In response to the many questions received by the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House concerning the new Amazon series “The Romanoffs,” which consists of 8 episodes, each featuring characters who consider themselves to be descendants of the Romanoff dynasty, the following clarification would seem both timely and appropriate:

All of the descendants of the Imperial House of Romanoff are well known, and their names and kinship ties are listed in numerous scholarly genealogical reference books.

Emperor Nicholas II, his wife and children, and his younger brother, Grand Duke Michael, were brutally murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries a century ago. The Russian Orthodox Church regards them as Holy Royal Martyrs, acknowledging as fact the murders of them all in 1918.  The current Russian government in the 1990s likewise acknowledged their murders and issued a death certificate, indicating the place and date of their deaths, to the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia.  In 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of Russia ruled on an appeal filed by the Grand Duchess and recognized Emperor Nicholas II, his wife, son, and daughters as victims of political repression and formally rehabilitated them in accordance with Russian law, and at the same time confirmed the circumstances of their deaths in 1918.

Over the course of the 20^th century, several dozen people have presented themselves as members of the Imperial Family who had been “miraculously saved” from execution.  All of these claims have been convincingly shown to be false.

The genealogies of all living Romanoffs today are well known, and these descendants of the Imperial House fall into four categories.

1. Members of the Imperial House of Russia as a historical institution:  the Head of the Imperial House, H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, and her son and heir, H.I.H. the Grand Duke George of Russia (the descendants of the senior dynastic line issuing from Emperor Alexander II the Tsar-Liberator, which line inherited the rights and duties of the Head of the House of Romanoff after the deaths of all the male descendants of Emperor Alexander III and Nicholas II).
2. Descendants of dynastic marriages contracted by female members of the House of Romanoff, who are today members of several European royal houses.
3. Descendants of non-dynastic (that is, morganatic) marriages, which were recognized as lawful in accordance with historical Russian laws, when the Head of the Dynasty gave his permission to the marriage and conferred a title and surname upon the issue of the marriage (as in the cases of the Princes Romanovsky-Ilyinsky and of Prince Yurievsky).
4. Descendants of non-dynastic (that is, morganatic) marriages, which were not recognized as lawful in accordance with historical Russian laws, as no permission from the Head of the Dynasty for the marriage was ever requested by the member of the dynasty contracting the marriage, and no title or surname was ever conferred as a result.  Descendants of these marriages bear the surname Romanoff in accordance with the laws of foreign governments.

Dr. Alexander N. Zakatov
Chancellor
Chancery of the Russian Imperial House
Moscow