Grand Duke George of Russia
His Imperial Highness Tsarevich and Grand Duke Georgij Mikhailovitch of Russia, Georgij Mikhailovitch Romanov (born June 22, 1982) is the Heir apparent to the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia, and claims the titles Tsarevitch and Grand Duke of Russia.
He was born as Grand Duke in 1982, the son of HRH Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia (at the time styled HIH Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovitch of Russia) and HIH Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia.
On April 21, 1992, upon the death of his maternal grandfather Grand Duke Vladimir of Russia, his mother succeeded as the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia, making him heir-apparent and Tsarevitch. However, this claim to the throne is not uncontested; "Prince" Nicholas Romanov was elected President of the Romanov Family Association and is considered by the Association as the true Head. Nicholas is a male-line descendant of Nicholas I of Russia and so his adherents claim that he has a better right to the throne as he is of unbroken male line Romanov descent. However, Nicholas is actually the product of a morganatic marriage and therefore ineligible to succeed to the throne under the Russian succession law.
Tsarevitch Georgij is technically the only person in the line of succession; in Semi-Salic law, if they are available, only the male-line descendants of the last female ruler are included in the line of succession. However, if George Duke Georgij were to die before his mother, then the line of succession would then include all the male line descendants of George's great-aunt, HSH Princess Maria of Leiningen, as it did before Tsarevitch Georgij's birth.
In 1996, when he, his mother, and his grandmother Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna returned to Russia after living in Madrid, one of President of Russia Boris Yeltsin's former bodyguards was assigned as tutor to the 15-year-old Tsarevitch.
When asked by reporters if he expected to take back the throne of Russia some day, he replied, "I hope so."
| Preceded by: Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia | Titular Emperor of Russia Heir-Apparent | Succeeded by: — |
Categories: 1982 births | Russian royalty | Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov