countess Sheremeteva. Egypt. Circa early 1950s
Early life – France, Italy, Egypt
After the victory of the Socialists in the French parliamentary elections in 1936, Dmitri moved with his parents to Italy, where the queen was Helena of Savoy [born Princess Jelena of Montenegro, 1873-1952] the sister of his paternal grandmother Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna. For a short time, the family lived in the Quirinal Palace in Rome, the official residence of the king of Italy.
Dmitri studied at a private Italian school, where he was taught Latin and classical Greek. When Italy withdrew from the war in 1943 and Germany occupied Rome, Dimitri and his family hid from the Germans for nine months, changing apartments and addresses, as the Nazis announced a hunt for all relatives of the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III.
In May 1946, Dmitri and his family sailed from Naples to Cairo on the Italian ship Obruzzi. Initially, the family planned to stay in Egypt for only two months and then return to Europe, but their forced exile lasted until 1952. Soon after arriving in Egypt at the age of 19, Dimitri Romanovich, with the consent of his parents, began working as a simple mechanic at the Ford repair plant in Alexandria, where he earned a mechanic’s certificate. Dimitri Romanovich worked at the plant for three years, and then worked as a car sales manager.
In 1960 Prince Dmitri moved to Denmark, where he worked for a number of banks including the Danske Bank, where he was an executive until his retirement in 1993.[2] He was fluent in Russian, French, English, Danish and Italian. Dmitri became a Danish citizen in 1979
PHOTO: the wedding of Prince Dmitri Romanovich and Johanna von Kaufmann, 1959
Marriages
Prince Dmitri Romanovich was married twice.
In 1958, Dimitri and his friends went on a trip to Scandinavia by car. In Helsinki, he met a young girl named Johanna von Kauffmann (1936–1989). In 1959, the young couple married, settling in the suburbs of Copenhagen. Johanna died of cancer on 13th 1989, at the age of 52. The couple had no children.
In 1989, Prince Dimitri Romanovich married Dorrit Reventlow (born 1942) on 28th July 1993, at the Trinity Cathedral of the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma. His second marriage was the “FIRST” time a Romanov had been married in Russia since the fall of the dynasty in 1917. Before the wedding, Princess Dorrit converted to Orthodoxy taking the name Feodora Alexeevna. The couple had no children.
PHOTO: Prince Dimitri Romanovich and his second wife Princess Feodora Alexeevna
Dynastic status
From birth, Dmitri Romanovich was titled by His Highness Prince of the Imperial Blood, which, however, was never recognized by the descendants of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (1876-1938).
Since the creation of the Romanov Family Association in 1979, which today unites most of the male and female descendants of Emperor Nicholas I (1796-1855). Dmitri Romanovich did not recognize Prince Vladimir Kirillovich (1917-1992) as the head of the House of Romanov. After the death of the latter in April 1992, Dmitri recognized his brother Prince Nicholas Romanovich as the rightful head of the House of Romanov. Together with other representatives of the House of Romanov, he repeatedly declared the illegitimacy of the claims to the Russian throne of Vladimir Kirillovich and his daughter Maria Vladimirovna. From 1989 to 2014, Prince Dmitri served as an adviser to the head of the Romanov Family Association.
After the death of his brother in September 2014, Dmitri Romanovich headed the Romanov Family Association. All descendants of the Russian Imperial House (except Maria Vladimirovna and her son George Mikhailovich) recognized him as the head of the House of Romanov. The successor of Dimitri Romanovich was Prince Andrei Andreevich (1923-2021), who was the oldest living representative of the House of Romanov at the time.
Dimitri Romanovich was the last male representative of the Nikolaevichi branch of the House of Romanov, which originated from Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, Sr. (1831-1891) and his wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (born Duchess Alexandra of Oldenburg, 1838-1900). Dimitri Romanovich had no children, and his elder brother Nikolai Romanovich had only daughters. As a result, upon the death of Prince Dimitri Romanovich on 31st December 2016, the male line of the Nicholaevich branch of the Romanov family died out.
