Derived Royal Families

[Principessa]

Fürst zu Burgau


Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria (Linz, 14 June 1529 – 24 January 1595, Innsbruck) was ruler of Further Austria and since 1564 Imperial count of Tirol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser in his first marriage. In his second marriage to Anna Juliana Gonzaga, he was the father of Anna of Tyrol, future Holy Roman Empress.Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was the second son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. He was a younger brother of Emperor Maximilian II. In 1557 he was secretly married to Philippine Welser, daughter of a patrician from Augsburg, with whom he had several children. The marriage was only accepted by Emperor Ferdinand I in 1559 under the condition of secrecy. The children were to receive the name "of Austria" but would only be entitled to inherit if the House of Habsburg became totally extinct in the male line, and thus the marriage had many qualities of a morganatic marriage. The sons born of this marriage received the title Margrave of Burgau, an ancient Habsburg possession in Further Austria. The younger of the sons, who survived their father, later received the princely title of Fürst zu Burgau. They had issue After the death of his wife Philippine in 1580, he married his niece, Anna Caterina Gonzaga, a daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua, in 1582. Archduke Ferdinand died on 24 January 1595. Since his sons from the first marriage were not entitled to the inheritance, and the second produced only surviving daughters, Tirol was reunified with the other Habsburg lands. His daughter from the Mantuan marriage to Anna Caterina (later Anna Juliana) became Holy Roman Empress Anna, consort of Emperor Mathias, who received his Further Austrian inheritance


He and his first wife Philippine Welser were parents of four children:

1. Margrave Andrew of Burgau (15 June 1558 – 12 November 1600). Became a Cardinal in 1576, Margrave of Burgau in 1578, Bishop of Constance in 1589 and Bishop of Brixen in 1591. He had two illegitimate children.
2. Charles, Margrave of Burgau (22 November 1560 – 30 October 1618), Margrave of Burgau. He married his first cousin, Sibylle (1557–1627), the youngest daughter of daughter of William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (28 July 1516 - 5 January 1592), and Maria, Archduchess of Austria, daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. They had no legitimate children. He and his mistress Chiara Elisa di Ferrero had three illegitimate children.
3. Philip of Austria (7 August 1562 – 9 January 1563), twin of Maria.
4. Maria of Austria (7 August 1562 – 25 January 1563), twin of Philip

[Principessa]

Af Rosenberg

Until 1971, Danish princes who married women who did not belong to a royal or noble family were refused the sovereign's authorization, renouncing their right of succession to the throne and royal title (Prince Aage of Denmark morganatically eloped with Matilda Calvi, daughter of Count Carlo Giorgio di Bergolo, in January 1914 but renounced his dynastic rights and titles subsequently). They were granted the non-royal prefix of "Prince" and their descendants bear the title Count af Rosenborg in the Danish nobility.

[Principessa]

Von Hochberg


Countess Louise Caroline von Hochberg, born Geyer von Geyersberg (26 May 1768 in Karlsruhe – 23 June 1820, Karlsruhe), from 1787 Baroness von Hochberg, from 1796 Countess of Hochberg, was the second wife of the Margrave and later Grand Duke Charles Frederick of Baden. Her descendants eventually ascended the grand ducal throne and reigned until 1918. Countess Louise Caroline Geyer von Geyersberg was the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig Heinrich Philip Geyer von Geyersberg (1729-1772) and his wife, Countess Maximiliana Hedwiger von Sponeck. The latter was the niece-in-law of Leopold Eberhard, Duke of Württemberg-Montbéliard. Louise Caroline descends from a family of Lower Austria surnamed Geiger; Walther Geiger, a postal administrator in Vienna, being ennobled in the Holy Roman Empire, along with some collateral relatives, in 1595. In 1625 Emperor Ferdinand II authorised them to add the noble suffix "von Geyersberg". Sometime after 1675 Louise Caroline's great-grandfather, Christophe Ferdinand, substituted a more aristocratic version of the surname, "Geyer von Geyersberg". While in the service of Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg his son, Christian Heinrich, self-assumed the title of baron in 1729, having married Christiane von Thummel the previous year. Nonetheless, prior to Louise Caroline's marriage, written references to her at the court of Baden omit any baronial title. Although referred to at the wedding on 24 November 1787 by the title "Baroness Geyer von Geyersberg" by her fiance, her marriage to the Margrave Charles Frederick, who had been widowed since 1783, was at the time deemed morganatic because she was regarded as of unequal rank to the prince. Following the wedding, the Margrave declared that his wife would bear the title of Baroness von Hochberg. In the same proclamation, co-signed by the three sons of his first marriage, he reserved decision on the title and succession rights of sons to be born of the marriage. In July 1799 letters patent were issued by the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, of retroactive effect to 12 May 1796, elevating her to the Imperial title Countess of Hochberg. She never obtained the rank of an Imperial princess, nor that of Margravine, the title borne by Charles Frederick's first wife. The couple had 5 children. Although Louise Caroline's children were not initially legally recognised as of dynastic rank, on 20 February 1796 their father clarified in writing (subsequently co-signed by his elder sons) that the couple's sons were eligible to succeed to the margravial throne in order of male primogeniture after extinction of the male issue of his first marriage, who were by then the only remaining dynasts of the House of Baden. The Margrave further declared that his marriage to their mother must "in no way be seen as morganatic, but rather as a true equal marriage", although the daughters remained baronesses and the sons were only assigned the title Count von Hochberg at that time. But in 1799 Louise's sons were granted the title of Imperial Counts von Hochberg (retroactive to 1796).On 10 September 1806, after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire and assumption of the fully sovereign title Grand Duke of Baden, Charles Frederick confirmed the dynastic status of the sons of his second marriage. This act was, yet again, signed by all other males of the House of Baden (i.e., his three eldest sons), but was not promulgated.Charles Frederick died in 1811 and was succeeded (his eldest son being already deceased) by his grandson, Charles, Grand Duke of Baden. On 4 October 1817, as neither he nor the other sons from his grandfather's first marriage had surviving male descendants, Charles confirmed the succession rights of his half-uncles, granting each the title, Prince and Margrave of Baden, and the style of Highness. He asked the princely congress in Aachen on 20 November 1818, just weeks before his death, to confirm the succession rights of the sons of Louise Caroline.But this proclamation of Baden's succession evoked international challenges. The Congress of Vienna had, in 1815, recognised the eventual claims of Austria and Bavaria to parts of Baden which it allocated to Charles Frederick in the Upper Palatinate and the Breisgau, anticipating that upon his imminent demise those lands would cease to be part of the Grand Duchy. The disputes were resolved by the Treaty of Frankfurt, 1819, under which Baden ceded a portion of Wertheim, already enclaved within Bavaria, to that Kingdom, whereupon the succession as settled in 1817 was recognized by Bavaria and Austria.In 1830, ten years after Louise Caroline's death, following the death of Louis I (who was the last ruler of the old line), her son Leopold finally ascended the throne as Grand Duke. Louise's descendants ruled the Grand Duchy of Baden until its abolition in 1918. The current pretenders are descendants of Louise Caroline It was alleged that Louise Caroline conspired to substitute a dead infant for the first-born son of Grand Duke Charles and Grand Duchess Stephanie, in order to secure the throne for her own sons. When Kaspar Hauser was found, rumour had it that he was this first-born prince of Baden, allegedly spirited away at birth and raised without knowledge of his royal ancestry. Modern historians consider this legend as refuted



Leopold (29 August 1790 – 24 April 1852) succeeded in 1830 as the Grand Duke of Baden, reigning until his death in 1852.

Although a younger child, Leopold was the first son of Margrave Karl Friederich of Baden by his second, morganatic wife, Louise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg. Since Luise Karoline was not of equal birth with the Margrave, the marriage was deemed morganatic and the resulting children were perceived as incapable of inheriting their father's dynastic status or the sovereign rights of the Zähringen House of Baden. Luise Karoline and her children were given the titles of baron and baroness, in 1796 count or countess von Hochberg.

