01 October 2021

2021-10-01 The Wedding of Tsesarevich George of Russia and Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Romanovna

On October 1, 2021, at St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, His Eminence Metropolitan Barsanophius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga officiated, along with other clergy, at the wedding of His Imperial Highness The Tsarevich and Grand Duke George of Russia, and his fiancée, Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, who, with her marriage to the Grand Duke, received the title of Her Serene Highness Princess Romanov. His Imperial Highness is the Heir of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Her Imperial Highness The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia.

The newlyweds met for the first time when they were both children. They met again years later and began to keep in touch more regularly. Ten years of friendship and collaboration in the field of charity fostered in them a strong and lasting love, and eventually a desire to live their lives together and become a family.

Rebecca Virginia Bettarini was born into the family of an Italian diplomat. Her father, His Excellency Ambassador Roberto Bettarini, provided significant support for the construction of the Orthodox Church of St. Catherine in Rome. For his assistance to the Russian Orthodox Church and his efforts to develop and strengthen relations between Russia and Italy, the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, made him a Knight of the Imperial Order of St. Anna First Class, an award which carries with it membership of the historical hereditary nobility of the Russian Empire.

The bride’s mother, Mrs. Carla Bettarini, instilled in her daughter an abiding interest in charity work from an early age.

Rebecca Bettarini spent her first five years with her parents in Paris and then lived a year in Venice, before the family moved to Baghdad, where she began elementary school in 1988.

She returned to Rome with her mother in August 1991 when the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait. Her father at the time was the chargé d’affaires at the Italian Embassy and remained in Baghdad until January 1992 to help evacuate Italian nationals and to close the Italian embassy.

From 1991 to 1993 she attended schools in Rome. In June 1993, following the appointment of her father as the Italian Consul General in Venezuela with jurisdiction over the Caribbean, the family moved to Caracas for four years. There Rebecca Virginia attended the Agustin Codazzi Bilingual Institute.

Inspired by the example of her mother, who started a non-profit foundation “Un pesebre para Canaima” (A Nativity Scene for Canaima), Rebecca Virginia developed a deep and lasting interest in charitable activities. This foundation provided educational materials and facilities for indigenous Yanomami people, who are native to the Amazon Region in southern Venezuela.

Funds were raised from charity events and from entrance fees to view the beautiful and life-size Christmas nativity scene measuring some 70 square meters that the Bettarini family has traditionally constructed and displayed both in Italy and abroad.

In 1996 the family moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Miss Bettarini attended the European School, with instruction in French, English, Spanish and Italian.

During her years in Brussels, she played a number of roles in various productions of the theatrical company “Il Cerchio Magico”. The proceeds from these productions supported the charitable activities of the VAI Foundation (Italian Volunteers Assistance), of which her mother, Carla Virginia Bettarini, was an active and leading member. The VAI Foundation supports Italian patients undergoing liver transplant surgery in Belgium, and their families.

After obtaining her European diploma in 2000, Rebecca Virginia Bettarini returned to Rome to study political science, with an emphasis on international and European studies, at Luiss Guido Carli University. She graduated with honours in November 2004, having written a thesis entitled “Trade of Agricultural Products and the Rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO)”.

After graduation, she obtained a master’s degree, with an emphasis on European law, international law with a specialization in the law of armed conflict, and the laws governing the World Trade Organization and international trade disputes in the World Trade Organization’s DBS (Dispute Settlement Body).

During these years in Rome, Rebecca Virginia served as a volunteer of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, distributing food and basic necessities every Saturday morning to those in need. She also became an active member of the Association of Italian Historic Houses (Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane, or ADSI), which organizes international events to promote and preserve Italy’s historical heritage by working collaboratively with other European historical and preservation associations dedicated to the same purpose.

She also obtained a master’s degree in ceremonial and international protocol.

In March 2005, Rebecca Virginia Bettarini was hired by Finmeccanica, an Italian defense contractor, where she initially dealt with event management for the Farnborough international airshow in England, organizing and receiving official government delegations to the airshow.