PHOTO: seven Romanov princes gather in Paris in June 1992
Social activities
On 29th June 1992, seven Romanov princes met in Paris: Nikolai Romanovich (1922-2014), Dimitri Romanovich (1926-2016), Andrei Andreevich (1923-2021), Mikhail Feodorovich (1924-2008), Nikita Nikitich (1923-2007), Alexander Nikitich (1929-2002) and Rostislav Rostislavovich (1938-1999).
The male descendants of the House of Romanov declared that none of them had any claims to the Russian throne, and that their activities in Russia would only be educational and charitable. Prince Dmitri was an opponent of the restoration of the monarchy. He believed that in Russia “there should be a democratically elected president.
It was during this meeting, that the princes decided to create a charitable foundation to help Russia. The foundation was established in 1994 and registered in London. The Romanov Fund for Russia was headed by Dimitri Romanovich.
As part of its humanitarian activities, the foundation provides charitable assistance and support to those in need in the field of medicine, education and social welfare, and promotes activities in the field of culture, art and enlightenment. The foundation takes care of hospitals for hearing-impaired children, boarding schools and nursing homes.
In July 1992, Prince Dmitri visited Russia for the first time, visiting St. Petersburg and Moscow. In the first years of its activity, the foundation faced difficulties of various nature associated with the collapse of the Russian state economy and the critical state of the social security system. In the period from 1993 to 1995, Dimitri Romanovich headed five humanitarian visits to Russia on behalf of the Romanov Fund for Russia.
PHOTO: Russian president Vladimir Putin with Prince Dmitri Romanovich and his wife Princess Feodora Alexeevna, during an official reception held in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow. 2006
PHOTO: Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev awarding Prince Dmitri Romanovich with the Order of Alexander Nevsky, 6th October 2016
Awards and honours
In 2006, Prince Dmitri Romanovich met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The meeting took place during a state reception devoted to National Unity Day in St. George’s Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.
This meeting occurred in the context of the reburial of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (Emperor Nicholas II’s mother). Maria Feodorovna had died in exile in Denmark, and her dying wish was to be buried next to her husband, Emperor Alexander III, in Russia.
In June 2011, the then President of the Russian Federation Dmitri Medvedev awarded Prince Dmitri the “Order of Friendship” for “great achievements in strengthening friendship and cultural cooperation between Russia and the Kingdom of Denmark and for his achievements as chairman of the Romanov Fund for Russia.” The award ceremony took place in Moscow.
In May 2016, Dimitri Romanovich was awarded a certificate of honour from the Government of the Russian Federation “for his great contribution to the dissemination of knowledge about the historical and cultural heritage of Russia abroad, and assistance in strengthening international humanitarian ties.”
In August 2016, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Prince Dmitri was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. The Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitri Medvedev, headed the award ceremony in the building of the Government of the Russian Federation, on 6th October 2016. Prince Dmitri receive the award “for his great contribution to spreading abroad the knowledge of Russia’s historical and cultural heritage and efforts to promote international humanitarian ties.”
PHOTO: Prince Dmitir Romanovich with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. October 2016
In October 2016, Prince Dmitri also met with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. During the meeting, His Holiness said: “Thank you for your love for our common Motherland, for preserving the wonderful traditions of the House of Romanov, for your participation in the delivery of the remains of both [Empress] Maria Feodorovna and [Grand Duke] Nicholas Nikolaevich. Your work unites history. This is the uniqueness of your personality and the uniqueness of the House of Romanov in general. Living people united in their family tradition of honouring our national history, torn apart by the tragic events of the early 20th century.”
Patron of the Arts
Dimitri Romanovich was also known as a patron of the arts. In December 2000, he donated the sabre of his great-grandfather, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, Sr (1831-1891), as well as the Shipka battle banner, to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
In July 2004, he donated the family icon of the Saviour, which once belonged to his paternal grandmother Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna (1866-1951) to the Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg.
In July 2005, he donated an icon of the Saviour to the restored Church of the Bright Resurrection of Christ on the Smolenka River in St. Petersburg. This 19th-century icon was kept in the Romanov family and passed down from generation to generation.