Since the descendants of Charles Frederick's first marriage to Karoline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt were at first plentiful, no one expected the Hochberg children of his second wife to be anything except a family of counts with blood ties to the grand ducal family, but lacking dynastic rights. Count Leopold von Hochberg was born in Karlsruhe, and with no prospects of advancement in Baden, followed a career as an officer in the French army.


The situation of both the grand duchy and the Hochberg children became objects of international interest as it became apparent that the Baden male line descended from Karl Frederick's first wife was likely to die out. One by one, the males of the House of Baden expired without leaving male descendants. By 1817, there were only two males left, the reigning Grand Duke Charles I, a grandson of Charles Frederick's, and his childless uncle Prince Louis. Both of Charles's sons died in infancy. Baden's dynasty seemed to face extinction, casting the country's future in doubt.

Unbeknownst to those outside of the court at Baden, upon the 24 November 1787 wedding of then-Margrave Charles Frederick to Luise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg, he and the three sons of his first marriage signed a declaration which reserved decision on the title and any succession rights of sons to be born of the marriage. Although Luise Karoline's children were not initially legally recognised as of dynastic rank, on 20 February 1796 their father clarified in writing (subsequently co-signed by his elder sons) that the couple's sons were eligible to succeed to the margravial throne in order of male primogeniture after extinction of the male issue of his first marriage. The Margrave further declared that his marriage to their mother must "in no way be seen as morganatic, but rather as a true equal marriage".

On 10 September 1806, after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire and the assumption of full sovereignty, Charles Frederick confirmed the dynastic status of the sons of his second marriage. This act was, yet again, signed by his three eldest sons, but was not promulgated.

On 4 October 1817, as neither Grand Duke Charles nor the other sons from his grandfather's first marriage had surviving male descendants, Charles proceeded to confirm the succession rights of his hither-to morganatic half-uncles, elevating each to the title Prince and Margrave of Baden, and the style of Highness. He asked the princely congress in Aachen on 20 November 1818, just weeks before his death, to confirm the succession rights of these sons of his step-grandmother, still known as Countess Luise von Hochberg.

But this proclamation of Baden's succession evoked international challenges. The Congress of Vienna had, in 1815, recognised the claims of Bavaria and Austria to parts of Baden which it allocated to Charles Frederick in the Upper Palatinate and the Breisgau, anticipating that upon his imminent demise those lands would cease to be part of the Grand Duchy. Moreover, the Wittelsbach king of Bavaria, Maximilian I Joseph, was married to Grand Duke Charles's eldest sister, Caroline of Baden. The female most closely related to the last male of a German dynasty often inherited in such circumstances, in accordance with Semi-Salic succession law. As a result, Maximilian had a strong claim to Baden under the customary rules of inheritance, as well as his claims under a post–Congress of Vienna treaty of 16 April 1816.

Nonetheless, in 1818 Charles granted a constitution to the nation, the liberality of which made it popular with the people of Baden and which included a clause securing the succession rights of the offspring of Luise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg. Another dispute was resolved by Baden's agreement to cede a portion of the county of Wertheim, already enclaved within Bavaria, to that kingdom.

To further improve the status of Prince Leopold, his half-brother the new Grand Duke Louis I arranged for him to marry his great-niece, Sophie, daughter of former King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden by Grand Duke Charles's sister, Frederica. Since Sophie was a granddaughter of Leopold's oldest half-brother, Charles Louis, this marriage united the descendants of his father's (Grand Duke Charles Frederick's) two wives. Sophie's undoubted royal blood would help to offset the stigma of Leopold's morganatic birth.

Finally, on 10 July 1819, a few months after Charles's death, the Great Powers of Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia joined with Bavaria and Baden in the 1819 Treaty of Frankfurt which recognized the succession rights of the former Hochberg morganatic line.

When Louis I died on 30 March 1830, he was the last male of the House of Baden not descended from the morganatic marriage of Charles Frederick and Luise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg. Leopold von Hochberg now succeeded as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden.


On 25 July 1819, Leopold married in Karlsruhe his half-grand-niece Sophie of Sweden (21 May 1801 – 6 July 1865). Sophia and Leopold had  8 children.

[Principessa]

Urach

Duke William Frederick Philip of Württemberg (27 December 1761 – 10 August 1830) was a prince of the House of Württemberg and a minister for war.William was the fourth son of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg and Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt, eldest daughter of Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt and Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia, a niece of Frederick II of Prussia. On 23 August 1800, in Coswig, Frederick married one of his mother's ladies in waiting, Wilhelmine Freiin von Tunderfeld-Rhodis (1777–1822), daughter of Baron Karl August Wilhelm von Tunderfeld-Rhodis. She was a scion of a military family from Sweden, originally from the Baltic.The couple had six children, only three of whom reached adulthood.

1.Count Alexander of Württemberg (1801–1844), poet; married Countess Helene Festetics von Tolna (1812–1886), daughter of Ladislas Graf Festetics of Tolna.
2.Count August of Württemberg (1805–1808)
3.Wilhelm, 1st Duke of Urach, Count of Württemberg (1810–1869); married firstly Princess Théodolinde of Leuchtenberg (1814–1857). He married secondly Princess Florestine of Monaco (1833–1897).
4.Count Friedrich August of Württemberg (1811–1812)
5.Count Franz of Württemberg (1814–1824)
6.Countess Marie of Württemberg (1815–1866); married Count Wilhelm of Taubenheim (1805–1894).

Since this was a morganatic marriage, on 1 August 1801 William renounced his descendants' claim to the throne of Württemberg. This had an effect in 1921, on the death of William II of Württemberg, when his descendants were excluded from inheriting. However, by then the Kingdom of Württemberg had itself been superseded.

Count Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand of Württemberg, 1st Duke of Urach (6 July 1810 – 17 July 1869), was the son of Duke Wilhelm of Württemberg (1761–1830), younger brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg, by his morganatic wife, Baroness Wilhelmine von Tunderfeldt-Rhodis (1777–1822), who had married in 1800. He was the first Head of the House of Urach.Wilhelm was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1855. In 1857, he was appointed governor of Ulm. In 1841 he converted to Roman Catholicism to enable his first marriage to Théodolinde de Beauharnais. In 1867, he was promoted to General of the Infantry. On 28 May 1867, he was raised to Duke of Urach (Herzog von Urach), while retaining the dignity of Count of Württemberg.On 8 February 1841, Duke Wilhelm married Princess Theodelinda de Beauharnais (Mantua, 13 April 1814 – Stuttgart, 1 April 1857), the daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg. To contract the marriage he converted to Roman Catholicism. Four daughters were born from this marriage:

1. Princess Augusta Eugenie (27 December 1842 – 11 March 1916); Married firstly Count Rudolf von Enzenberg zum Freyen und Jochelsthurn; secondly Count Franz von Thun und Hohenstein
2. Princess Marie Josephine (10 October 1844 – 13 January 1864)
3. Princess Eugenia Amalie (13 September 1848 – 26 November 1867)
4. Princess Mathilde (14 January 1854 – 13 July 1907); married Paolo Altieri, Prince of Viano.