In December 2005 she transferred to the company’s institutional relations department where she was in charge of analyzing disputes in the aviation sector presented to the World Trade Organization, in particular cases under DS316 (Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil Aircraft) and DS353 (the formal complaint lodged in 2006 by the European Union over alleged U.S. government subsidies to Boeing).

She also researched and drafted a detailed analysis of the effects of changes in European policies on the company’s defense research and development division.

In 2010, she transferred to the Finmeccanica office in Brussels, where she was accredited as a lobbyist in the institutions of the European Union.

She contributed to an analysis of the evolution of the European Galileo, Copernicus, Earth Observation and Navigation System programs, and she participated in several working groups, including the ASD (Aerospace and Defense Industry Association), the Kangaroo Group, the Steering Group, and other lobbying groups charged with negotiating the priority of companies in the aerospace sector of European institutions.

She also dealt with the Public Regulated Services of the Galileo Program, as well of the Space Situational Awareness project, and took part in meetings for the drafting of the International Code of Conduct on the Use of Outer Space, and participated in negotiations on the issue of space pollution (space debris).

Rebecca Virginia Bettarini worked as an impact analyst on the negotiations for the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership) and TAFT (Transatlantic Free Trade) agreements.

Rebecca Virginia Bettarini traveled to Russia for the first time in 2009, visiting St. Petersburg with her father.

In 2017 she left Finmeccanica to become the Director of the Russian Imperial Foundation, which was founded by H.I.H. The Grand Duke George of Russia and which enjoys the patronage of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia.

Also in 2017, Rebecca Virginia Bettarini founded Carré, a consulting and management company that works mainly with European clients.

In 2020, for her charity work in Russia and her assistance to humanitarian efforts between Russia and Europe, the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, made Rebecca Virginia Bettarini a dame of the Imperial Order of the Holy Great Martyr Anastasia the Alleviatrix of Captives.

In addition, in recognition of her charitable activity, Rebecca Virginia Bettarini was awarded the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George.

Since 2019 Rebecca Virginia Bettarini has lived in Moscow, where she directs the activities of the Imperial Foundation and the Carré company, and studies the Russian language and culture.

She is fluent in French, English, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese and has become increasingly proficient in Russian.

She enjoys riding horses and writing fiction set in countries where she has lived. Her debut novel, Beauty Queen. An International Thriller is set in Venezuela and was published by the British publishing house Europe Books in 2021 and distributed in English.

In 2019, Rebecca Virginia Bettarini began studying the teachings of the Orthodox faith under the direction of His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, Second Deputy to the President of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (Moscow Patriarchate).

The Holy Chrismation service for Miss Bettarini took place before the Divine Liturgy and was officiated by Archpriest Alexander Tkachenko.

Rebecca Virginia Bettarini was received into the Orthodox Church with the name Victoria Romanovna in honour of her husband’s great-grandmother, Grand Duchess (and then Empress-in-Exile) Victoria Feodorovna (1876-1936), about whom Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, remarked: “with amazing speed and yet great sincerity, she was imbued with the spirit of Orthodoxy.”

Her patronymic, Romanovna, recalls the memory of the ancestor of the House of Romanov, the ancestor of the Imperial House of Romanoff, the governor (voyevoda) Roman Iurievich Zakharin, the father of the first Tsaritsa of the House of Romanov, Anastasia Romanovna, and the great-grandfather of the first Tsar of the Romanov Dynasty, Mikhail I Feodorovich.

Grand Duke George and Miss Victoria Romanovna Bettarini then took Holy Communion, and His Eminence Metropolitan Barsanophius presented Victoria Romanovna an icon of her Heavenly intercessor, the Holy Martyr Victoria of Rome. Grand Duke George’s father, His Royal Highness Prince Franz-Wilhelm of Prussia, attended the Chrismation service.

On September 14, 2020, in accordance with Article 183 of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, Grand Duke George of Russia presented in writing a request to his mother for permission to marry Victoria Romanovna.

