Romanov Family Association

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The Romanov Family Association, Obyedineniye Chlenov Roda Romanovykh (Объединение Членов Рода Романовых), is an organization for male-line descendants of Emperor Paul I of Russia. The president is Prince Nicholas Romanov [1]. The association accepts that the Russian monarchy legally ended on 3 March (Julian Calendar)/ 16 March (Gregorian Calendar), 1917 with the decree of Emperor Mikhail II renouncing the throne and recognizing the Provisional Government.[2] Article IV-b of the bylaws of the Romanov Family Association states "The Members of the Association agree that all questions concerning the form of government in Russia and consequently also all matters of a dynastic character have been transmitted to the will of the great Russian people by the Manifest of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, which followed the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II on the basis of 'general, direct, equal and secret voting'."[3]

The members of the association reject the claims of their cousin Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna that she is the Titular Empress of Russia. Among other objections to her claim, they believe that the Russian Throne no longer exists and that Maria is not herself a member of the Romanov Dynasty because her parents married in violations of the House Laws [4].

[edit] Members

Romanov Family Association claims as members all male-line descendants of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. It is unclear how many of the claimed members actually participate in the association's activities. Maria Vadimirovna and her late father Vladimir Cyrillovich clearly did not participate but were nevertheless listed as members. The RFA also claims the title Prince(ss) of Russia for all its members. The official members, listed in association's published listing of membership (with year of joining), are:

Princess Jekaterina Ivanovna of Russia, the sole surviving founding member of RFA; dynastic daughter of Prince Ivan Konstantinovich of Russia and Jelena Petrovna of Serbia
Prince Nicholas Romanovitch of Russia, president, joined RFA 1979 in conjunction of its founding
Princess Natalya Nikolaevna of Russia
Princess Elisabeth Nikolaevna of Russia
Princess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia
Prince Dimitri Romanovitch of Russia
Prince Michael Andrejevitch of Russia, joined 1980
Prince Andrew Andrejevitch of Russia
Princess Olga Andrejevna of Russia, joined 1980
Prince Alexis Andrejevitch of Russia, joined 1981
Prince Peter Andrejevitch of Russia, joined 1996
Prince Michael Feodorovich of Russia
Prince Nikita Nikitich of Russia
Prince Feodor Nikitich of Russia
Princess Stefana Rostislavna of Russia, joined 1980
Princess Alexandra Rostislavna of Russia, joined 1982
Prince Rostislav Rostislavich of Russia, joined 1985
Prince Nikita Rostislavich of Russia, joined 1987
Princess Marina Vassilievna of Russia, joined 1980

The RFA also offers Associate Memberships to the children and grandchildren of Princesses and Grand Duchesses, widows and widowers of Princes and Princesses and Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses, as well as people who have always shown close ties to the Romanovs. At the present there are only two Associate Members:

Prince David Pavlovich Chavchavadze, son of Princess Nina Georgievna
Mrs Xenia Sfiris née Countess Cheremeteva, granddaughter of Princess Irina Alexandrovna

According to listing of their membership published by RFA, Prince Andrew Andreyevich Romanov the Younger, Princess Natasha Andreyevna Romanov, Princess Tatiana Mikhailovna of Russia, Princess Irene Feodorovna of Russia, Prince Nicholas Rostislavich of Russia, Prince Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia, Prince Daniel Nikolaevich of Russia, Princess Heather Nikolaevna of Russia, Prince George Alexandrovich of Russia (HSH Prince George Alexandrovich Yurievsky), Princess Elena Sergejevna of Russia (Countess Elena Sergejevna Belevskya-Zhukovskya), Prince Paul Dimitrievich of Russia (HSH Prince Paul Dimitrievich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky), Prince Dimitri Pavlovich of Russia (HSH Prince Dimitri Pavlovich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky), Princess Catherine Dimitrievna of Russia (HSH Princess Catherine Dimitrievna Romanovskaya-Ilyinskaya), Princess Victoria Dimitrievna of Russia (HSH Princess Victoria Dimitrievna Romanovskaya-Ilyinskaya), (Princess Lela Dimitrievna of Russia HSH Princess Lela Dimitrievna Romanovskaya-Ilyinskaya), Princess Paula Pavlovna of Russia (HSH Princess Paula Pavlovna Romanovskaya-Ilyinskaya), Princess Anna Pavlovna of Russia (HSH Princess Anna Pavlovna Romanovskaya-Ilyinskaya), Prince Michael Pavlovich of Russia (HSH Prince Michael Pavlovich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky), Princess Alexis Mikhailovna of Russia (HSH Princess Alexis Mikhailovna Romanovskaya-Ilyinskaya), and Princess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia (HIH Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna) have not joined the association.

