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| La grande-duchesse Maria Vladimirovna de Russie
Photographie (c) Getty Images / Alexei Pavlishak |
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| La grande-duchesse LĆ©onida Georgievna avec sa fille la grande-duchesse Maria Vladimirovna au baptĆŖme du bĆ©bĆ© |
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| Le bracelet Ć breloques crĆ©Ć© par le Grand-Duc Vladimir et la Grande-Duchesse LĆ©onidas pour cĆ©lĆ©brer la naissance de leur fille Maria |
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| La petite hĆ©ritiĆØre |
Le 23 dĆ©cembre 1953, la grande-duchesse Maria Vladimirovna de Russie naĆ®t Ć la clinique Nuestra SeƱora de Loreto de Madrid. Elle est la fille unique du grand-duc Vladimir Kirillovitch de Russie, chef de la maison impĆ©riale des Romanov, et de son Ć©pouse LĆ©onida (nĆ©e princesse Bagration-Mukhranskaya). Maria Vladimirovna Ć©tait la petite-fille du grand-duc Kirill Vladimirovitch (1876-1938) et de la grande-duchesse Victoria Feodorovna (1876-1936 ; nĆ©e princesse Victoria Melita de Saxe-Cobourg et Gotha), l'arriĆØre-petite-fille du grand-duc Vladimir Alexandrovitch (1847-1909) et de la grande-duchesse Maria Pavlovna (1854-1920 ; nĆ©e duchesse Marie de Mecklembourg-Schwerin), et l'arriĆØre-arriĆØre-petite-fille de l'empereur Alexandre II NikolaĆÆevitch de Russie (1818-1881) et de l'impĆ©ratrice Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880 ; nĆ©e princesse Marie de Hesse et du Rhin). Ć presque quarante ans, Leonida Georgievna commenƧait Ć craindre de ne pas pouvoir donner Ć son mari un hĆ©ritier tant dĆ©sirĆ©. En cherchant tous les remĆØdes possibles, LĆ©onidas fit au dĆ©but de l'annĆ©e 1953 un pĆØlerinage Ć la relique de Saint Nicolas le Thaumaturge Ć Bari et, quelques semaines aprĆØs son retour en Espagne, elle fut ravie lorsque son mĆ©decin lui annonƧa qu'elle Ć©tait enceinte. Les parents de la grande-duchesse Maria ont toujours plutĆ“t considĆ©rĆ© leur fille comme une sorte de miracle (« un enfant de Dieu »), et les trois formĆØrent un lien familial exceptionnellement Ć©troit. AprĆØs son baptĆŖme dans la foi orthodoxe russe le 3 fĆ©vrier 1954, l'enfant reƧut le nom de Maria ; les parrains choisis furent son grand-oncle le grand-duc AndreĆÆ Vladimirovitch, qui, en raison de problĆØmes de santĆ©, Ć©tait reprĆ©sentĆ© Ć l'Ć©vĆ©nement par le prince Nicolas de Roumanie (un fils de la grand-tante de Maria Vladimirovna, la reine Marie de Roumanie), et la reine mĆØre Giovanna de Bulgarie.
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| Grande-Duchesse Maria de Russie |
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| La famille impƩriale dans un zoo de Rome |
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| La jeune grande-duchesse |
The Romanov trio spent the year moving about their various homes. In Spain, they resided in a comfortable apartment on the rue Velasquez that was just around the corner from the home of Maria’s maternal grandparents. At some point, the family exchanged the apartment for a more spacious villa in the posh Madrid suburb of Puerto de Hierro. Their French residences included Ker Argonid in St Briac (named after Maria’s grandmother Victoria Melita) and an apartment in Paris. The Romanovs were particularly quite close to the Albanian, Bulgarian, and Spanish royal families.
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| Grand Duchess Maria, Grand Duke Vladimir, and Grand Duchess Leonida at their Puerto de Hierro residence in Madrid
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari |
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| Grand Duchess Maria of Russia in Madrid, 1966
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari |
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| Grand Duchess Leonida, Grand Duke Vladimir, and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia in 1966.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari |
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| The Romanovs in Madrid, 1968
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari |
Grand Duchess Maria recalled her early years: “I had a very happy childhood. There was such a harmony between my parents. They very much loved each other. They never quarrelled or were separated. I was thus raised in an atmosphere of mutual love and respect.” When she was a toddler, Maria was often taken by her parents to visit her great-uncle Andrei and his wife Mathilde at their “enchanting” Villa Molitor in Paris, with its “big windows and conservatories.” There Maria enjoyed playing with the Grand Duke’s pet turtle Rosalie, who was kept in one of the gardens and was one of Maria’s earliest guests at her childhood tea parties. The grand duchess had a multitude of Prussian, Leiningen, and Bagration first cousins from her paternal and maternal aunts and uncles; however, Maria was the youngest of the group. From her aunt Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna (1907-1951), who married FĆ¼rst Karl of Leiningen, Maria Vladimirovna had seven first cousins: FĆ¼rst Emich of Leiningen (1926-1991; husband of Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg), Prince Karl (1928-1990; husband of Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria), Princess Kira (1930-2005; wife of Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia), Princess Margarita (1932-1996; wife of FĆ¼rst Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern), Princess Mechthilde (b.1936), Prince Friedrich (1938-1998), and Prince Peter (1942-1943). From her aunt Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna, who married Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, Maria Vladimirovna also had seven first cousins: Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (1939-2015), Prince Michael (1940-2014), Princess Marie CĆ©cile (b.1942; wife of Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg), Princess Kira (1943-2004), Prince Louis Ferdinand (1944-1977; husband of Countess Donata of Castell-RĆ¼denhausen), Prince Christian-Sigismund (b.1946; husband of Countess Nina of Reventlow), and Princess Xenia (1949-1992). A twenty-seven year age gap thus separated Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia from her eldest first cousin, FĆ¼rst Emich of Leiningen.