On September 27, 2020, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, Grand Duchess Maria gave her permission to her son to marry, issuing a Family Act, drawn up in full accordance with the current Russian historical dynastic laws and signed by her, by Grand Duke George, and by Victoria Romanovna.

From that moment, preparations began for the wedding. When the schedule of events was agreed upon with the Russian Orthodox Church and governmental institutions and other private groups, the Head of the Russian Imperial House issued a wedding announcement to the public:

GRAND DUCHESS MARIA OF RUSSIA

BY THE GRACE OF GOD

HEAD OF THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL HOUSE

make it known to all that,

Asking the Lord’s blessing, We are pleased to grant Our permission to Our beloved son and heir, His Imperial Highness The Tsesarevich and Grand Duke GEORGE of Russia, to enter into marriage with his chosen bride, the hereditary noblewoman Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, who, on 29 June / 12 July 2020, the Feast of the Holy Chief Apostles Peter and Paul, in the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, was received into Holy Orthodoxy with the name VICTORIA ROMANOVNA.

We deem it proper that VICTORIA ROMANOVNA should, from the moment of her marriage with Our son, have the right to use the dynastic surname Romanoff with the title of Princess and the predicate of Serene Highness.

Announcing this event, so joyful for Our heart, and entrusting the future of our Most August son and heir, H.I.H. The Grand Duke George of Russia, and his future wife to the almighty protection of the Heavenly King, with firm faith in His mercy, We have every confidence that Our countrymen will join their prayers with Ours to Almighty God for a happy marriage, prosperity, and the blessing of children.

Issued in Madrid on the 17^th day of January in the year of Our Lord 2021, and in the thirtieth year since Our succession to the rights and duties of Our Most August Ancestors—the Emperors and Empresses of Russia.

[The original is signed in Her Imperial Highness’s own hand:]

Maria

A.N. Zakatov

Director of the Chancellery of the

Head of the Imperial House of Russia

On January 24, 2021, at noon, the Heir of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, His Imperial Highness The Grand Duke George of Russia, and his fiancée, Miss Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, were betrothed in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the Ipatiev Monastery in the city of Kostroma.

The betrothal service was officiated by His Eminence Metropolitan Ferapont of Kostroma and Nerkhta along with other clergy. Among those attending the service were government officials of the Kostroma Region.

In the morning, the Grand Duke and his fiancée attended Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Holy Epiphany-St. Anastasia in Kostroma, receiving Holy Communion and venerating the great and holy icon of the House of Romanoff—the Feodorovskaya miracle-working Icon of the Mother of God.

Then the couple proceeded to the Holy Trinity Ipatiev Monastery, where the betrothal service took place.

After the service, Metropolitan Ferapont presented the couple with a copy of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God.

Grand Duke George and Miss Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, accompanied by the Chairman of the Kostroma Church Historical Society and the Kostroma Branch of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, Archpriest Dimitri Sazonov, visited the construction site of the new church of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon at the First District (formerly the Second City) Hospital of Kostroma and the Children’s Maritime Centre, where they met with students and teachers. The Grand Duke accepted an invitation to become a trustees of the Maritime Center.

On March 5, 2021, it was announced by the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House that the wedding of the Grand Duke and Victoria Romanovna would take place in St. Petersburg on October 1.

On April 16, 2021, H.I.H.. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia approved the joint monogram to be used by the bride and groom.

On September 12, 2021, during their visit to St. Petersburg to participate in the Church celebrations commemorating the 800^th anniversary of the birth of St. Alexander Nevsky and the translation of his holy relics from the city of Vladimir to St. Petersburg in 1724, the Grand Duke and Miss. Victoria Romanovna Bettarini attended the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra, officiated by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The Tsarevich and his fiancée received Holy Communion, and after the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, took part in the Patriarchal procession, during which the chest with the holy relics of the St. Alexander Nevsky was brought into the square in front of the Lavra. An intercessory prayer service, or moleben, followed.

