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| SAI la Grande-Duchesse Maria Vladimirovna de Russie. |
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| La grande-duchesse Léonida Georgievna avec la grande-duchesse Maria Vladimirovna lors du baptême du bébé. |
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| Le bracelet à breloques créé par le Grand-Duc Vladimir et la Grande-Duchesse Léonida pour célébrer la naissance de leur fille la Grande-Duchesse Maria. |
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| La petite héritière. |
Le 23 dĂ©cembre 1953, la grande-duchesse Maria Vladimirovna de Russie naĂ®t Ă la clinique Nuestra Señora de Loreto de Madrid. Elle est la fille unique du grand-duc Vladimir Kirillovitch de Russie, chef de la maison impĂ©riale des Romanov, et de son Ă©pouse LĂ©onida (nĂ©e princesse Bagration-Mukhranskaya). Maria Vladimirovna Ă©tait la petite-fille du grand-duc Kirill Vladimirovitch (1876-1938) et de la grande-duchesse Victoria Feodorovna (1876-1936 ; nĂ©e princesse Victoria Melita de Saxe-Cobourg et Gotha), l'arrière-petite-fille du grand-duc Vladimir Alexandrovitch (1847-1909) et de la grande-duchesse Maria Pavlovna (1854-1920 ; nĂ©e duchesse Marie de Mecklembourg-Schwerin), et l'arrière-arrière-petite-fille de l'empereur Alexandre II NikolaĂŻevitch de Russie (1818-1881) et de l'impĂ©ratrice Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880 ; nĂ©e princesse Marie de Hesse et du Rhin). Ă€ presque quarante ans, Leonida Georgievna commençait Ă craindre de ne pas pouvoir donner Ă son mari un hĂ©ritier tant dĂ©sirĂ©. En cherchant tous les remèdes possibles, LĂ©onidas fit au dĂ©but de l'annĂ©e 1953 un pèlerinage Ă la relique de Saint Nicolas le Thaumaturge Ă Bari et, quelques semaines après son retour en Espagne, elle fut ravie lorsque son mĂ©decin lui annonça qu'elle Ă©tait enceinte. Les parents de la grande-duchesse Maria ont toujours plutĂ´t considĂ©rĂ© leur fille comme une sorte de miracle (« un enfant de Dieu »), et les trois formèrent un lien familial exceptionnellement Ă©troit. Après son baptĂŞme dans la foi orthodoxe russe le 3 fĂ©vrier 1954, l'enfant reçut le nom de Maria ; les parrains choisis furent son grand-oncle le grand-duc AndreĂŻ Vladimirovitch, qui, en raison de problèmes de santĂ©, Ă©tait reprĂ©sentĂ© Ă l'Ă©vĂ©nement par le prince Nicolas de Roumanie (un fils de la grand-tante de Maria Vladimirovna, la reine Marie de Roumanie), et la reine mère Giovanna de Bulgarie.
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| Grande-Duchesse Marie de Russie. |
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| La famille impériale 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 FĂĽrst Karl of Leiningen, Maria Vladimirovna had seven first cousins: FĂĽrst 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 FĂĽrst 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 CĂ©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-RĂĽdenhausen), 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, FĂĽrst 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 Vögelin. 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 Schönaich-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 SofĂa 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 Hélène 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 HĂ©lène Kirby, Countess Dvinskaya, George’s maternal aunt.
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).
En 1992, la grande-duchesse Maria succède à la tête de la maison impériale des Romanov après le décès soudain de son père. Le grand-duc Vladimir, âgé de soixante-quatorze ans, est victime d'une crise cardiaque mortelle à Miami le 21 avril. Sa veuve, la grande-duchesse Léonida, lui survit plus de vingt ans ; elle décède à Madrid le 23 mai 2010, à l'âge de quatre-vingt-quinze ans. Vladimir Kirillovitch et Léonida Georgievna sont tous deux enterrés à la forteresse Saint-Pierre-et-Paul de Saint-Pétersbourg.  |
| La Grande-Duchesse Maria et le Grand-Duc Georges de Russie avec le pape Benoît XVI en 2011. |
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| Le Grand-Duc George et la Grande-Duchesse Maria arrivent au mariage du Prince Albert II de Monaco, 2011.
Photographie (c) Getty Images / Gareth Fuller / PA Images. |
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| Le roi Willem-Alexander et la reine Máxima des Pays-Bas avec la grande-duchesse Maria de Russie, 2011. |
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| La grande-duchesse Maria et le prince Mohammed Ali d'Égypte arrivent au mariage du prince héritier Leka d'Albanie et de la princesse héritière Elia (née Zaharia) à Tirana, en 2016.
Photographie (c) Seth B. Leonard. |
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| La princesse Nadia (née Nour) de Prusse, le prince François-Guillaume de Prusse et la grande-duchesse Maria de Russie lors du mariage du prince héritier Ferdinand de Leiningen et de la princesse Viktoria Luise de Prusse en 2017. |
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| Le patriarche Cyrille de Moscou et la grande-duchesse Maria en 2018. |
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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 Ă Majorque en juin 2019.
Photographie (c) Seeger-Presse / Albert Nieboer. |
Depuis son accession à la tête de la famille impériale, la grande-duchesse a rempli son rôle avec un dévouement et un sens du devoir indéfectibles. La grande-duchesse Maria est souvent présente aux événements de Gotha : des anniversaires aux mariages en passant par les funérailles. Elle réside à Madrid et sa chancellerie se trouve à Moscou.  |
| SAI la grande-duchesse Maria Vladimirovna de Russie, chef de la Maison impériale russe.
Photographie (c) Maison impériale russe. |
Nous souhaitons à Son Altesse Impériale un joyeux anniversaire !
Pour en savoir plus sur la famille impériale russe, veuillez visiter ce lien : Maison impériale Pour plus d'actualités et d'articles sur les familles royales et impériales d'Europe, rejoignez Eurohistory !
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