The Head of the Russian Imperial House Mourns the Death of the Head of the House of Bagration
On 16 January 2008 in Tbilisi, the Head of the Georgian Royal Family, His Royal Highness Prince Georgii Iraklievich Bagration-Mukhranskii, died after a protracted illness at the age of 64.
The deceased Head of the House of Bagration was born on 22 February 1944. He was the son of H.R.H. Prince Iraklii Georgievich, the brother of H.I.H. Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, who was head of the Georgian Royal House from 1957 to 1977. Having inherited his royal rights and duties after the death of his father, Prince Georgii Iraklievich all his life strove to be useful to his native country. His deepest conviction was the need for a strong friendship between the fraternal Orthodox Russian and Georgian peoples.
On 16 January, having received the sad news, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, contacted by telephone her relatives, the children of the newly reposed Prince Georgii Iraklievich, and expressed her deepest condolences and those of her most august mother, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, and of her son, H.I.H. the Heir, Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich.
On account of the poor health of the Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna was not able to be present on 20 January in Tbilisi for the funeral and burial of her departed first cousin in the family vault of the kings of Georgia, Sveti-Tskhoveli. The Head of the House of Romanov sent the letter below to His Holiness and Bealtitude Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, who accepted responsibility for the burial of the Head of the Georgian Royal House of Bagration, who was so dear to the hearts of each son and daughter of Georgia.
From the Head of the Russian Imperial House
To His Holiness and Beatitude
Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia
Your Holiness and Beatitude!
It is with deep sorrow that I received the new of the untimely death of my first cousin, the Head of the Georgian Royal Family, H.R.H. Prince Georgii Iraklievich Bagration-Mukhranskii.
I express to you my own thanks, and that of my most august mother, Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, and of my son and heir, Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich, for your prayers for the newly reposed, for your compassion toward us, and for your pastoral help to the family of Prince Georgii Iraklievich. With enormous regret, I will be unable to be present at the funeral and burial because of my mother’s poor health. But in spirit and in prayer will I and my family join with you, with our relatives, and with all the Georgian people who are grieving the loss of this royal preserver of the glorious traditions of the kings of Georgia.
May God grant rest in His Heavenly Kingdom to His Servant, Prince Georgii Iraklievich and may He grant His omnipotent help, spiritual strength, and wisdom to the children of the newly reposed—to Prince Irakly Georgievich, to Prince David Georgievich, to Prince Guram Georgievich and to Princess Mariia Georgievna. I ask you to pass on to them my condolences on the very day of the funeral and burial of their beloved father and my dear first cousin.
Asking your archpastoral blessing, Your Holiness and Beatitude, respectfully and affectionately,
On the original appears the signature in her own hand of Her Imperial Highness:
Maria
Issued in Madrid, 18 January 2007