In the afternoon, the Tsesarevich George of Russia and Miss Victoria Romanovna Bettarini attended a reception at the residence of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, where the Grand Duke and his fiancée had the opportunity to chat with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. His Imperial Highness congratulated the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church on this important anniversary and feast day, and took the opportunity formally to introduce his fiancée to His Holiness. The Patriarch congratulated the Grand Duke and Victoria Romanovna on their upcoming marriage ceremony, and offered them his blessing and best wishes.

His Holiness then gave his blessing that His Eminence, Metropolitan Barsanophius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga should officiate at the wedding in St. Isaac’s Cathedral on October 1.

On September 24, 2021, in the Khamovniki District Marriage Registry Office in Moscow, there took place the ceremony of the civil registration of the marriage of H.I.H. The Grand Duke George of Russia (a citizen of the Russian Federation: George Mikhailovich Romanov) and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini (a citizen of the Republic of Italy: Rebecca Virginia Bettarini). (See https://www.legion-media.ru/event/ru/1/7624539.143042?fbclid=IwAR07C54Hcvc3KMPySCPbJwDdLLjTeXHr_p4SMqW5OyeXplVV1uWfhiyEAeM.)

A few days later, the bride and groom arrived in St. Petersburg to greet their guests arriving from around Russia and abroad.

On the evening before the wedding, September 30, 2021, the feast of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia, a reception was held for all the honoured guests in the historic Vladimir Palace (now the House of Scientists).

On October 1, 2021, at St. Isaac’s Cathedral, His Eminence Metropolitan Barsanophius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga performed the sacrament of marriage over Grand Duke George of Russia and Miss Victoria Romanovna Bettarini.

Metropolitan Barsanophius was assisted at the service by the secretary of the diocesan administration, Archpriest Sergei Kuksevich; the rector of the cathedral, Archpriest Roman Kovalsky; the Priest Pavel Ermoshkin; Protodeacon Andrei Levin; and other clergy. The cathedral choir sang under the direction of Lev Dunaev. The wedding ceremony was attended by Archpriest Alexander Tkachenko (rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in St. Petersburg, founder of the Russia’s first Children’s Hospice, member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, and President of the Circle of Kindness Foundation) and Hieromonk Nikon (Levachev-Belavenets) (head of the Department for Historical and Memorial Activities of the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House).

Also attending the wedding were Their Eminences Metropolitan Ioann “Dubninsky” (the exarch for Russian parishes in Western Europe), Metropolitan Ferapont of Kostroma and Nerkhta, Archbishop Justinian of Kalmykia and Elista, and Archbishop Simon of Brussels and Belgium; Their Graces Bishop Mstislav of Tikhvin and Ladeinoye Polye, Bishop Vikenty of Zlatoustovsk and Satkinsk, and Bishop Paramon of Naro-Fominsk. Representatives sent by His Eminence Metropolitan Savva of Vologda and Kirillov, and by Archbishop Dimitrii of Vitebsk and Orsha were also in attendance.

Attending the services were the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia; Grand Duke George’s godmother, Hélène Kirby, Countess Dvinskaya (the daughter of H.I.H. Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, née H.R.H. Princess of Bagration-Mukhrani and Georgia, from her first marriage); and the bride’s parents, His Excellency Ambassador Roberto Bettarini and Mrs. Carla Bettarini. Unfortunately, due to circumstances arising from the coronavirus pandemic and following medical advice, the groom’s father, H.R.H Prince Franz Wilhelm (Mikhail Pavlovich) of Prussia, the groom’s godfather King Constantine II of Greece, and King Constantine II’s sister, Queen Sophia of Spain, could not travel to St. Petersburg for the wedding.