On 15 February 1863 in Monaco, he married Princess Florestine of Monaco (22 October 1833 – 24 April 1897), daughter of Florestan I, Prince of Monaco, and they had two sons:

1. Wilhelm, 2nd Duke of Urach (30 May 1864 – 24 March 1928), later King Mindaugas II of Lithuania.
2. Prince Karl (15 February 1865 – 5 December 1925), an Orientalist


Prince Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, 2nd Duke of Urach (Wilhelm Karl Florestan Gero Crescentius; German: Fürst Wilhelm von Urach, Graf von Württemberg, 2. Herzog von Urach)(30 May 1864 – 24 March 1928), was a German prince who was elected in June 1918 as King of Lithuania, with the regnal name of Mindaugas II. He never assumed the crown, however, as German authorities declared the election invalid;[1] the invitation was withdrawn in November 1918. From 17 July 1869 until his death, he was the head of the morganatic Urach branch of the House of Württemberg. Wilhelm was married twice. On 4 July 1892, he married firstly Duchess Amalie in Bavaria (1865–1912), daughter of Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, a niece of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and a direct descendant of the Lithuanian princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł of Biržai. Nine children were born of this marriage:

1. Princess Marie Gabriele (1893–1908)
2. Princess Elizabeth (1894–1962) who married Prince Karl of Liechtenstein (1878–1955), an uncle of Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein, and had issue.
3. Princess Karola (1896–1980)
4. Prince Wilhelm (1897–1957), who morganatically married Elisabeth Theurer (1899–1988) and had two daughters, Elisabeth and Marie Christine, neither of whom married. Wilhelm married Elisabeth Theurer on 19 June 1928, in the teeth of opposition from his father voiced when they got engaged. Elisabeth was the daughter of Richard Theurer, General Director of G. Siegle & Co., a long-established Stuttgart manufacturer of dyes and colourings, and his wife Elisabeth Groß. By the date of his marriage, Wilhelm's father had been dead for nearly three months, but the marriage was nonetheless deemed morganatic, and he was required to renounce his right to the title Duke of Urach, Count of Württemberg. Headship of the noble family instead passed to his younger brother, Karl Gero, Duke of Urach
5. Karl Gero, Duke of Urach (1899–1981), 3rd Duke of Urach, who married Countess Gabriele of Waldburg-Zeil (1910–2005); no issue.
6. Princess Margarete (1901–1975)
7. Prince Albrecht (1903–1969), a diplomat; former artist turned journalist, and expert on the Far East. Married first Rosemary Blackadder and second Ute Waldschmidt, divorced both of them and had issue by both. His daughter Marie-Gabrielle (aka Mariga) was the first wife of Desmond Guinness. Albrecht's marriages were also considered morganatic, but his descendants use as surname Furst von Urach.
8. Prince Eberhard (1907–1969), who married Princess Iniga of Thurn and Taxis (1925–2008) and had issue: Karl Anselm, Duke of Urach, born 1955, Wilhelm Albert, Duke of Urach, born 1957 and Prince Inigo of Urach, born 1962.
9. Princess Mechtilde (1912–2001), who married Friedrich Karl, Prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst and had issue.

In 1924, Wilhelm married secondly Princess Wiltrud of Bavaria (1884–1975), daughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria. This marriage was childless.

[Principessa]

Of Carlow


Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Russian: Георгий Георгиевич Мекленбург-Стрелицкий)( 6 June 1859 – 5 December 1909) was the eldest of the two surviving sons of Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and of Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia. He was a great-grandson of Emperor Paul and a cousin of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. Although he was a German prince of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, he was raised in Imperial Russia, where he lived all his life.Georg Alexander Michael Friedrich Wilhelm Franz Carl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born on 6 June  [O.S. 25 May] 1859 at Remplin, a family estate acquired by his parents in Mecklenburg shortly before his birth. His father, Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg (1824–1876), was the second son of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His mother, Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia, was a granddaughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia.Although Duke Georg Alexander was, by birth, a German prince of the house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, his father had settled in Russia within his wife’s family. Georg and his siblings were raised in Russia, but kept the Lutheran religion of his paternal ancestors. He was known in Russia as George Georgievich jr, to distinguish him from his father who had the same name and patronymic . Georg Alexander fell in love with his mother’s lady in waiting Natalia Feodorovna Vanliarskya (Saint Petersburg, 16 May 1858 - Cannes, 14 March 1921), the daughter of Feodor Ardalionovich Vanliarsky (23 December 1833 - 2 February 1903), a Russian State Councillor, who served in the Ministry of Finance, and wife Maria Feodorovna Uvarova, paternal granddaughter of Ardalion Alexeievich Vanliarsky and wife Anastasia Mikhailovna Simanovskaya (? - 26 March 1891) and maternal granddaughter of Feodor Feodorovich Uvarov and wife Maria Petrovna Joukova. She was a member of the Russian nobility who came from Germany in 17th century whose name was originally von Lahr. Vanljarskya was a skillful singer and the couple was brought together by their shared passion for music. Grand Duchess Catherine Mikahilovna opposed their union and fired Natalia, hoping that his son would forget the affair and would marry a bride of royal background. However Georg Alexander persisted and in June 1889 he went to Germany to obtain the permission to marry from the head of the family, his uncle, Grand Duke Frederick William (1819-1904). With his uncle's consent, George Georgievich married Natalia Vanliarskya on 14 February 1890 in Saint Petersburg.As Natalia was not of member of reigning royal family their union was treated as morganatic and she received from the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz the title of Countess von Carlow (the name Carlow came from the estate Karlivka in Poltava province, that belonged to Georg-Alexander) on 18 March 1890 that would pass to their children. Their marriage was a happy one and Natalia eventually became loved by her husband’s family.The couple initially lived in a western wing of the Mikhailovski palace, where fifteen rooms were given to them. After the death of Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna in 1894, the Mikhailovski palace and the bulk of her inheritance passed to Duke Georg Alexander's younger brother Karl Michael and their sister Helene. The palace was bought by Emperor Nicholas II in 1895 to house the collection of the Russian Museum, named in honor of Emperor Alexander III. Georg Alexander moved with his family to his own residence located at No 46 Fontanka embankment. The house was designed with his own personal plans and immediately became a center for musicians and artist. During the first years of their marriage, Vanljarskya did not take part in court life and only years later she began to accompany her husband at court balls and receptions in the Winter Palace.The couple's four children received the title of Counts of Carlow after the mother

1. Countess Catherine von Carlow (25 July 1891 - 9 October 1940, victim of a German air aid on London) having married Prince Vladimir Gurevich Golitsyn (1884-1954) in 1913 .
2. Countess Maria von Carlow (31 October 1893 - 5 September 1979), who married Prince Boris Dmitrievich Golitsyn (1892-1919) in 1916, became a widow in 1919, and married Count Vladimir Petrovich Kleinmichel (1901-1982).
3. Countess Natalia von Carlow ( 20 November 1894 - 4 December 1913).
4. George, Duke of Mecklenburg (5 Oct 1899 - 6 Jul 1963)

Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz died suddenly on 5 December 1909, aged fifty He was buried in the palace of Oranienbaum, the summer residence in the Gulf of Finland of his family After the revolution, the grave was destroyed and the inscription disappeared. His daughter Natalia, who died young, was also buried in Oranienbaum. The Duke's widow and their three other children survived the Russian revolution and emigrated to western Europe. Natalia died in Cannes France in 1921. The couple's youngest child and only son, George Alexander, was adopted by his uncle Karl-Michael, and then took the title of Duke of Mecklenburg, Count of Carlow. After the other lines of the house of Mecklenburg died out his descendants became their sole heirs. Georg Alexander's great-grandson, Duke Borwin, is the current head of the House of Mecklenburg