[edit] Dispute over the headship of the house

As the RFA states that it does not advance claims to succession, and as RFA or its membership (nor even the whole membership of the dynasty) are clearly not entitled to choose the head of the Imperial House of Russia, it is difficult to see on what basis Nicholas is recognized by the Almanach de Gotha as the head of the Imperial House of Romanov [5].

For exampe, the president, Nicholas Romanov styles himself His Highness, Prince Nicholas Romanovich, Prince of Russia. This could be an example how other members of the association style themselves.

It is sometimes alleged that Prince Nicholas is the senior genealogical male-line descendant of Nicholas I, but it is difficult to see the basis for this claim since there are living male-line descendants of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Prince Nicholas is descended from one of Alexander II's younger brothers.

According to Maria Vladimirovna of Russia the members of the association are not Imperial Russian dynasts because they are descendants of morganatic marriages. The association counters that Maria's parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents also married in violation of the House Laws so she has no better claim to the Imperial throne than the rest of the family.

(http://www.romanovfundforrussia.org/family/succession.html)

The Romanov Family Association and its supporters make the following objections to Maria Vladimirovna's claim to be Head of the Imperial Family:

Grand Duke Cyril and Grand Duchess Viktoria were first cousins, and first cousins marrying was prohibited by the Russian Orthodox Church. Maria's supporters point out that all her competitors derive own claims from being descendants of Emperor Nicholas I whose wife was his second cousin, a relationship also forbidden by Russian Orthodox canon. If a church prohibition of consanguinity renders children of a marriage ineligible to succeed, none of the today contestants is eligible, nor could Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II ever have succeeded to the throne (since they succeeded, their cases form the prevalent application of dynasty law that a child of a marriage in prohibited degrees is not barred from succession). Some of Maria's opponents do not assert that anyone has a better claim than Maria, just that she has no valid claim herself.

Maria's followers also counter the consanguinity objection on the basis that the Emperor gave his approval to the marriage, and the Emperor of Russia was then the supreme Head of the Russian Orthodox church. Opponents of Maria say that the Emperor was not able to change Church Law by his own decision. Instead, an act in ecclesiastical synods or councils would have been needed. However, the Orthodox Church does not condemn children of uncanonical marriages nor their rights to inheritance, so this objection is very weak anyway.

Neither Nicholas Romanov nor Maria Vladimirovna nor any other prince Romanov pursues a position that can actually be solved in law, since the Headship of Imperial Russia is not a property or like which would be justiciable somewhere in functioning courts. Unless for some reason, the monarchy in Russia is risen to power again, there will never be any real resolution to this quarrel.

Maria Vladimirovna's father, Vladimir Cyrillovitch, contended that he was the last male dynast of the Romanov Family. He based that contention on the claim that all other males descended from Emperor Nicholas I of Russia married in violation of the House Laws with the result that their offspring did not possess any inheritance rights to the Russian throne. Under the Semi-Salic succession promulgated by Emperor Paul I of Russia, when the last male Romanov dynast died, the succession would pass to his closest female relative with valid succession rights. Contending that he was the last male Romanov dynast, Vladimir Cyrillovitch declared that his daughter would succeed as his closest female relation. Accordingly, when her father died in 1992, Maria claimed to succeed as the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia.

The Romanov Family Association claims Maria as a member under the name Princess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia but she rejects that name and the membership.

