Press Release On the Official Visit of the Head of the Russian Imperial House H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna to Russia, 10-12 June 2004

On 10-12 June 2004, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, was in Russia to take part in the 75-th birthday celebrations of His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia.

On 10 June, immediately after arriving in Moscow, the grand duchess went directly to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where she attended the Divine Liturgy that was served by Patriarch Aleksei II himself. Afterward, in the chapel of the Military Academy of the General Staff, the Head of the Russian Imperial House awarded the documentation and devices of the Imperial Military Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to the newly named knights of the Order. The Council of Knights for the Order of St. Nicholas then gave a luncheon in honor of Her Imperial Highness. Then, together with members of the Council of Knights, the grand duchess took a river tour about the Moscow River.

On 11 June, the grand duchess honored with her presence the opening of the First All-Russian Conference “The Social Aspects of Russian Traditionalism,” which took place in the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History, and was organized by the group “For Faith and Fatherland,” by the Russian Traditionalist Union, and by the Russian Nobility Association.

On 11 June, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Head of the Russian Imperial House offered her congratulations to His Holiness Aleksei II, patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, on his 75-th birthday, and bestowed upon him the devices of the highest award of the Russian Imperial House: the Imperial Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. Afterward, Her Imperial Highness attended a concert and reception in honor of the birthday of the first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

On 12 June, the Head of the Russian Imperial House returned to Madrid.

A.N. Zakatov
Personal Secretary of the Imperial Family
Director of the Chancellery of H.I.H.