George, Duke of Mecklenburg (German: Georg Herzog zu Mecklenburg)( 5 October [O.S. 22 September] 1899 – 6 July 1963) was the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1934 until his death. Through his father, he was a descendant of Emperor Paul I of Russia. He was born in Oranienbaum as Count George of Carlow; he was the youngest child and only son of Duke George Alexander of Mecklenburg (6 June 1859 – 5 December 1909) and his morganatic wife (married 6 June 1889) Nataliya Fyodorovna Vanlarskaya, Countess of Carlow (16 May 1858 – 14 March 1921), daughter of Fyodor Ardalionovich Vanlarsky ( 23 December 1835 – 2 February 1903) and wife Mariya Fyodorovna Uvarova, and granddaughter of Ardalion Alexeievich Vanlarsky, born in Poretchie, near Smolensk, and wife Tatyana, daughter of Mariya Mikhailovna Litvinova. Because his parents marriage was morganatic, at birth he was denied the title Duke of Mecklenburg; instead his title came from his mother, who had been created Countess of Carlow on 18 March 1890 by her husband's uncle Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.[1] When his father died in 1909, his uncle Duke Charles Michael was appointed guardian of George and his sisters Katharina, Marie and Natalia by Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich V of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.After the 1917 October Revolution George and his family fled Russia heading first to France before later moving to Germany.On 11 September 1928 George was adopted by his uncle Duke Charles Michael, who was the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The adoption was confirmed in the courts in Malchin on 5 October 1928 and as a result he took his uncle and adopted father's surname of Mecklenburg. Following his adoption, George assumed the title Duke of Mecklenburg with the style Serene Highness. This was confirmed by the head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich on 18 July 1929 and recognised on 23 December by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.Duke George studied political science at the University of Freiburg and became a Doctor of Economics and Social Sciences .  On 6 December 1934, his uncle Duke Charles Michael died, and George succeeded him as head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz He lived with his family at Schloss Remplin until April 1940, when the main part of the palace was burnt down. The Grand Ducal family then moved to Grunewald, where they lived until their home was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid in February 1944 In August 1944, George was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp by the Nazi government, where he remained until February 1945. Following his release, Duke George and his family moved to Sigmaringen at the invitation of Princess Margarete of Hohenzollern (wife of Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern) in March 1945.On 18 December 1950 the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin confirmed the decisions made in 1929 regarding George's title, and he assumed the style of Highness  while his status as head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was also confirmed. At the same time, the Count of Carlow title was abolished.

Duke George was married firstly in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7 October 1920 to Irina Mikhailovna Raievskya, Countess Tolstoy (18 August 1892 –22 January 1955) the widow of Count Alexander Mikhailovich Tolstoy (17 January 1888 – 19 February 1918), daughter of Mikhail Nikolaievich Rayevsky (1841–1893) and Princess Mariya Grigoryevna Gagarina (14 June 1851 –2 August 1941) and granddaughter of Nikolai Nikolaievich Rayevsky (14 September 1801 – 1843) and wife (m. 22 January 1839) Anya Mikhailovna Borozdine, and Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Gagarin and wife Sofiya Andreievna Dashkova. Irina was daughter of the Rayevski family, who were one of heirs of the famed Grigori Potemkin, Prince of Tauria, descending from the childless Prince's sister. The couple had four children though one son Alexander born on 3 August 1922 died at the age of just eighteen days. The children who survived into adulthood were:

1. Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (27 August 1921 – 26 January 1996) he married Archduchess Ilona of Austria on 20 April 1946 and they were divorced on 12 December 1974. They have four children.
2. Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg (15 November 1924 – 8 July 1962) she married Hassan Sayed Kamil (1918–1991).[11] on 18 February 1955. They have a daughter:
Sheila Kamil (26 July 1958 – 21 March 2018)
3. Duke Carl Gregor of Mecklenburg (14 March 1933 – 23 July 2018) he married Princess Maria Margarethe of Hohenzollern (daughter of Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden) on 18 February 1965.

In May 1956 George became engaged to Archduchess Charlotte of Austria, a daughter of the last Austrian Emperor, Charles I and Zita of Bourbon-Parma. They were married in a civil ceremony on 21 July 1956 in Pöcking, Germany followed by a religious ceremony four days later. They had no children.


Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (German: Georg Alexander Herzog zu Mecklenburg)( 27 August 1921 – 26 January 1996) was the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1963 until his death Georg Alexander was born in Nice, France, the eldest son of the then Count George of Carlow and his first wife Irina Mikhailovna Raievskya (1892–1955).  With the death of Duke Charles Michael on 6 December 1934 his father succeeded as head of the Grand Ducal house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and thus Georg Alexander became heir apparent. The grand ducal family lived at Remplin Castle in Mecklenburg until it was destroyed in a fire in April 1940. During the Second World War both Georg Alexander and his father were interned by the Gestapo for a time. Duke Georg Alexander was married in Sigmaringen to Archduchess Ilona of Austria (20 April 1927 – 12 January 2011) civilly on 20 February 1946 followed by a religious ceremony on 30 April. Archduchess Ilona belongs to the Hungarian Palatine branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and is a granddaughter of Archduke Joseph August of Austria. Georg Alexander and Ilona had four children before divorcing on 12 December 1974

1. Duchess Elisabeth Christina (22 March 1947)  Married Alhard, Count von dem Bussche-Ippenburg (b. 30 June 1947) civilly on 15 November 1974 in Lüdenscheid and religiously on 3 May 1975 at Hohenzollern Castle. Had two daughters and a son before divorcing on 15 December 1997.
2. Duchess Marie Katharina   (14 November 1949)   Married Wolfgang von Wasielewski (b. 15 December 1951) civilly on 17 March 1978 at Bonn and religiously on 15 July at Biengen. Has two children.
3. Duchess Irene (18 April 1952)   Married Constantin Harmsen (b. 28 April 1954) civilly on 22 September 1979 at Mexico City and religiously at Biengen on 26 July 1980. Has two sons.
4. Duke Borwin (10 June 1956)Married Alice Wagner (b. 2 August 1959) in Hinterzarten civilly on 24 December 1985 and religiously on 19 July 1986. Has three children and is the current head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.



Carl Gregor Herzog zu Mecklenburg (14 March 1933 – 23 July 2018) was a German historian of music and art. He served as director of the Museum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart for a period of 18 years, and was noted for his books on music and art. He was a member of the former Mecklenburg ducal family. Herzog zu Mecklenburg was born on 14 March 1933 in Remplin, Mecklenburg, in the northeast of Germany. Although he was born on the former grand ducal estate, his relative Frederick Francis IV abdicated from rule in 1918 upon the defeat of the German Empire in World War I. Thus, Herzog zu Mecklenburg ((English: Duke of Mecklenburg) serves as a surname, rather than a current title.[2] His father was George, Duke of Mecklenburg, and his mother was Irina Mikhailovna Raievskya. Herzog zu Mecklenburg married Princess Maria Margarethe of Hohenzollern, the daughter of Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden, in a civil ceremony on 18 February 1965 in Hechingen.[6] They had a religious ceremony on 23 April 1966 in the Chapel at Burg Hohenzollern

[Principessa]

Lippe Biesterfeld

The House of Lippe-Biesterfeld was a comital cadet line of the House of Lippe (a German dynasty reigning from 1413 until 1918, of comital and, from 1789, of princely rank). The comital branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld ascended the throne of the Principality of Lippe in 1905, after the extinction of the ruling main branch, when count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld became Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe. He continued to rule until the German Revolution of 1918. In 1916, he created his younger brother, count Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, a prince. Through the latter's son, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1911–2004), the prince consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, it also became a title of the Dutch Royal House, created in 1937.

The branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld was founded by count Jobst Herman (1625–1678), youngest son of count Simon VII of Lippe-Detmold. He received Biesterfeld with parts of the former county of Schwalenberg, as a paragium. From the Lippe-Biesterfeld branch the line of Lippe-Weissenfeld was separated in 1734. Both, Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were so-called paragiums (non-sovereign estates of a cadet-branch) of the ruling House of Lippe. Jobst Herman built the manor of Biesterfeld around 1660. Frederick Charles Augustus, Count of Lippe, moved the comital brewery from Schwalenberg to Biesterfeld in 1740. However, both the lands of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Lippe-Weissenfeld were ceded and sold to the princely line of Lippe(-Detmold) on 24 May 1762. Frederick William (1737-1803), the eldest surviving son of count Frederick Charles Augustus, married Elisabeth Johanna, Edle von Meinertzhagen (1752-1811) who inherited a small manor house at Oberkassel, Bonn, where the couple moved in 1770, and which was to become the home to the Lippe-Biesterfeld family for the following 209 years.