Attending the wedding were the following representatives of royal dynasties: His Majesty King Simeon II of Bulgaria and Her Majesty Queen Margarita, accompanied by His Majesty’s heir, H.R.H. Prince Boris of Bulgaria, Prince of Turnovo and Their Majesties’ daughter-in-law, H.R.H. Princess Miriam of Bulgaria; His Majesty King Fouad II of Egypt and the Sudan, accompanied by His Majesty’s heir, H.R.H. Prince Mohammed-Ali of Egypt, Prince of the Sa’id, and the latter’s spouse, H.R.H. Princess Noal (née H.R.H. Princess Noal Zaher Shah of Afghanistan); the Head of the Royal House of Portugal, H.R.H. Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, and his spouse H.R.H. Dona Isabel, Duchess of Braganza, accompanied by their children, H.R.H Infante Afonso, Prince of Beira, H.R.H. Infanta Maria of Portugal, and H.R.H. Infante Dinis of Portugal, Duke of Porto; the Head of the Royal House of Georgia, H.R.H. Prince David of Bagration-Mukhrani, his wife H.R.H. Princess Irina, and his brother H.R.H. Prince Irakli of Bagration-Mukhrani; the Head of the Royal House of Albania, H.R.H. Prince Leka of Albania and his spouse H.R.H. Princess Elia; representing the reigning Princely House of Liechtenstein were H.S.H. Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein accompanied by his spouse H.S.H. Princess Isabelle, H.S.H. Prince Wenzeslaus of Lichtenstein and H.S.H. Princess Theodora of Liechtenstein; H.R.H. Princess Léa of Belgium; H.R.H. Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, son of H.R.H. the Prince of Naples; H.R.H. Prince Aimone of Savoy, Duke of Aosta, the Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Russian Federation (and who was the official representative of the Order at the wedding), and his wife H.R.H. Princess Olga (née Princess Olga of Greece); the Head of the House of Bourbon, H.R.H. Prince Louis-Alphonse, and his wife H.R.H. Princess Margarita; H.R.H. Prince Charles-Philippe of Orléans, of the Royal House of Orléans; H.I.&R.H. Archduke Maximilian of Austria; H.R.H. Prince Joachim of Prussia; H.R.H. Princess Angelina of Prussia; H.R.H. Prince Christian of Prussia; H.R.H. Princess Alexandra of Prussia, H.R.H. Princess Désirée of Prussia; H.R.H. Prince Boris of Montenegro; H.H. Prince Joachim Murat, Prince of Pontecorvo (son of the Head of the Royal House of Murat of Naples) and his wife H.H. Princess Yasmine; the Head of the Princely House of Reuss, H.S.H. Prince Henry XIV; and H.S.H. Prince Charles-Henri of Lobkowitz.

At the conclusion of the service, His Eminence Metropolitan Barsanophius delivered a sermon to the newly-wedded couple and all the guests in attendance:

Your Imperial Highness! Grand Duke George Mikhailovich! Dear Victoria Romanovna!

I extend to you both my heartfelt congratulations on one of the most significant days in your lives: the day of your church wedding.

Under the arches of this magnificent cathedral you have chosen to seal your marital union with the blessing of God.

Today, through our prayers and the prayers of all my brother clergy serving with me here today, and with our blessing, you have solemnly joined your lives together. May it be a long life together, may it be a happy, virtuous life: a life unto your salvation.

Today, we prayed together for your salvation, for the gift of children for the continuation of your family, and for a perfect love that comes from above.

As the Lord blessed the wedding in Cana of Galilee, so too He today blesses your union.

In the Sacrament that is marriage, you have received from God the blessing for the birth and upbringing of children. May your life be for the glory of God, filled with God’s blessings, so that all your family may inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Today, during the Crowning service, we read examples of happy marriages from the Old Testament. Their happy, blessed marriages were founded upon lives of virtue and upon their faith in God.

The saints lived lives of piety; they kept the commandments. And the Lord exalted their families and blessed them with many children and descendants.

A particularly powerful example of a pious life was given us by the son of Russia, the Holy Passion-Bearer Emperor Nicholas II, his wife, and their children, who loved each other deeply and perfectly, and always remained faithful and devoted to each other until the end of their days.

We rejoice that you love Russia, that you take part is so many charitable projects, that, as faithful Orthodox Christians, you attend the Divine Services, and that you wish only to be useful to your country.

Today you have offered a gift to your parents and to the many distinguished visitors who have, at your invitation, traveled to the city of St. Peter to share with you in prayer your great joy.

May the blessing of God always be upon you. Many years to you! And now, you may kiss the bride! Gorko!