In July 2009, together with his wife, he donated the family icon of Saints Mitrophan and Tikhon of Voronezh to the restored Feoodorovsky Cathedral in St. Petersburg. According to Dimitri Romanovich, he was blessed with this icon. in Rome in 1944 by his spiritual mentor, Hieromonk Zosima,
Dmitri Romanovich has appeared in the media and documentaries, giving interviews about the history of the Romanov. For example: in 2003 in the Danish documentary “En Kongelig familie“, in 2007 on France 3 in the film “Un nom en héritage, les Romanov“, in 2008 on NTV in the film “Ghosts of the House of Romanov“, as well as in 2014 in the ZDF documentary “Royal Dynasties: The Romanovs” and in 2015 in the documentary “The Crown of the Russian Empire” produced by Russia-24.
PHOTO: Dmitri Romanovich at the place where the remains of the Imperial Family were found on the Old Koptyaki Road, near Ekaterinburg
Reburial of the Imperial Family
After the discovery of the remains of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, three daughters and four faithful retainers near Ekaterinburg in July 1991, Prince Dmitri Romanovich actively assisted the government commission and the investigation in identifying the remains.
Dmitri Romanovich was one of the first members of the House of Romanov to visit the place where the remains were found on the Old Koptyakovskaya Road, near Ekaterinburg. He was the only one of the Romanovs who took part in the mourning events that took place in Ekaterinburg before the remains were sent to St. Petersburg.
On 17th July 1998, together with other representatives of the House of Romanov, he participated in the funeral ceremony for the reburial of the remains of Emperor Nicholas II, members of his family and servants, which took place in the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
PHOTO: Dmitry Romanovich pays his respects at the tomb holding the remains of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra and their three daughters in St. Petersburg’s St. Peter and Paul Cathedra. 2008
Russian president Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007) attends the funeral on 17th July 1998. Addressing the funeral ceremony, Yeltsin described the murder of the Russian Imperial Family as “one of the most shameful pages in Russian history”, and urged Russians to close a “bloody century” with repentance.
He said: “Today is a historic day for Russia. For many years, we kept quiet about this monstrous crime, but the truth has to be spoken.”
Yeltsin said he had no choice but to attend this funeral in consideration of the fact that the funeral presented a historical opportunity for the Russian people to exculpate themselves from the sins of their fathers, and the sins of the murder of their Romanov family.
More than 50 Romanov descendants attended the historic burial. The only family members who did NOT attend were Princess Maria Vladimirovna, her mother Princess Leonida Georgievna, and Maria’s son Prince George Mikhailovich.
The author of this article was invited to attend the events marking the burial of Nicholas II and members of his family. On the morning of 17th July 1998, I met many descendants of the House of Romanov in the lobby of the Astoria Hotel. I was invited to ride in one of the special buses provided for the more than 50 Romanov descendants, from the Astoria Hotel to the Peter and Paul Fortress. This was the one and only time that I met Princes Nicholas (1922-2014) and Dimitri Romanovich (1926-2016) in person.
After the discovery in July 2007 of the remains of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Dmitri Romanovich actively assisted the investigation in identifying the remains. He advocated the speedy burial of the Tsesarevich and his sister in the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral.
In December 2015, Alexei and Maria’s remains were transferred from the State Archives of the Russian Federation to the Lower Church of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow, where they remain to this day.
PHOTO: Prince Dimitri Romanovich at the coffin of Empress Maria Feodorovna in the Rosskile Cathedral, Denmark. August 2006.
Reburial of Empress Maria Feodorovna
In 2001 Prince Dmitri together with his brother Prince Nikolai Romanovich and Prince Mikhail Andreevich (1920-2008), who lived in Australia, initiated the reburial to Russia of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna [born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, 1847-1928].
Prince Dmitri acted as an intermediary during negotiations between the government of the Russian Federation and the Danish royal court. Together with his wife, Princess Feodora Alexeevna, he accompanied the coffin with the remains of the Empress from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg.
From 25th to 29th September 2006, Prince Dmitri and his wife, together with other members of the Romanov Family Association, took part in the events for the reburial of the Dowager Empress, next to those of her husband Emperor Alexander III in the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
PHOTO: Prince Dmitri Romanvich at the coffins of his uncle Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich and aunt Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, in the Donskoy Monastery, Moscow
Reburial of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich
In December 2013, Prince Dmitir and his brother Prince Nicholas Romanovich, appealed to the Russian government with a request to rebury the remains of their paternal uncle Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (1856-1929) and aunt Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna (born Princess Anastasia of Montenegro, 1867-1935) in Moscow.