The Head of the Lippe-Biesterfeld family was given the style Illustrious Highness (German: Erlaucht) at Detmold on 27 August and 1 October 1844


When, in 1895, the mentally ill Prince Alexander ascended the throne of the Principality of Lippe, Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe was appointed to act as regent of Lippe, according to a then secretly kept decree of the predecessor Prince Woldemar. Alexander was the last male of the Lippe-Detmold line; the next senior lines of the House of Lippe were the Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld, followed by the Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld, and then by the most junior line the Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe. Shortly after becoming a member state of the German Empire in 1871, Prince Woldemar of the Lippe-Detmold line died on 20 July 1895. The next ruler was his brother, Alexander, Prince of Lippe, but the power needed to be exercised by a regent throughout his reign on account of his mental illness. This right for regency resulted in an inheritance dispute between the neighboring principality of Schaumburg-Lippe and the Lippe-Biesterfeld line.

Ernest, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld, hitherto living at Oberkassel, became regent of the principality from 1897 until his death in 1904. The dispute was only resolved by the Imperial Court in Leipzig in 1905, with the lands passing to the Lippe-Biesterfeld line who, until this point, had no territorial sovereignty. Ernest's son Prince Leopold IV (1871–1949) was the first and only count of Lippe-Biesterfeld to become ruling prince of Lippe, residing at Detmold Castle.

Prince Bernhard of Lippe (1872–1934), the younger brother of Leopold IV and father of prince consort Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, was born at Oberkassel and grew up there. Later he acquired castle Reckenwalde and an estate in East Brandenburg (today Wojnowo, Poland), where his son grew up. A first cousin of the prince-consort, Prince Ernst August of Lippe (1917–1990), sold the house at Oberkassel in 1979, after he had acquired Syburg castle at Bergen, Middle Franconia, in 1970.

The current head of the House of Lippe is Stephan, Prince of Lippe (born 24 May 1959), a grandson of Leopold IV, and present owner of Detmold Castle. He is also a first cousin once removed of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1911–2004), the prince consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004).


> 1627–1762: Lords of Lippe-Biesterfeld

> 1762–1905: Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld


> 1909–1916: Morganatic title and new cadet line
On 8 February 1909, the title Countess of Biesterfeld (not related to the previous title Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld) was created for Armgard von Cramm (1883–1971) and her descendants. Armgard was the wife of Prince Bernhard of Lippe (1872–1934), the brother of Prince Leopold IV. On 24 February 1916, Armgard and her two sons Bernhard (1911–2004) and Aschwin (1914–1988) were created Prince(ss) of Lippe-Biesterfeld with the style Serene Highness. They returned to a more senior position in the line of succession to the Lippian throne, in which they previously had been the very last. The suffix Biesterfeld was revived to mark the foundation of a new cadet line


> 1916-1918: Princes of Lippe-Biesterfeld


> 1937 – present: Dutch Royal title
By royal decree of 6 January 1937, the titles Prince of the Netherlands, with the style Royal Highness, and Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld, were created in the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Prince Bernhard and his descendants.[9] The Lippe-Biesterfeld title hereby became also a Dutch one. On 7 January 1937, Bernhard married Princess Juliana of the Netherlands (who later was the Queen regnant of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980). From this marriage, four daughters were born who all hold the title Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld:

Beatrix (born 1938, Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 to 2013)
Irene (born 1939)
Margriet (born 1943)
Christina (1947–2019)

Since the title is only inheritable in male line, with them the title will become extinct.


> 1998 – present: Other
By royal decree of 26 May 1998, the descendants of Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (born 1968), eldest son of Princess Margriet, all have the newly created surname van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven.

[Principessa]

Prince Romanovsky-Krasinsky


Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia (Russian: Андрей Владимирович; (14 May 1879 – 30 October 1956) was a son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Emperor Alexander II and a first cousin of Nicholas II, Russia's last Tsar. He was the youngest of the four Vladimirovich sons; a sister followed him a few years later, and the eldest of his brothers died in early childhood. His father, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, a brother of Tsar Alexander III of Russia, was a renowned patron of the arts. Andrei's mother, Grand Duchess, Maria Pavlovna, née a Princess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was one of the greatest hostesses of Russian societyGrand Duke Andrei was tall, shy and good looking. Efforts to make him settle down with a bride of royal blood were unsuccessful. He was very close to his mother, particularly after the death of his father in 1909, and manipulated her to his advantage, which his siblings resented. His pliable personality made him more popular within the Romanov family than his siblings. He was a good friend of his cousin Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, who was a year older.In February 1900, Grand Duke Andrei was invited by his brothers, Grand Dukes Kirill and Boris, to a dinner party at the house of Mathilde Kschessinska. Kschessinska, the Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Mariinsky Theatre, was the eldest among the three most prominent dancers of her generation at the Imperial Russian Ballet, along with Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina. Grand Duke Andrei sat next to his hostess during the dinner, but accidentally spilt a glass of red wine on her. Mathilde, attracted to the young grand duke, seven years her junior, took the incident as good omen.Age 28, Mathilde had been the mistress of Tsar Nicholas II when he was heir to the throne. Their two-year relationship ended with Nicholas' engagement to his future wife, Alexandra. Mathilde was ambitious and eager to maintain her close relationship with the Romanovs.She subsequently began a long time affair with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, Nicholas and Andrei's first cousin once removed. As she was not in love with Sergei, but enjoyed his company and protection, Mathilde pursued a relationship with Grand Duke Andrei, the third Romanov to become involved with her.By July 1900, they became lovers, traveling together that summer to Biarritz and Paris. In the autumn 1901, they visited several Italian cities, including Venice, Padua, Florence and Rome. Grand Duke Sergei tolerated their affair, remaining a close and loyal friend to the famous ballerina, but the relationship between the two grand dukes grew tense.They tried to avoid each other and maintain civility while sharing the same woman for almost two decades. The relationship between the three complicated further as Mathilde became pregnant. The baby was conceived around mid-September 1901, before her trip to Italy. On 18 June 1902, Mathilde gave birth to a son. Both grand dukes were at first convinced they were the child's father. After the Revolution, Kschessinska and Grand Duke Andrei maintained that Andrei was the father. The child, who became known within the family by his nickname, Vova, received the name and patronymic Vladimir Sergeievich. No surname was made public until 1911.The birth certificate showed Sergei as the father. Grand Duke Sergei was devoted to the child, looking after mother and son until his exile and subsequent execution following the fall of the Russian monarchy. The question of Vladimir's paternity remains unresolved. However, most sources attribute the paternity to Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, whom the child resembled. The Bolsheviks arrested Grand Duke Andrei and his brother Boris on the night of 7 August 1918, after a systematic search of their villa They were taken to Pyatigorsk with other prisoners and detained at the state hotel in that city.Commissar Leshchinsky, the Bolshevik commander sent to execute them, had once been a struggling artist in Paris before the war whom Boris had assisted by purchasing some of his paintings. Leshchinsky recognized him and saved the two brothers from the firing squad.Risking his own life, he returned them to their villa the next day. Likely to be rearrested, the two grand dukes escaped to the surrounding mountains with Andrei's aide-de-camp, Colonel Von Kube, on 26 August 1918. They lived in hiding for almost five weeks, moving from village to village under protection of the Kabarda tribes, sheltered by Colonel Andrei Shkuro and his band of loyal Cossacks. Kislovodsk was captured by the White Army and the Bolsheviks fled in late September, allowing the two brothers to return to the city. On the evening of 23 September, Grand Duke Andrei, his brother Boris and Colonel Von Kube returned to the city on horseback, accompanied by Kabardian nobles who had protected them. During their time hiding in the mountains, Andrei allowed his beard to become overgrown. He so closely resembled his first cousin, Nicholas II, that he was mistaken for the Tsar.Under threat of the Red advance, the small group of Romanovs and their entourage were forced to flee two days later, in constant fear for their lives. Once in Venice, Grand Duke Andrei accompanied his mother via train to Cannes, on the French Riviera.[39] Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna died a few months later in September 1920. During her illness in Contrexéville, Grand Duke Andrei was reunited for the first time in exile with his three siblings. At his mother's death the last obstacle for Grand Duke Andrei to marry Mathilde Kchessinska was lifted. Andrei asked permission to marry Kchessinska from his brother Grand Duke Kirill and from Empress Maria Feodorovna, widow of Tsar Alexander III, the senior members of the Romanov family; both gave their consent.[48] Kchessinska, who was of Polish descent, was Catholic, but they were married in a simple ceremony in the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Michael Archangel in Cannes on 30 January 1921. Grand Duke Andrei also claimed paternity of Kchessinska's son, Prince Vladimir Romanovsky-Krasinsky (30 June 1902 – 23 April 1974). In 1924, Grand Duke Andrei's eldest brother, Kirill, proclaimed himself Tsar in exile. Grand Duke Andrei supported his brother's claim. Grand Duke Kirill granted to Mathilde and her son the titles of Princess and Prince Romanovsky-Krasinsky, with the treatment of Serene Highness.


