Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, Maria Wladimirovna Romanov (Мари́а Влади́мировна Рома́нов) (born December 23, 1953) has been the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias since 1992. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, Titular Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias File links The following pages link to this file: Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia ... A Grand Duchess is the wife of a Grand Duke or a woman who rules a Grand Duchy in her own right. ... The House of Romanov (Рома́нов, pronounced Ro-MAH-nof), the second and last imperial dynasty of Russia, which ruled Muscovy and the Russian Empire for five generations from 1613 to 1762. ... December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

She was born in 1953, the daughter of HIH Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovitch of Russia and HIH Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna of Russia née Her Illustrious Highness Princess Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhransky. His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovitch of Russia, Vladimir Kirillovitch Romanov (Влади́мир Кири́ллович Рома́нов) (August 30 (N.S.), 1917 - April 21, 1992) was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias from 1938 to his death. ...

Her paternal grandparents were HIH Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovitch of Russia and HIH Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna née HRH Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovitch of Russia, Kirill Vladimirovitch Romanov (Кири́лл Влади́мирович Рома́нов) (October 12 (N.S.), 1876—October 12, 1938) was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias from 1924 until his death. ... Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia, née Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Edinburgh (Victoria Melita), and later Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (25 November 1876 - 2 March 1936) was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. ...

On September 22, 1976, she married HRH Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia. He styled himself His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovitch of Russia at this time. When they divorced on June 19, 1985, he reverted to his old title. September 22 is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years). ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1992, upon the death of her father, in accordance with the Semi-Salic succession promulgated by Emperor Paul I, she is claimed to have succeeded as the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia. However, this claim to the throne is not uncontested; Prince Nicholas Romanov (who is a male-line descendant of Nicholas I of Russia, but is the product of a morganatic marriage) was elected President of the Romanov Family Association and is considered by the Association as the true Head. Also, the RFA asserts that there are many faults to Maria's claim to the throne. Here are their reasons: 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The King of the Franks, in the midst of the Military Chiefs who formed his Treuste, or armed Court, dictates the Salic Law (Code of the Barbaric Laws). ... Nicholas I Pavlovich (Russian: Николай I Павлович, July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796–March 2 (February 18, Old Style), 1855) was the Emperor of Russia and king of Poland from 1825 until his death in 1855. ... A morganatic marriage is a type of marriage which can be contracted in certain countries, usually between persons of unequal social rank (unebenbürtig in German), which prevents the passage of the husbands titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage. ...

1. Her grandfather, HIH Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovitch's marriage to HRH Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was unapproved by the Emperor. This claim is invalid because the marriage was later approved by HIM Emperor Nicholas II in ]1907, and gave Victoria the title of Grand Duchess of Russia, taking the style Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia.
2. Grand Duke Cyril married a divorcée, whose former husband was HRH Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse. This claim is also invalid because there are no laws in the Russian succession barring marriage to divorcées.
3. Grand Duke Cyril and Grand Duchess Viktoria were first cousins, and first cousins marrying was prohibited by the Russian Orthodox Church. This claim is also said to be invalid, because again, the Emperor gave his approval to the marriage, and the Emperor of Russia was then the supreme Head of the Russian Orthodox church. Others say that the Emperor was not able to change Church Law by his own decision, an act in ecclesiastical coincils would have been needed. However, the Russian Church has been said to not condemn children of uncanonical marriages nor their rights to inheritance, so that argument is not a very strong one anyway. Note that all competitors of Grand Duchess Mary are deriving their own claims as descendants of Emperor Nicholas I, whose marriage with their ancestress (Princess of Prussia) was in Orthodox-canonically prohibited degrees, i.e second cousins. If a church prohibition of consanguinity renders children of a marriage ineligible to succeed, no one of the today contestants is eligible.
4. At the time of their marriage, Grand Duchess Viktoria was a Protestant, not Orthodox. This is also invalid because the Emperor designated whom of the dynasts had to marry Orthodox women, namely people who were high on the succession line. At the time of his marriage, Grand Duke Cyril was not one of these people. And the Emperor approved the marriage later.
5. No female could take the throne of Russia. This argument is debatable because HIM Emperor Paul I of Russia established the succession laws that upon extinction of his male heirs, females could succeed. However there are still a large number of male heirs among Romanov descendents.
6. The marriage between Maria's father, HIH Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovitch, and HIllH Princess Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhransky was morganatic, since the princely status of the Bagration-Moukhranskys was questioned by members of the court. Otherwise this is debatable; on one hand, at the time of their marriage, Grand Duke Vladimir was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, and he approved the marriage. On the other hand, though it was approved by Vladimir, some say that the marriage is clearly morganatic (because of rank disparity between spouses) and cannot be considered otherwise by decision of anyone. And, if that marriage, between a dynast and a subject noblewoman (a wife who is of high aristocratic birth, such as a princess, but a subject of the Empire and not of a sovereign family of reigning monarchs) is not morganatic, then marriages between other dynasts and subject noblewomen were not morganatic either, and some Romanov princes thus are also dynasts - the male descent is thus not totally extinct (for example, if a Russian imperial dynast may equally marry a Princess Bagration-Moukhransky, then another dynasts obviously may, preserving equality, marry such personages as daughter of Duke Sasso-Ruffo, Princess Irina Paley who is descended from the selfsame Romanov tsars, Princess Natalia Galitzina and Princess Alexandra Galitzina, meaning that children born of such marriages of dynasts are as much heirs of Russia as Grand Duchess Mary. This would mean that no female is yet requisite to succession, and that apparently Michael Andreyevitsh Romanov, born 1920, is the present Head of imperial family). Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia, née Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Edinburgh (Victoria Melita), and later Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (25 November 1876 - 2 March 1936) was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Saint Basils Cathedral, a well-known Russian Orthodox church situated in Moscow The Russian Orthodox Church (Русская Православная церковь) is that body of Christians who are united under the Patriarch of Moscow, who in turn is in communion with the other patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... ... Paul I of Russia Paul I of Russia (Russian: Pavel Petrovich, Павел I Петрович) (October 1, 1754 - March 23, 1801) was an Emperor (Tsar) of Russia (1796 - 1801). ...