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| Grand Duchess Maria of Russia with her dog while in the UK, November 1971
Photograph (c) Getty Images |
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| Maria of Russia, circa 1976 |
Maria was partially raised by a nurse: a Swiss-German woman by the name of Hanny Vƶgelin. Hanny, described as “firm but fair,” taught the little girl how to read and write, and stayed on with the family until Maria went to primary school at the age of seven. After this, Maria went on to the British Institute in Madrid. Passionate about languages, she then made the choice to enter Oxford University, where she began her studies in 1972 at Lady Margaret Hall. Grand Duchess Maria left Oxford in early 1975 an accomplished polyglot, fluent in English, French, Russian and Spanish as well as possessing a thorough knowledge of Russian literature.
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| Grand Duchess Maria and Prince Franz Wilhelm
Photograph (c) Seeger-Presse |
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| Grand Duke Vladimir, Grand Duchess Leonida, Prince Franz Wilhelm, and Grand Duchess Maria
Photograph (c) Seeger-Presse |
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| Grand Duchess Maria and Grand Duke Michael on their wedding day
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari |
In July 1976, Grand Duke Vladimir and Grand Duchess Leonida announced the engagement of their daughter Maria to Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, the son of the late Prince Karl Franz Joseph of Prussia and his first wife Princess Henriette of Schƶnaich-Carolath. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich (as Franz Wilhelm became known after converting to Russian Orthodoxy and being granted the style and title of Grand Duke of Russia by his soon-to-be father-in-law) were married in great style on 22 September 1976 at the small Orthodox Church in Madrid. Their wedding was attended by four kings (King Leka I of the Albanians, King Simeon II of Bulgaria, King Umberto II of Italy, and King Juan Carlos of Spain) and six queens (Queen Mother Geraldine of Albania, Queen Susan of the Albanians, Queen Mother Giovanna of Bulgaria, Queen Margarita of Bulgaria, Queen Farida of Egypt, and Queen SofĆa of Spain) as well as a deluge of other royals.
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| Grand Duke George with his grandfather Grand Duke Vladimir and aunt HĆ©lĆØne Kirby at his baptism, May 1981
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari |
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| The Modern Romanovs: Vladimir, Leonida, Maria, and George |
Maria and Michael’s only child was born almost five years into their union. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia arrived on 13 March 1981 at Madrid. On 6 May 1981, the feast day of St. George, the little grand duke was baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church. Grand Duke George’s godparents are King Constantine II of Greece, for whom the baby’s grandfather Grand Duke Vladimir stood proxy, and HĆ©lĆØne Kirby, Countess Dvinskaya, George’s maternal aunt.
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Grand Duchess Maria Vladmirovna and Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich separated in 1982. Their divorce became final in 1985. The grand duchess has never remarried. As a single mother, Grand Duchess Maria raised her son with the assistance of her parents. Once again, the four Romanovs formed a tight family unit. Grand Duke George also had regular visitation with his father Prince Franz Wilhelm (who reverted to his Prussian title after the divorce).
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| La grande-duchesse Maria, le grand-duc Georges et Rebecca Bettarini au mariage du prince Joachim de Prusse et de la comtesse Angelina zu Solms-Laubach Ć Majorque en juin 2019.
Photographie (c) Seeger-Presse / Albert Nieboer |
Depuis son accession Ć la tĆŖte de la famille impĆ©riale, la grande-duchesse a rempli son rĆ“le avec un dĆ©vouement et un sens du devoir indĆ©fectibles. La grande-duchesse Maria est souvent prĆ©sente aux Ć©vĆ©nements de Gotha : des mariages aux funĆ©railles. Elle rĆ©side Ć Madrid et sa chancellerie est Ć Moscou.  |
| SAI la Grande-Duchesse Maria Vladimirovna de Russie, chef de la Maison impƩriale russe
Photographie (c) Maison impƩriale russe |
Nous souhaitons Ć Son Altesse ImpĆ©riale un joyeux anniversaire !
Pour en savoir plus sur la famille impƩriale russe, veuillez visiter ce lien : Maison impƩriale Pour plus d'actualitƩs et d'articles sur les familles Gotha d'Europe, rejoignez Eurohistory !
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