 Prince Vladimir Romanovsky-Krasinsky (who took a Westernized version of his mother's Polish name, Krzesińska, hyphenated with the adjective version of his father's name) was spoiled by his parents and never had an independent life. Because he had been a member of the "pro-Soviet " Union of Young Russians in the 1930s, he was regarded as Soviet sympathizer by the Nazi Party. Vladimir was arrested by the Gestapo and held in a camp for Russian emigrants in Compiègne Grand Duke Andrei visited German Police Headquarters multiple times and asked for help from Russian émigrés to get his son released, but neither group would help him. Vladimir was finally freed after 119 days in detention. During the war years the two other surviving grand dukes died; Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich in 1942 and Grand Duke Boris in 1943. With the death of his brother Boris, Andrei became the last surviving Grand Duke of the Romanov dynasty who had been born in Imperial RussiaGrand Duke Andrei's last years were marked by increasingly frail health and straitened financial circumstances. He was forced to sell his house, renting instead. To balance his finances, he relied partially on economic aid from his nephew, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich. Some of Mathilde's friends and former pupils, such as Margot Fonteyn and Diana Gould Menuhin, also provided financial help. In 1954, Grand Duke Andrei became a godfather of Grand Duke Vladimir's only child, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, the current claimant to the headship of the Romanov family.


Despite poor health, Grand Duke Andrei lived to be 77 years old, an age reached by few in the Romanov family. He surpassed the longevity record held by his great-uncle, Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich, by almost six months. On the morning of 31 October 1956, Grand Duke Andrei worked in his study. Having finished a letter on his typewriter, he felt dizzy, went to his bed to lie down and died suddenly. He was buried wearing the uniform of the Horse Guard Artillery Brigade, which he had commanded during World War I. Matilda Kshesinskaya died in Paris in December 1971 at age 99. Prince Vladimir Romanovsky-Krasinsky died unmarried and childless in France in 1974, three years after his mother

[Principessa]

Romanovsky-Ilyinsky


Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia (Russian: Великий Князь Дмитрий Павлович)( 18 September 1891 – 5 March 1942) was a son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and a first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (consort of Queen Elizabeth II).Grand Duke Dmitri was born on 18 September [O.S. 6 September] 1891 at Ilyinskoye [ru], the country estate of his uncle Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich. He was the second child and only son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich and his first wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia, born Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. Dmitri's father, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, was the youngest child of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and his first wife, Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, née Princess (Maximiliane Wilhelmine Auguste Sophie) Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. Dmitri's mother, Alexandra, was a daughter of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, and an older sister of Andrew who was the father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, making them as first cousins. He was also first cousins with Marie, Queen of Romania and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia, who were the daughters of his paternal aunt Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia who married Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.Alexandra was seven months pregnant with Dmitri when, while she was out with friends, she jumped into a boat, falling as she got in. The next day, she collapsed in the middle of a ball from violent labor pains brought on by the previous day's activities; Dmitri was born in the hours following the accident. Alexandra slipped into a coma from which she never emerged. She died of eclampsia six days after Dmitri's birth. Although doctors had no hope for Dmitri's survival, he still lived, with the help of his uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, who gave the premature Dmitri the baths that were prescribed by the doctors, wrapped him in cotton wool and kept him in a cradle filled with hot water bottles to keep his temperature regulated, the treatment of the time to keep premature babies alive Grand Duke Paul was so distraught by the unexpected death of his young wife that he initially neglected his two small children: Dmitri and his older sister Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. The children were cared for by Paul's elder brother, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who had no children of his own. In his widowhood, Grand Duke Paul settled with his children in his palace in St Petersburg. The children occupied a nursery suite on the second floor, looked after by nurses and attendants. A commander of the Imperial horse Guards, Grand Duke Paul loved his children, but as was customary at the time, he refrained from showing them spontaneous affection. Dmitri and his sister were raised by governesses and tutors, while they adored their father who visited them twice daily In 1895, Grand Duke Paul began an affair with a married woman, Olga Valerianova Pistolkors. He was able to obtain a divorce for her and he eventually married Olga in 1902, while the couple was staying abroad. As they had married defying Nicholas II's opposition, the Tsar forbade them to return to Russia and Grand Duke Paul was not allowed to take the children with him into exile.Left fatherless, eleven-year-old Dmitri and his twelve-year-old sister were sent to live with their uncle, Grand Duke Sergei, and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (the Empress's sister), in Moscow Dimitri was involved in the killing of Rasputin.


In 1923 Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna divorced her second husband and bought a small house at Boulogne-sur-Seine and Dmitri moved with her to the top floor.[34] As he worked at Reims for the champagne company, he was out most of the day but spent the evening with his sister. Invited to a tea party at Versailles with his sister, he met Audrey Emery, a sophisticated and attractive American heiress. Her father was a self-made millionaire and after his death, his mother had married a son of the second Earl of Lichfield. Grand Duke Dmitri had no fortune to offer, but they fell in love and they were married in the Orthodox Church at Biarritz on 21 November 1926. It was a morganatic marriage, and Audrey, who converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Anna Ioannovna in baptism, was granted the title Her Serene Highness, Princess Romanovskaya-Ilyinskaya by his cousin, Grand Duke Kyril. They spent their honeymoon in England where they established their first home. The couple's only child, Paul Romanovsky-Ilyinsky, was born in London in 1928. Paul grew up in France, Britain, and the United States; he served as a US Marine in the Korean War. In 1989, he was elected Mayor of Palm Beach, Florida, and thus became the only Romanov descendant known to have held elected public office. Following the fall of communist Russia in 1991, a delegation of Russian royalists approached him and asked him to assume the title of Tsar, which he declined.


