Post by Gillian WhiteRegarding the dispute over who is the Head of the Imperial House of Russia,
who has the 'best' claim - Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna or Prince
Nicholas Romanovich?
My current view of this situation is that the strength (or weakness) of the
Vladimirovichi claim lies entirely with Maria V's son, George Mikhailovich. If
George does not marry equally and have legitimate succession, it's all very moot
because the two (George and Maria) consider themselves and Maria's mother
Leonida, as the entire Imperial Family of Russia. So, with no George with equal
marriage and legitimate succession, the Imperial Vladimirovichi line will become
extinct, at least for some people.
OTOH, the claim of the Romanov Family Association is at least numerically
stronger, as there are many legitimate males within these lines. However, they
do not consider the Romanovs to be anything but a family at this point - no
longer a dynasty. An argument for the RFA and its system of succession can
certainly be made.
Post by Gillian WhiteI know there are several factors that work against the Grand Duchess. Her
grandfather, Kirill Vladimirovich, was barred from the succession because a)
he did not obtain the Tsar's permission to marry Princess Victoria Melita of
Great Britain b) Victoria Melita did not convert to the Orthodox Church and
c) Victoria Melita was a divorcee. And even if he had not been barred, Maria
Vladimirovna's claim would be recognised only if there were no other
legitimate male Romanov heirs, which there are.
The main requirement for agnates was that they marry equally. In that respect,
no one could doubt the equality of Princess Victoria - her mother was a Russian
grand duchess, after all. The part about the Tsar's permission I do not believe
was a part of the Fundamental Law as much as it was the custom under autocracy.
So, the absence of Nicholas' permission alone was really a poor reason to make
the Kyril/Ducky marriage morganatic. Second, it was not Victoria Melita's
religion that was a problem - she did convert to Orthodoxy - I would need to
look up the date. Without question, VM was Orthodox at the time of the birth of
her son, Vladimir. The religious objection was raised because Kiril's mother
Maria Pavlovna did not convert to Orthodoxy until rather late in the game.
However, her father in law the Tsar allowed her to keep her Lutheran religion
and he did not consider the marriage morganatic. Nonetheless, this argument does
have some teeth.
VM's being a divorcee was not a problem in terms of the FL or the Orthodox
Church. The only decent argument against the legitimacy of the union regarding
Victoria M herself is the fact that she and Kiril were cousins. Again, however,
once Nicholas recognized the union as dynastic, which was several years later,
this argument was much less viable. While many would not approve of Victoria
socially because of her divorce from Ernie of Hesse, she was still able to be a
full member of the Orthodox Church and a Russian grand duchess by marriage.
Post by Gillian WhiteGiven these problems, why does she persist in making her claim? Is there
room for manoeuvre in the succession law, or is it absolute? How many
members of the Romanov family support her?
As of now, since George and Maria consider themselves the sole members of the
dynasty - along with Leonida - so no members of the remaining family support
her. The Ilyinskys - the descendants of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich - have the
sole distinction in the Romanov family of getting along with everyone -
including the Vladimirovichi. The Fundamental Law is old - last amended around
1912 - and there are varying opinions as to how it is appropriate to interpret
it today. Maria does not persist in making her claim - she is widely regarded as
head of the house by many people throughout the world. However, that approval is
far from universal.
Post by Gillian WhiteAnd what about Prince Nicholas Romanovich? What are the arguments for and
against his position?
Gillian
The arguments for and against are very complex so I hesitate to try to present
them briefly here. In the main, the RFA feels that few dynasts were in a
position to marry equally after the Revolution and that Russia has the right to
be the republic she is today - and without a Romanov dynasty. The Romanov family
still loves Russia and still wants to help when and where it can.
Lisa Davidson