But neither Grand Duchess Maria nor Mr. Romanov nor any other prince Romanov pursues a position that can actually be solved in law, since the Headship of Imperial Russia is not a property or like which would be justiciable somewhere in functioning courts. Unless for some reason, the monarchy in Russia is risen to power again, there will never be a clear resolution to this quarrel.

In 1996, Grand Duchess Maria, her mother, and her son and heir-apparent Tsarevitch Georgij Mikhailovitch, formerly living in Madrid, were welcomed back to Russia by President Boris Yeltsin, who signed a decree to officially reinstate the Romanov family. However, President Yeltsin has made it clear they will only have a socially ceremonial role. 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The term heir apparent is most often used to refer to someone who is first in the order of succession to a throne and who cannot lose this status by the birth of any other person. ... H.I.H. Georgij Mikhailovitch, Tsarevitch and Grand Duke of Russia, with his mother, 1992 His Imperial Highness Tsarevich and Grand Duke Georgij Mikhailovitch of Russia, Georgij Mikhailovitch Romanov (born June 22, 1982) is the Heir apparent to the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia, and claims the titles... Coat of arms The Plaza de España square Madrid, the capital of Spain, is located in the center of the country at 40°25′ N 3°45′ W. Population of the city of Madrid proper was 3,093,000 (Madrilenes, madrileños) as of 2003 estimates. ... Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin  listen (Борис Николаевич Ельцин, b. ... The House of Romanov (Рома́нов, pronounced Ro-MAH-nof), the second and last imperial dynasty of Russia, which ruled Muscovy and the Russian Empire for five generations from 1613 to 1762. ...

Maria has openly stated that she considers herself the Curatrix to the Throne, as do many monarchists in Russia. Her fathers claim as Tsar in Exile was very disputed by other members of his families. One said: "To say the family is divided is a euphemism. The family is raving mad." Maria hopes for the restoration of the monarchy someday, but polls have shown a very discouraging future for the Romanov family.

His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovitch of Russia, Vladimir Kirillovitch Romanov (Влади́мир Кири́ллович Рома́нов) (August 30 (N.S.), 1917 - April 21, 1992) was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias from 1938 to his death. ... The Titular Emperor (Empress) of Russia is the person who claims to be the heir to the Emperors of Russia since the abolition of the monarchy in 1917. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... H.I.H. Georgij Mikhailovitch, Tsarevitch and Grand Duke of Russia, with his mother, 1992 His Imperial Highness Tsarevich and Grand Duke Georgij Mikhailovitch of Russia, Georgij Mikhailovitch Romanov (born June 22, 1982) is the Heir apparent to the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia, and claims the titles...