Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna of Russia
Encyclopedia
Princess Tatiana Constantinovna of Russia (Княжна Татьяна Константиовна) (23 January 1890–28 August 1979) was the third child and oldest daughter of HIH the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia
by his wife Elisaveta Mavrikievna née HH
Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg.
Princess Tatiana (not to be confused with her cousin, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolayevna
, second daughter of Nicholas II
, 1897–1918) had eight brothers and sisters.
modified the Romanov house laws by restricting the title
of grand duke and grand duchess
to children and grandchildren in the male line
of a Russian emperor
. More distant agnatic
descendants would henceforth bear the title of prince or princess
of the Blood Imperial
. Thus, Tatiana, being a great-granddaughter of Nicholas I
of the so-called "Konstantinovich" branch of the Romanov
s was only a princess
from birth, entitled to be addressed as Highness
rather than Imperial Highness
.
(later Alexander I of Yugoslavia), but nothing came of this; Alexander later married Princess Maria of Romania.
In the spring of 1911, Tatiana Konstantinovna became engaged to Prince Konstantin Alexandrovich Bagration-Mukhransky (2 March 1889, Tbilisi
, - 19 May 1915, Jarosław), a Georgian
by birth who was serving in a Russian Imperial Guard
s regiment, and died in World War I
. She was to be the first daughter of the Romanovs to openly marry a Russian subject or non-dynastic prince since the dynasty
ascended the throne in 1613. Her anxious father approached the Emperor
and Empress
for approval. On 30 November 1910 he noted in one of his posthumously published journals ("From the Diaries of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich", Moscow, February 1994), that he received assurances that "they would never look upon her marriage to a Bagration as morganatic
, because this House
, like the House of Orléans
, is descended from a once ruling dynasty."
Previously, the morganatic wives of Romanov grand dukes had been banished from Russia along with their disgraced husbands (for example, Countess Sophia de Torby and Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia
, or Princess Olga Paley and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia
). Female Romanovs had only dared marry morganatically in secret, and the couples’ relationships had been kept as open secrets (examples include, Empress Elizabeth of Russia and Alexey Razumovsky
and the second marriage of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna of Russia and Count Grigory Stroganov
).
Nonetheless, legally Tatiana Konstantinovna's marriage was morganatic. It was, in fact, the first marriage in the dynasty conducted in compliance with the Emperor’s formal decision not to accept as dynastic the marriages of even the most junior Romanovs—those that bore only the title of prince/princess—with non-royal partners. According to "Always A Grand Duke", the 1933 memoir of Nicholas II’s brother-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (published in New York, by Farrar and Rinehart, Inc.), concern about the eventual marriages of cadet
Romanovs so troubled the senior grand dukes that Alexander approached the Emperor about relaxing the requirement that dynasts
marry partners "possessing corresponding rank" enshrined in article 188 of the Fundamental Laws (the so-called "Pauline Laws
"), but was rebuffed. The grand dukes officially petitioned the Emperor through a commission chaired by Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich of Russia, requesting that a new category of dynastic marriages be recognized, to consist of Imperial princes and princesses entitled, with specific Imperial consent, to marry persons of non-royal blood and to transmit to the issue thereof eligibility to inherit the throne. The Emperor’s response was issued formally on 14 June 1911 in the form of a memorandum
from the Imperial court minister, Baron Vladimir Freedericksz (Frederiks) (State Archives of the Russian Federation, Series 601, {"The Emperor Nicholas II"}, Inventory {register} 1, File 2143, pages 58–59):
As promised in this communiqué, the Emperor proceeded to legalize authorized marriages of imperial Romanovs below grand ducal rank to persons who lacked "corresponding rank". Such marriages had been altogether banned, rather than deemed morganatic, by Alexander III’s
ukase #5868 on 23 March 1889. But ukase #35731/1489, issued on 11 August 1911, amended the 1889 ban with the words, "Henceforth no grand duke or grand duchess may contract a marriage with a person not possessing corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling house."
Both the 1889 and 1911 decrees were addenda to article 188 of the Pauline laws
(re-codified as article 63 of the Imperial Family Statute). Left intact, however, was that original statute: "A person of the Imperial family who has entered into a marriage alliance with a person not possessing corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, cannot pass on to that person, or to any posterity that may issue from such a marriage, the rights which belong to the Members of the Imperial family."
Also remaining unrepealed was article 36 ("Children born of a marriage between a member of the Imperial Family and a person not of corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, shall have no right of succession to the Throne"). Aside from article 188, article 36 applied to prevent Tatiana Konstantinovna's issue from claiming succession rights.
Her contemplated marriage having been rendered legal, Tatiana Konstantinovna renounced her dynastic rights, as required. Nicholas II acknowledged this in a ukase addressed to the Imperial Senate on 9 February 1914 (Collection of Statutes and Decrees of the Government, 1914, #441): "Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna has presented to Us over Her own sign manual, a renunciation of the right to succession to the Imperial Throne of All the Russias
belonging to Her as a member of the Imperial House," receiving in return Nicholas II’s authorization to marry Bagration-Mukhransky.