Paul Dmitrievich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (27 January 1928 – 10 February 2004) was a three-time mayor of Palm Beach, Florida, and the only child of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Cincinnati heiress Audrey Emery. He was a great-grandson of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and, following the death of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich in 1992, the heir-male House of Romanov (a position now held by his elder son), a first cousin once removed of Nicholas II, first cousin of Lennart Bernadotte and the second cousin of Charles III.Ilyinsky was married twice; he married his first wife, Mary Evelyn Prince in 1949 (annulment in 1951), and married his second wife, Angelica Philippa Kauffmann in 1952. Ilyinsky had four children:


1. Prince Dimitri Pavlovich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (1 May 1954) he married Martha McDowell on 22 September 1979, and has issue:
1.1.Princess Catherine Adair Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (4 August 1981) she married Bradley Goodyear in 2013.
1.2.Princess Victoria Bayard Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (23 November 1984) she married Mbeke Yves Binda in 2013.
1.3.Princess Lela McDowell Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (26 August 1986)
2. Princess Paula Maria Pavlovna Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (18 May 1956) she married Mark Comisar on 31 May 1980.
3. Princess Anna Pavlovna Romanovskaya-Ilyinskaya (b. 1959) ∞ Robin de Young (b. 1952) div. ∞ David Wise Glossinger (b. 1953)
4. Prince Michael Pavlovich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (b. 1961) ∞ Paula Maier (b. 1965) div.
4.1.Princess Alexis Taylor Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (1 March 1997) ∞ Lisa Schiesler (b. 1973) div. ∞ Debra Lewis

[Principessa]

Iskander

Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich of Russia (14 February 1850 – 26 January 1918) was the first-born son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia and a grandson of Nicholas I of Russia.Born in St Petersburg in the middle of the nineteenth century into the House of Romanov, he had a very privileged childhood. Most royal children were brought up by nannies and servants so by the time Nikolai had grown up he lived a very independent life having become a gifted military officer and an incorrigible womanizer. He had an affair with a notorious American woman Fanny Lear. In a scandal related to this affair, he stole three valuable diamonds from the revetment of one of the most valuable family icons. He was declared insane and he was banished to Tashkent He lived for many years under constant supervision in the area around Tashkent in the southeastern Russian Empire (now Uzbekistan) and made a great contribution to the city by using his personal fortune to help improve the local area. In 1890 he ordered the building of his own palace in Tashkent to house and show his large and very valuable collection of works of art and the collection is now the center of the state Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan. He was also famous in Tashkent as a competent engineer and irrigator, constructing two large canals, the Bukhar-aryk (which was poorly aligned and soon silted up) and the much more successful Khiva-Aryk, later extended to form the Emperor Nicholas I Canal, irrigating 12,000 desyatinas, 33,000 acres (134 km2) of land in the Hungry Steppe between Djizak and Tashkent. Most of this was then settled with Slavic peasant colonisers.Nikolai had a number of children by different women. One of his grandchildren, Natalia Androsova, died in Moscow in 1999.


Nikolai married Nadezhda (variantly spelled Nadejda) Alexandrovna von Dreyer (1861–1929), daughter of Orenburg police chief Alexander Gustavovich von Dreyer and Sophia Ivanovna Opanovskaya, in 1882. Two children were born from this marriage:

1. Artemi Nikolayevich Prince Iskander (or Prince Romanovsky-Iskander) (1883–1919), killed in the Russian Civil War
2. Alexander Nikolayevich Prince Iskander [ru] (15 November 1887 N.S. – 26 January 1957), married Olga Iosifovna Rogovskaya / Rogowska (1893–1962) on 5 May 1912. The couple had two children. Alexander and Olga were later divorced, and Alexander married Natalya Khanykova (30 December 1893 – 20 April 1982) in 1930. No children resulted from the latter marriage.
2.1.Prince Kirill Romanovsky-Iskander, adopted name (via stepfather, Nicholas Androsov) Kirill Nikolaevich Androsov (5 December 1914 – 1992)
2.2. Natalya Alexandrovna Princess Romanovskaya-Iskander, adopted name Natalya Nikolaevna Androsova (2 February 1917 – 1999)

Among his illegitimate children were the following:

With Alexandra Abasa (1855–4 Nov 1894):

- Nicholas Nikolayevich Wolinsky (11 December 1875, Moscow – 30 December 1913, Rome)
- Olga Nikolayevna Wolinskaya (May 1877, Odessa – 9 October 1910, Leipzig), wife of Ludwig Adolf von Burgund, Graf (Count) von Burgund (1865-1908), official of Kaiserliche Marine


With unknown mistresses:

- Stanislav (d. 1919)
- Nicholas (d. 1922)
- Daria (d. 1936)
- Tatiana (died ?)



Prince Kirill Alexandrovich Romanovsky-Iskander, or Cyril Iskander Romanov (Russian: князь, Кирилл Александрович Искандер, tr. knyaz, Kirill Alexandrovich Iskander) (5 December 1914 – 1992), or simply Prince Iskander, was one of the last two members of the House of Romanov to remain alive in Russia following the Revolution.He was the son of Prince Romanovsky-Iskander (15 November 1887 N.S. – 26 January 1957), né Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov [ru], and his first wife, Olga Iosifovna Rogowska. He was a grandson of Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich, the disgraced grandson of Tsar Nicholas I; thus, Kirill was a patrilineal great-great-grandson of Nicholas I.Grand Duke Constantine Nicholaevich's son, Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich, was exiled to Central Asia in disgrace for stealing his mother's diamonds. Grand Duke Nicholas established a palace in Tashkent and lived in grand style where he sired a son, whom Tsar Alexander III (his great-uncle) granted the title Prince Iskander (Iskander was the Arabic form of Alexander). This prince, in turn, fathered the Prince Iskander.He was born in Tashkent, a member of the Constantinovichi branch of the Russian Imperial Family. He had a sister, Princess Natalia Romanovskaya-Iskander (1917 - 1999). Their parents, who had been married since 1912, separated and in 1924 Kirill and his sister moved with their mother to Moscow (first moved to Plyushchikha Street, later to Arbat), where Olga remarried to Nicholas Androsov.Kirill's stepfather adopted him and his sister so Prince Iskander was renamed Kirill Nikolaievich Androsov (Russian: Кирилл Николаевич Андросов). His father remarried also, to Natalia Hanykova (30 December 1893 – 20 April 1982) in 1930 in Paris.After the Russian Revolution, Kirill and his sister Natalia were the only two Romanov descendants in the male line in the USSR; the rest either left or were killed. They lived their entire lives in the USSR. Upon Kirill's death, the male line of the Constantinovich branch of the Romanov family died out. His second cousin is Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark and of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.