In April 2015, Prince Dmitri Romanovich participated in the reburial ceremony of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and his wife, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, in in the chapel in honour of the Transfiguration of the Lord at the the World War I memorial military cemetery in Moscow.
PHOTO: Prince Dmitri Romanovich and his wife admire a portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the Livadia Palace, during their visit to Crimea in 2015
Visit to Crimea
Together with his brother, Prince Dmitri supported the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014. He was the first of the Romanov family to visit Crimea after the Russian annexation. On 25th August 2015, Dimitri Romanovich and his wife Princess Feodora Alekseevna arrived in Sevastopol, where during a press conference they announced their readiness to move from Denmark to Crimea for permanent residence.
The following day, Dmitri and Princess Feodora Alekseevna visited the Livadia Palace, where they laid flowers at the monument to Emperor Nicholas II, erected in the spring of 2015. Dimitri Romanovich also visited the Djulber (aka Dulber) Palace, the family estate of the Nikolaevichs in the Crimea, which was built by Dmitri’s grandfather Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich.
On 27th August, Dimitri Romanovich visited the museum-panorama of the defense of Sevastopol. On the same day, he visited the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the Guards missile cruiser Moskva. He was told about the history of the ship, its combat characteristics and the life of sailors and officers. At parting, the crew of the cruiser presented Dimitri Romanovich with two commemorative coins with a face value of 10 rubles, minted in honor of the annexation of Crimea by Russia. On the final day of the visit, 28th August, Dimitri Romanovich visited the Massandra Palace of Emperor Alexander III.
PHOTO: Prince Dmitri’s funeral was held on 10th January 2017, at the Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Copenjagen, Denmark.
Death and funeral
At the end of December 2016, Prince Dmitri ‘s health deteriorated and he was subsequently hospitalized. He died on 31st December 2016 in a hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The funeral service was held on 10th January 2017, in the Church of Alexander Nevsky in Copenhagen, performed by Archpriest Sergei Plekho
The prince’s coffin, covered with the Romanov tri-colour flag – black, yellow, white with a double-headed eagle, was surrounded with flowers and wreaths, among which two stood out – from Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s Ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Vanin, who was present at the funeral service, read out a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing his condolences on the death of Prince Dimitri Romanov.
“Dimitri Romanovich was a “true patriot of Russia,” said Putin. “Throughout his life, the chairman of the Romanov Family Association kept the indissoluble spiritual connection with the motherland and made a great contribution to the dissemination of knowledge about the history and culture of our country abroad and about the heritage and traditions of the Russian Imperial House,” the Russian president added.
Numerous representatives of the foreign Russian diaspora attended his funeral, as well as Marshal of the Royal Court of Denmark Michael Eyrinreich, Chief Herald of the Russian Federation Georgy Vilinbakhov, and numerous Danish and Russian officials.
On 11th January 2017, a pannikhida [memorial service for the dead] was performed for the newly-departed Dimitri Romanovich, which was conducted by Archpriest Sergius Plekhov In the small chapel, at the Wedbeck Cemetery, situated about 20 km north of Copenhagen.
Then the coffin was transferred to the final resting place next to his first wife, Princess Joanna, née von Kauffmann, who died in 1989. After lowering the coffin into the grave, those present took turns throwing a handful of earth and Dimitri Romanovich’s favorite flowers, red roses.
PHOTO: grave of Prince Dmitri Romanovich Romanov (1926-2016) in Vedbaek Cemetery
Upon the death of his brother Nicholas in 2014, Dimitri assumed the Headship of the Imperial House of Russia. When Prince Dimitri Romanovich died on 31st December 2016, the male line of the Nicholaevich branch of the Romanov family died out.
Prince Dmitri Romanovich Romanov with the Order of Alexander Nevsky (1926-2016) Memory Eternal! Вечная Память! ☦️
Nicholas II 
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