According to Maria, the members of the association are not Imperial Russian dynasts because they are descendants of morganatic marriages. The association counters that Maria's parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents also married in violation of the House Laws so she has no better claim to the Imperial throne than the rest of the family.[6]

The Romanov Family Association and its supporters make the following objections to Maria Vladimirovna's claim to be Head of the Imperial Family:

Her grandfather, HIH Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovitch's 1905 marriage to HRH Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was unapproved by the Emperor. Maria's supporters counter that the marriage was later approved by Emperor Nicholas II in 1907, and that Nicholas accorded Victoria the title and style of "Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia."
Grand Duke Cyril married a divorcée, whose former husband was HRH Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse. Supporters of Maria respond that none of the laws governing the Russian succession forbid marriage to divorcées.
Grand Duke Cyril and Grand Duchess Viktoria were first cousins, and first cousins marrying was prohibited by the Russian Orthodox Church. Maria's supporters point out that all her competitors derive own claims from being descendants of Emperor Nicholas I whose wife was his second cousin, a relationship also forbidden by Russian Orthodox canon. If a church prohibition of consanguinity renders children of a marriage ineligible to succeed, none of the today contestants is eligible, nor could Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II ever have succeeded to the throne (since they succeeded, their cases form the prevalent application of dynasty law that a child of a marriage in prohibited degrees is not barred from succession). Some of Maria's opponents do not assert that anyone has a better claim than Maria, just that she has no valid claim herself. Maria's followers also counter the consanguinity objection on the basis that the Emperor gave his approval to the marriage, and the Emperor of Russia was then the supreme Head of the Russian Orthodox church. Opponents of Maria say that the Emperor was not able to change Church Law by his own decision. Instead, an act in ecclesiastical synods or councils would have been needed. However, the Orthodox Church does not condemn children of uncanonical marriages nor their rights to inheritance, so this objection is very weak anyway.
At the time of their marriage, Grand Duchess Viktoria was a Protestant, not Orthodox. Maria and her supporters counter that this objection is overcome by the Emperor's approval of the marriage. According to them, under dynastic law, the Emperor designated which of the dynasts had to marry Orthodox women; usually such requirement was placed on persons who were high on the succession line. At the time of his marriage, Grand Duke Cyril was not one of these people. There exists no prohibition of the Orthodox church for its members to marry Protestants. And later, Viktoria Fedorovna embraced the Orthodox faith, receiving a published accolade from the Emperor Nicholas II. At the time of Vladimir Cyrillovich's birth, his mother already had long been Orthodox.
Under the laws of the Russian Empire as they stood in 1917, no female could take the throne of Russia. This argument is not valid because Emperor Paul I of Russia established in the succession laws that upon extinction of male dynasts, females could succeed. While there are still a large number of males among Romanov descendants, Maria's supporters do not consider them to be dynasts.
The marriage between Maria's father, Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovitch, and Princess Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhransky was morganatic, and against the Dynastic Laws, since the royal status of the Bagration-Moukhranskys was questioned. This is debatable: on one hand, at the time of their marriage, Grand Duke Vladimir was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, and he approved the marriage. On the other hand, though it was approved by Vladimir, some say that the marriage is clearly morganatic (because of rank disparity between spouses) and cannot be considered otherwise by decision of anyone. And, if that marriage, between a dynast and a subject noblewoman (a wife who is of high aristocratic birth, such as a princess, but a subject of the Empire and not of a sovereign family of reigning monarchs) is not morganatic, then marriages between other dynasts and subject noblewomen were not morganatic either, and some Romanov princes thus are also dynasts - the male descent is thus not totally extinct (for example, if a Russian imperial dynast may equally marry a Princess Bagration-Moukhransky, then another dynasts obviously may, equality preserved, marry such personages as daughter of Duke Sasso-Ruffo, Princess Irina Paley who is descended from the self-same Romanov tsars, Princess Natalia Galitzina and Princess Alexandra Galitzina [descendants of medieval sovereigns of Lithuania and Belarussia, as high an ancestry as that of the Moukhran Bagrations, distant descendants of medieval sovereigns in Georgia], meaning that children born of such marriages of dynasts are as much heirs of Russia as Maria Vladimirovna. This would mean that no female is yet requisite to succession, and that apparently Michael Andreyevitsh Romanov, born 1920, is the present Head of imperial family).