Princess Natalia Alexandrovna Romanovskaya-Iskander (Russian: княгиня Наталья Александровна Романовская-Искандер, tr. knyaginya, Natalya Aleksandrovna Romanovskaya-Iskander)(2 February [O.S. 20 January] 1917 – 25 July 1999), or simply Princess Iskander, was the last of two members of the male line of the House of Romanov to remain alive in the Soviet Union following the Revolution and its aftermath. The princess was a professional vertical motorcyclist and secret agent of the Lubyanka. As the daughter of Prince Romanovsky-Iskander, né Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov [ru], and his first wife, Olga Iosifovna Rogowska (b 1893; disappeared in the USSR; d c. 1962, daughter of Iosif Rogowski) Romanovskaya-Iskander was the granddaughter of Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich, the disgraced grandson of Tsar Nicholas I; thus, she was a patrilineal great-great-granddaughter of Nicholas I. Her date of birth is disputed, and has been reported as 10 February 1916, 3 February 1917, or 17 February 1910. Grand Duke Constantine Nicholaevich's son, Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich, was exiled to Central Asia in disgrace for stealing his mother's diamonds. Grand Duke Nicholas established a palace in Tashkent and lived in grand style where he sired a son, whom Tsar Alexander III (his great-uncle) granted the title Prince Iskander (Iskander was the Arabic form of Alexander) This prince, Alexander Nikolaievich (15 November 1887 N.S. – 26 January 1957) who granted the name of Iskander and the rank of a Noble of the Russian Empire by Imperial Ukase 1889 and that of Hereditary Noble by Imperial Ukase 1899, also granted the title of Prince Romanovsky-Iskander with the qualification of Serene Highness by the Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia, who became the grandfather of Princess Natalia in absentia, in 1925, in turn, fathered the Princess Iskander. Alexander Nikolaievich only had issue by his first wife. Natalia Androsova was born in Tashkent, a member of the Constantinovichi branch of the Russian Imperial Family. She had an older brother, Prince Kirill Romanovsky-Iskander (1914–1992). Her parents, who had been married since 5 May 1912, separated and in 1924 Natalia and her brother moved with their mother to Moscow  where Olga remarried to Nicholas Androsov. Natalia's stepfather adopted her and her brother so Princess Iskander was renamed Natalia Nikolaievna Androsova (Russian: Наталья Николаевна Андросова). Her father remarried also, to Natalia Hanykova (b Saint Petersburg; 30/20 December 1893; d Nice 20 April 1982), dau of Maj.-Gen. Constantin Nikolaievich Hanykov and his wife Natalia Efimovna Markova, on 11 October 1930 in Paris.After the Russian Revolution, Natalia and her brother Kirill were the only two Romanov descendants in the male line in the USSR; the rest either fled or were killed. They lived their entire lives in the USSR.[2] She was married to Nicholas Vladimirovich Dostal (1909 - 22 April 1959) and had a daughter Eleonora Nikolaievna Dostal-Oruç (27 January 1937 - 2009). Her daughter was a socialite, philanthropist, noblewoman and an example of the modern phenomenon of the celebutante who rose to fame not because of her talent but because of her inherited wealth and controversial lifestyle in Turkey. The biographical novel The White Night of St. Petersburg (2004) was written by her second cousin Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark about her grandfather, Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich of Russia, and was based on Natalia's memories of him. She was a friend of Alexander Galich, Yuri Nikulin, Yuri Nagibin, and Alexander Vertinsky. Princess Natalia is also known for her brave personality. She was a motor-cyclist in motor-cyclist-circus. Besides, in the war time she was a driver in army.The family were helped by the fact that their name was Iskander, not Romanov, but even more by the preoccupation of the revolutionaries with their own survival in a bitter seesaw civil war. After the war, the palace became a museum and little Natalia would visit it, aware of the fact that it had once been her home and that all its treasures-armor, sculpture, paintings-had once belonged to her family. The lavish rose garden, shielded by its high walls from Asian dust and harsh desert winds, continued to bloom. And in the cellar, a few hunting dogs still lived. Their master was gone, but they waited for his return. Peace meant that the Bolsheviks would have the opportunity to become interested in the Iskander family, conspicuous because of the memory of the grand duke. Nicholas Constantinovich had spent his own personal funds to build canals for irrigating the crops essential for sustaining the life of the people. But Natalia's mother knew she could expect no gratitude from the Bolsheviks and decided that she would take her family to Moscow. Giving up her husband for lost, she married and changed the name of her children immediately to that of her new husband. Thus Natalia dropped Iskander for Androsova. Moscow offered new jobs and also safety in anonymity of big city life. Former tsarist officers, bureaucrats, professors and merchants hoped to find privacy and security in the bustling new capital of the Soviet regime. The new-Androsovs found a spacious apartment, but a neighbor, apparently wanting the place himself and learning who they really were, threatened to report them to the secret police. Natalia would proudly tell close friends of her real origins. Everyone was astonished; one of the friends said disgustedly, "Put those pictures away; it is indecent to keep them!" But the Androsovs were bold. Friends returning from Siberian exile, political pariahs, always knew that they could spend a few nights with the Androsovs. Natalia perhaps inherited some of her grandfather's propensity for adventure. She did not conceal that she was a Romanov. Under the codename Lola, Natalia began to work for Stalin's secret police. Her Lubyanka supervisor came regularly to the Arbat where they met, not in her apartment but in the shadows of an archway outside. Years later Natalia learned that her file at the Lubyanka described her in the most flattering terms. She was young, intelligent and attractive. She had, in short, all the qualities of an excellent agent except one: She did not want the job. Her friends knew nothing of her Lubyanka affiliation. But she knew which of them would be arrested and when. Many people found Natalia's manner pleasingly raffish; she dressed in men's jackets and leggings. She smoked. She was proud of her ancestry, especially her grand ducal grandfather. She liked to whisper to guests that she was a Romanov, a descendant of tsars. Soon she became known as the Queen of the Arbat, a district that was taking on some of the character of New York's Greenwich Village. Visitors found hers a warm hearth in a cold and gray metropolis. She embarked on an extraordinary career as a vertical motorcyclist at Gorky Park. She drove the machine up a wall. The secret to success, she said, was to feel the vehicle and to look only forward, never at the wheels. Then the war broke out.In 1941 Nazi Germany invaded Russia. In the fall of that year, when the enemy came very close to capturing Moscow and the Soviet Government fled, Natalia stayed in the city. She was in charge of her neighborhood fire brigade, on the alert for incendiary bombs dropped by German aircraft. When these bombs hit the ground, they exploded and shot out a sea of flames. One had to catch the moment of impact and throw sand over the bomb to smother it before the explosion. Impatient Natalia would often seize the hissing bomb itself and throw it into the sand. Sometimes the white-hot bodies of bombs buried themselves deeply into the asphalt, setting even that aflame, and at night explosions and fires burst out everywhere, with people shouting and horses neighing in terror.Natalia also joined a paramilitary militia as a motorcyclist courier. When she came to her Arbat neighborhood dressed exotically in a brown velvet jacket, army boots and breeches, some passerby, unused to such extravagant dress, detained her as "German saboteur." Natalia took another job, driving a truck, delivering bread to the troops at the front and clearing snow from downtown streets afterward. She discovered that she had talent for mechanical matters and she could keep her truck in good repair. As early as the summer 1942, Stalin, feeling more secure about the course of the war, decided that it was time to cheer up his people. He ordered more performances in Moscow; theater, concerts, opera and the circus.Natalia returned to her earlier career as a vertical motorcyclist. In the summer of 1953, just after Stalin's death, they gave her a new assignment, promising it would be her last. Her career as a motorcyclist soared. She was at the top of her profession and toured of the USSR. She used the world's best motorcycles such as Harley Davidsons and Indian Scouts. But her performance, called "Fearless Flight" by people around her, was always dangerous. Sometimes she would spend a month in the hospital nursing broken bones.Natalia became friendly with the leading Moscow bohemians of the day, and they dedicated their poems and stories to her. In July 1964, eligible for a pension, she retired. But when she stopped performing, the world began to forget her and her life took on a smaller dimension. In the late 1998, in her tiny studio apartment, the last Romanov in Russia and the only Russian among Romanovs, lived with her puppy dog which she found dying in the street. The dog was suffering from pneumonia and had been severely beaten. She picked him up, remembering the mournful howls of her grandfather's dogs when the grand duke was gone. She named the dog "Malysh" (Baby) and Malysh has grown up a healthy ginger-colored mongrel, friendly to visitors, passionately attached to Natalia. On her crutches she took the dog for walks herself, even in wintertime when the sidewalks were frozen. Throughout this term, her daughter and stepsons took care of her. She owned little of the great Romanov treasure, only her grandfather's crested silver spoons, a silver cup made for the coronation of Empress Elizabeth in 1742, a small decorative box, a cross and a tiny hinged icon. Whatever else of value she inherited, she had to sell in hard times. But material objects seemed not of great importance to her. In 1999 she died of old age at the age of 82.

[CyrilSebastian]

Principessa mentioned that Prince Maximilian de Beauharnais (1817-1852) received the title of "Prince Romanovsky".     
His eldest son Nicholas, Duke of Leuchtenberg (1843-1891):   
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/29836416270226998

[CyrilSebastian]

Principessa mentioned Prince Francis of Teck.   
Prince Francis was pursued by Princess Maud of Wales. Francis was not interested in Maud.