Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia (Russian: Мария Владимировна Романова, romanized: Mariya Vladimirovna Romanova; born 23 December 1953) is a Russian woman who has been a claimant to the headship of the House of Romanov, the Imperial Family of Russia (who reigned as Emperors and Autocrats of all the Russias from 1613 to 1917) since 1992. She is a great-great-granddaughter in the male line of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Although she has used Grand Duchess of Russia as her title of pretence with the style Imperial Highness throughout her life, her right to do so is disputed. Since her father's death on April 21, 1992, some of her monarchist supporters have referred to her as Maria I, titular "Empress of Russia", a title she does not claim herself.
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Early life
Birth
Maria Vladimirovna was born in Madrid, the only child of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia, head of the Imperial Family of Russia and titular Emperor of Russia, and Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani of Georgian, Polish, German and Swedish descent. Her paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Victoria Fyodorovna (née Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) through whom she is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Her godfather was Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia, for whom Prince Nicholas of Romania stood in at the christening ceremony, and her godmother was Queen Ioanna of Bulgaria.
Education
Maria was educated at Runnymede College in Madrid and Paris before studying Russian history and literature at the University of Oxford.
Maria Vladimirovna lives in Madrid. She is fluent in Russian, English, French, and Spanish, and also speaks some German, Italian, and Arabic.
On 23 December 1969, upon reaching her dynastic majority, Maria swore an oath of loyalty to her father, to Russia, and to uphold the Fundamental Laws of Russia which governed succession to the defunct throne. At the same time, her father issued a controversial decree recognising her as heiress presumptive and declaring that, in the event he predeceased other dynastic Romanov males, then Maria would become the "Curatrix of the Imperial Throne" until the death of the last male dynast. This has been viewed as an attempt by her father to ensure the succession remained in his branch of the imperial family, while the heads of the other branches of the imperial family, the Princes Vsevolod Ioannovich of the Konstantinovichi, Roman Petrovich of the Nikolaevichi and Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of the Mihailovichi declared that her father's actions were illegal. As it happened, Vladimir Kirillovich, who died in 1992, outlived all the other male Romanov dynasts, and his daughter had no occasion to assume curatorship.
Marriage
In Dinard on 4 September 1976 (civil) and at the Russian Orthodox Chapel in Madrid on 22 September 1976 (religious), Maria married Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, her third cousin once removed. He is a Hohenzollern great-grandson of Germany's last emperor Wilhelm II and a great-great-great-grandchild of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom. Maria's aunt Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia, her father's late sister, had been married to Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, since 1938, head of the House of Hohenzollern since 1951.
Franz Wilhelm converted to the Eastern Orthodox faith prior to the wedding, taking the name Michael Pavlovich and receiving the title of a Grand Duke of Russia from Maria's father. The couple separated in 1982, a year after the birth of their only child, George Mikhailovich, who had been granted the title Grand Duke of Russia at birth by his grandfather Vladimir. Following the divorce on 19 June 1985, Franz Wilhelm reverted to his Prussian name and style.
Succession claims
Maria Vladimirovna is a patrilineal descendant of Alexander II of Russia. The original House of Romanov had died out with Empress Elizabeth of Russia in 1762 and was continued by Peter III of Russia, who was born a Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, a branch of the House of Oldenburg, from which the current reigning monarchs of Norway and Great Britain, as well as the former of Greece, also descend in the male line. The oldest known ancestor of this extensive family is Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg, first mentioned in 1091.
When Vladimir Kirillovich died on 21 April 1992, his daughter Maria claimed to succeed him as head of the Russian Imperial Family on the grounds that she was the only child of the last male dynast of the Imperial house according to the Romanovs' Pauline laws. Although the charter of the Romanov Family Association (RFA), which represents other descendants of the Romanov family, asserts the premise that Russia's form of government should be determined democratically and that therefore the Association and its members undertake to adopt no position on any claims to the Imperial throne, its two most recent presidents have personally opposed Maria's claims: Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia, who maintained his own claims to dynastic status and to headship of the Romanov family, stated, "Strictly applying the Pauline Laws as amended in 1911 to all marriages of Equal Rank, the situation is very clear. At the present time, not one of the Emperors or Grand Dukes of Russia has left living descendants with unchallengeable rights to the Throne of Russia," and his younger brother, Prince Dimitri Romanov, said of Maria's assumption of titles, including "de jure Empress of all the Russias", "It seems that there are no limits to this charade". The supporters of Maria Vladimirovna point to the fact that neither Nicholas nor his brother Dimitri had any dynastic claims due to the morganatic marriage of their parents. Maria's parents' marriage of equal rank is, of course, questioned by her cousins, who claim that her mother's family, the Bagrationi dynasty, became Russian subjects after they lost their thrones in the Georgian kingdoms of Kartli-Kakheti and Imereti around 1800 and was therefore not a ruling dynasty.