As they exited from St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the newlyweds were saluted by an honour guard (military unit 71390), assigned to this duty at the request of the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House made on August 11, 2021, to the commander of the Western Military District, Hero of the Russia Federation, Colonel-General A. A. Zhuravlev in orders dated September 17, 2021. (As a side note, Grand Duke George’s great-great-grandfather, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, had himself been the commander of St. Petersburg Military District in the years 1881-1905).

From St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Grand Duke and Her Serene Highness went to the ancestral mausoleum of the Russian Imperial House, the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral, where, together with the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, they paid their respects at the tombs of their ancestors: Emperor Alexander II the Tsar-Liberator; Emperor Peter I the Great; Emperor-in-exile Kirill I; the Head of the Russian Imperial House for 53 years, H.I.H. The Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich; and their spouses: Empress Maria Alexandrovna, Empress Catherine I, Empress-in-Exile Victoria Feodorovna, and Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna. They also paid their respects to the memory of all the Emperors, Empresses and Grand Dukes buried in the cathedral.

The newlyweds then attended a reception arranged for representatives of numerous public organizations by the Office for Historical and Memorial Activities of the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House in the Alexander Hall of the “Vasilievsky” Congress Hall on Vasilievsky Island.

That evening, in the historic Hall of Emperor Alexander III of the Russian Museum (currently the Ethnographic Museum), a gala dinner was held in honour of the wedding.

On the following day, October 2, 2021, in the former Constantine Palace in Strelna (currently the Palace of Congresses), the couple hosted an informal brunch à la russe.

After the conclusion of all the formal events for the wedding, Grand Duke George of Russia issued a statement warmly thanking all his countrymen:

On this joyful day for our family, we want to thank all our countrymen for their expressions of heartfelt congratulations, which we have received and continue to receive from all corners of our vast homeland.

Our ancestors served Russia with faith and truth for many centuries. From Mikhail Romanov, who in 1613, while still very young, was called by the Russian people from the Kostroma monastery to Moscow, which had been occupied and devastated by foreign invaders , to the holy Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II, who ascended his Calvary in 1918, the Romanovs have always been with their people.

Our wedding day marks a formal, final end of my family’s forced exile from our beloved homeland. We want our children to be born and raised in Russia, to study in a Russian school and speak their native language.

We want our great ancestors to become a role model for them and for other Russian children, ancestors like: Peter the Great, in whose city we just celebrated our wedding; Alexander I the Blessed, who saved not only Russia, but all of Europe from the Napoleonic hordes; and Alexander II the Tsar-Liberator, who put an end to the shame of serfdom.

We express our deepest thanks to the Russian Orthodox Church, and we appreciate enormously the governmental authorities in Russia and the city of St. Petersburg, who provided their invaluable support in the planning of our wedding celebrations.

We thank everyone who has helped us with this first Romanov wedding in more than a century in Russia, a land so sacred to us.

It should be mentioned that, in the preparation of these wedding celebrations and in full accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and its current laws, the members of the Russian Imperial House and those working in various ways on wedding arrangements received valuable moral support and assistance from the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Western Military District.

Thanks to the close collaboration of state agencies, the Russian Orthodox Church, organizations linked to the Russian Imperial House, and a range of public and civic groups, the wedding of Grand Duke George and Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Romanovna was in every way performed in a dignified and appropriate way, without unnecessary pomp, but respecting and blending our most important traditions with the needs and realities of our time.

That this wedding of a member of the House of Romanoff on Russian soil, the first in a century, took place at all, and the manner in which it was performed—the first fully-realized, public, socially significant and legal (in the sense that it was performed in full accordance with modern laws of the Russian Federation and, at the same time, with Russia’s historical dynastic laws) offer clear and convincing proof that Article 67.1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation does not contain mere hollow words when it proclaims that “The Russian Federation, united by a thousand-year history, and preserving the memory of its ancestors who passed down to us ideals and faith in God, as well as the continuity in the development of the Russian state, recognizes its historically formed state unity.”

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