From the Head of the Imperial House: Christ is Risen!

I heartily greet all the Russian people, both those living in the Fatherland and those abroad, on the Bright Feast of the Resurrection of Christ. During this Paschal season, We shall pray to the Most High that the light of the Resurrection of Christ should penetrate even deeper into our hearts, increasing, our efforts aimed at the deliverance of our Motherland from the yoke of the atheists and strengthening our firm hope in the triumph of the Truth of God in the land of Russia.

This year, not long before the Pascha of the Lord, two events took place in our life, one sad and one joyful. We marked on 14 March the one-hundred year anniversary of the evil which laid its fateful seal on all the events that followed it in our not-so-distant past: the assassination of My Great-Grandfather, the Sovereign Emperor Alexander II, the Tsar-Liberator. The memory of His great reforms in all spheres of the State and social life of Our country will forever be precious to the Russian people. It will be for them a source of national pride, and in moments of despair and doubt it will awaken in them their courage in the knowledge of what they can achieve under the leadership of a sovereign power enlightened by Divine Providence.

And on the eve of this sad anniversary, on 13 March, My dearly beloved Daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, by God’s grace gave birth to a son who has been named Georgii.

When My Daughter reached Her dynastic majority on 23 December 1969, I concluded my Message to the Peoples of Russia with the following words: “May She, to the end of Her days, never for a moment forget Her solemn duty to maintain the Orthodox faith, to serve Russia and her peoples and to be responsible for the present and future of our Dynasty.” On the same day, after the Divine Liturgy, My Daughter swore an oath to fulfill this duty, the memory of which She recalled in Her Message to the Russian people given on 22 September after Her marriage to Her Consort, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. Now, when it has pleased the Lord God to bless this marriage with the birth of a Son, the spiritual treasure, received by My Daughter can, with the help of God, be likewise handed over to future generations of the Russian Imperial House. Announcing this joyful event, I call upon Our countrymen to raise their prayers to the Most High, that He may grant to Our dearly beloved Daughter and Son-in-Law good health, happiness, and many years for the glory and well-being of the liberated and reborn Russian state

(The original is signed in His Imperial Highness’s own hand:)

Wladimir

Madrid

Holy Pascha, 1981

(Identical to the original:)

Ivan Bilibin

Head of the Chancellery