By the Romanov House law, the Pauline Laws, she is however the rightful heir to the throne if the Bagrationi are seen as royal equals. The Pauline Laws emphasize male succession before female succession. As an example, if Tsarevich Alexei Romanov had not been murdered in 1918, and died without issue (i.e., without children), his sisters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia wouldn't become Empresses before male Romanov relatives.
Role in Russia and activities
Maria hopes for the restoration of the monarchy someday and is "ready to respond to a call from the people".
In a 2018 interview, she defined her own understanding of her role as follows:
The Imperial House of Russia considers it its main goal to help preserve the historical and cultural continuity of our house and country, and to do all we can to strengthen the ethnic, religious, and civil peace and harmony of Russia. As a matter of principle, we do not engage in any form of politics whatsoever. We believe that the idea of a legitimate, hereditary monarchy, which preserves an unbroken, living connection with the centuries-long history of Russia and which conceives of society as a unified family, still has resonance today and remains a viable choice for our country and peoples. But we are hardly unaware that, at the present time and for the foreseeable future, the conditions are not right in Russia for a restoration of the monarchy. For now, the spheres of our activities are limited to promoting philanthropy; participating in social peace-making processes; reviving and maintaining traditions and preserving our country’s historical, cultural, and natural heritage; strengthening the spiritual and moral foundations of our nation; helping to foster patriotism; and advancing a positive image of Russia in the wider world.
In 2002, Maria became frustrated with the internal strife within the Russian monarchist movement. When representatives of the Union of Descendants of Noble Families, one of two rival nobility associations (the other, older one being the Assembly of the Russian Nobility) were discovered to be distributing chivalric titles and awards of the Order of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, without her approval, she published a relatively strongly worded disclaimer.
In 2003, Kirill I Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia stated in a congratulatory message on Maria Vladimirovna's 55th birthday, "you are the embodiment of a Russian Grand Duchess: noble, wise, compassionate, and consumed with a genuine love for Russia. Though you may reside far from Russia, you continue to take an active part in its life, rejoicing when there are triumphs and empathizing when there are trials. It is deeply gratifying to know that, even in these new historical circumstances, you are making a significant contribution to the building of Russia's global standing on the basis of spiritual and moral values, and the centuries-old traditions of the Russian people. The Russian Orthodox Church remains the preserver of the historical memory of the Russian people, and supports, as it has traditionally, the warmest possible relations with the Russian Imperial House."
Honours
Russian Dynastic honours
House of Romanov: Sovereign Knight of the Order of St. Andrew
House of Romanov: Sovereign and Grand Mistress Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of St. Catherine
House of Romanov: Sovereign Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
House of Romanov: Sovereign Knight of the Order of the White Eagle
House of Romanov: Sovereign of the Order of St. George
House of Romanov: Sovereign Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of St. Vladimir
House of Romanov: Sovereign Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of St. Anna
House of Romanov: Sovereign Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Saint Stanislaus
House of Romanov: Sovereign Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Saint Michael the Archangel
House of Romanov: Founder Sovereign Grand Mistress Dame of the Order of Saint Anastasia
Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church: Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 1st Class
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia: Order of Our Lady of the Sign, 1st Class
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia: Medal of John of Shanghai and San Francisco
Moldovan Orthodox Church
Moldovan Orthodox Church: Medal of Saint Paraskevi
Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate): Medal of Saint Barbara
Foreign dynastic
Ethiopian Imperial Family: Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the Queen of Sheba
Georgian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Queen Tamara
Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Portuguese Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Michael of the Wing
States
Transnistria: Commander of the Order of the Republic
Awards
Italy: Honorary Citizen of the City of Agrigento
Russia: Winner of the Russian International Person of the Year
Russia: Honorary Citizen of the Ivolginsky District
Russia: Honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts
Russia: Medal of the Assembly of the Russian Nobility