Vladimir Cyrillovich, Grand Duke of Russia

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This article is about the former claimant to the Russian imperial throne. For his namesake grandfather, see Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, and for the first baptized ruler of Russians, see St Vladimir, Grand Duke of Rus.

Pretender Vladimir Cyrillovich
Born	August 30, 1917 Porvoo, Finland
Died	April 21, 1992 Miami, Florida, United States
Title(s)	Grand Duke of Russia
Throne(s) claimed	Russia
Pretend from	October 12, 1938 - April 21, 1992
Monarchy abolished	1918
Last monarch	Nicholas II
Connection with	Cousin
Royal House	Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Father	Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich
Mother	Princess Victoria Melita
Spouse	Princess Leonida Bagration-Moukhransky
Children	Grand Duchess Maria
Predecessor	Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich
Successor	Grand Duchess Maria or Prince Nicholas

Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich of Russia (Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov, Cyrillic: Влад́имир Кир́иллович Ром́анов; August 30 (N.S.), 1917 - April 21, 1992) claimed to be the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias from 1938 to his death.

[edit] Early life

He was born in 1917, at Porvoo, Finland to the only son of Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich and Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna née Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

His paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (née Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin). His maternal grandparents were Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Vladimir's family fled to Finland, later to Coburg, Germany. Eventually the exiled family moved to France where they lived for the rest of their lives. In the 1930s Vladimir lived in England and worked at a car factory.

During the World War II Vladimir was living in Saint-Briac-sur-Mer in Bretagne. In 1944 the German army moved the family inland out of fear of an invasion from the coast. The Germans were taking them to Paris when an order to drive to Wittel was given. Even Wittel proved to be unsafe, so they were moved to Germany. Vladimir lived in a castle belonging to the husband of his elder sister Maria Kirillovna in Amorbach, Bavaria until 1945. After Germany's defeat, Vladimir was afraid to continue living in Germany out of fear of being captured by the Soviets. Vladimir then moved to Austria and next to the border of Liechtenstein. Neither Liechtenstein nor Switzerland would issue him an exit visa, so he elected to move to Austria where he lived in the American occupation zone.

Vladimir's maternal aunt, Infanta Beatrice of Orleans-Borbon, secured for him a Spanish visa. He subsequently lived in San Lucar. After the war he spent most of his time living in Madrid, but with frequent stays at his property in Brittany, as well as in Paris. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, he was able to visit his motherland. He was a frequent visitor to the United States where he died on April 21, 1992 due to a heart attack in Miami, Florida.

[edit] Russian heir

In 1924, when his father proclaimed himself Emperor ^[1], he also granted Vladimir the title of Tsarevitch and Grand Duke with the style of Imperial Highness.

In 1938 when his father died he assumed the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia.

He married HIll.H Princess Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhransky on August 13, 1948. Romanov house law dictates that only those children who are the product of an "equal marriage"—between a Romanov prince and a princess from another royal, not just noble, house—are eligible to be included in the Imperial line of succession; children of morganatic marriages are excluded from the succession. Though Leonida's dynasty, the Bagrationi, had been kings in Georgia since the early mediaeval period, Leonida's branch had not been regnant in the male line as Kings of Georgia since 1505 and had been simply Russian nobility since then. Some controversy therefore arises as to whether Vladimir's marriage to Leonida was equal or morganatic, and therefore whether his claim to the Imperial throne passed to his daughter Maria or out of his branch of the family upon his death. The position of both Vladimir and Maria is that the marriage was equal, and Vladimir's claim passed to Maria.

From the time his parents fled Finland he was unable to return to Russia. Following the abandonment of communism he accepted an invitation to visit the Soviet Union in 1991.

[edit] Death and succession dispute

Main article: Line of succession to the Russian throne

Grand Duke Vladimir died of an apparent heart attack while addressing a gathering of Spanish-speaking bankers and investors in Miami, Florida in the United States on April 21, 1992. His body was returned to Russia and he was buried with full pomp and splendour in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, the first Romanov to be honoured so much since the revolution. However, the press was careful to state that the honourable funeral "was regarded by civic and Russian authorities as an obligation to the Romanov family rather than a step toward restoration of the monarchy." According to a government spokesman, it was a way of "cleansing our guilt".

After his death, his daughter Maria assumed the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia according to his line's interpretation of the Russian house laws. This was disputed by Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia who has also assumed for himself the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia upon the death of Grand Duke Vladimir.^[2] Nicholas' position is that he is the most senior male dynast after the death of Vladimir as he believes the children of Grand Dukes of Russia who married morganatically, would not be dynasts, while the children of Princes of Russia who married morganatically would be dynasts.^[3] "The position of the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna as Head of the Imperial House is acknowledged by most serious Russian Monarchist organizations and by most of those Heads of Royal Houses which continue to maintain relations with the Imperial House." according to scholar Guy Stair Sainty.^[4] (The Romanov Family Association, which supports the claim of Maria's cousin Nicholas to be head of the House of Romanov, believes that the marriage was morganatic.)

The Grand Duke was also the titular Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, a title held by the Tsars since 1773. As Holstein-Gottorp required a male heir, there is some debate as to who succeeded Vladimir. The title is usually said to have been inherited by his cousin Prince Paul Dimitrievich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (an American who preferred to use the name Paul Ilyinski) but, as he was the product of a morganatic marriage, this is disputed^{[citation needed]}. Grand Duke Vladimir appears to be the last person to have actually used the title.

[edit] Titles from birth to death

Here is a list of Grand Duke Vladimir's titles from birth to death in chronological order:

• His Highness Prince Vladimir Cyrillovich of Russia
• His Imperial Highness Tsarevitch Vladimir Cyrillovich of Russia
• His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich of Russia

Other titles include:

• Protecteur d'Union des Descendants des Commandeurs Hereditaires et Chevaliers du Grand Prieure Russe de l'Ordre de St. Jean de Jerusalem
• Wladimir Kyrillovich Romanov, his civil title in Soviet Russia during his lifetime.

[edit] Notes

Pretenders to the Russian throne since 1917
Russian Empire October Revolution
Emperor Nicholas II (1917-1918) — vacant — Grand Duke Cyril (1924-1938) Grand Duke Vladimir (1938-1992) Grand Duchess Maria (1992-) Prince Nicholas (1992-)
See also House of Romanov