Finally, Tatiana Konstantinovna and her Georgian prince were married, at her father's estate at Pavlovsk, on 3 September 1911. The Emperor was present at the wedding and, according to a family tradition subsequently repeated by the bride’s son, Nicholas II is reported to have suggested that the bridegroom sign the wedding register as "Prince Gruzinsky
" (i.e. "Prince of Georgia"), perhaps a courteous acknowledgement of the fact that, although for the preceding century the Bagrations
might only rank as nobles who bore the fairly common title of Knyaz
(prince) in Russia, historically the Mukhranskys were a branch of a deposed royal dynasty that had ruled on both sides of the Caucasus
for hundreds of years longer than the Romanovs. By changing the law, granting unprecedented permission for the marriage, and personally attending it, Nicholas II was not, in fact, treating this marriage as an act of rebellion, nor as a disgrace to the Romanovs. Yet his acceptance was conditioned upon the marriage being deemed legally morganatic, reflecting the non-dynastic
status that the Bagration-Mukhranskys held in Russia in 1911.
On the same day, the Emperor issued yet another ukase, (#35766): "By Our and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich’s and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna’s consent, the wedding took place on 24th day of this August [old style] of the Daughter of Their Imperial Highnesses, Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna, with Prince Konstantin Bagration-Mukhransky. In consequence of this order: The Princess Tatiana Konstantiovna to retain the title of Highness and henceforth to bear the name of Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna Princess Bagration-Mukhransky..."
(2 March 1889 – 19 May 1915) had two children: Prince Teymuraz Konstantinovich Bagration-Mukhransky
(12 August 1912 Pavlovsk - 10 April 1992 New York City
); and Princess Natalia Konstantinovna Bagration-Mukhransky (6 April 1914 Crimea
- 26 August 1984 London
), who married Sir Charles Hepburn-Johnston GCMG and, as Lady Johnston, accompanied him on his many diplomatic postings overseas when not living in London
.
After the outbreak of World War I
, Konstantin enlisted in Russia’s armed forces, and was killed in action in 1915. Her brother Oleg was wounded in action, and subsequently died on 29 September 1914 at Vitebsk Hospital in Vilno. Three other brothers, Ioann, Konstantin and Igor, were murdered by Bolsheviks in 1918.
Tatiana Konstantinovna is reported to have become especially close to her uncle, Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich during her widowhood. After the February Revolution
, she stayed with him in his palace, where she fell in love with his aide-de-camp
, Alexander Korochenzov (17 August 1877 – 6 February 1922). Urged by her uncle, she left Russia with Korochenzov and her young children. They were fortunate enough to escape, as Dmitri Konstantinovich was executed in St. Petersburg in January 1919.
Tatiana Konstantinovna and Korochenzov at first fled to Romania
and later to Switzerland
. In November 1921, they married in Geneva
. Not quite three years later, however, Tatiana became a widow for the second time when Alexander died in Lausanne
. Tatiana raised her children alone, and, after both were grown and married, she took the veil. She died as Mother Tamara (named so after the medieval Georgian queen Tamar
, a remote ancestor of Tatiana’s first husband), Abbess
of the Mount of Olives
Convent on 28 August 1979 in Jerusalem.
has the strongest claim to Russia’s throne under the dynastic laws, the marriage of Tatiana Konstantinovna is often cited in support of rival claimants. Some cite it as evidence that marriage to a member of the Bagration family cannot be considered any more "equal" than marriage to any other prince
of Russia’s nobility
, since the marriage was morganatic and she was only able to obtain the Emperor’s approval by first renouncing her succession rights. According to this argument, Maria Vladimirovna Romanov and her son, George Mikhailovich, cannot be rightful claimants to the throne because Maria Vladimirovna’s mother is Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhransky
, belonging to the same family previously banned from marriage with the Romanovs on equal terms. An oft-heard rebuttal is that the Bagrations fall into the same "grey area" as the 1856 marriage of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna to Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg, who was not a member of a "royal or ruling family", despite his historical dynastic connections, yet Emperor Nicholas I
exercised Imperial authority to rule in favor of Duke Maximilien’s dynasticity for marital purposes.
Other monarchists argue that the circumstances of Tatiana Konstantinovna’s marriage confirm Maria Vladimirovna’s claim on two counts. First, they maintain that Nicholas II’s acceptance of Tatiana Konstantinovna’s renunciation prior to marriage explicitly confirms that she had succession rights despite being born of a Lutheran mother who never converted to the Russian Orthodox Church
, which is a prerequisite for successors to Russia’s throne. A rebuttal is that article 185 of the Pauline laws is explicit: "The marriage of a male member of the Imperial House who might succeed to the Throne to a person of another faith may not take place until she embraces Orthodoxy."
The second relevant claim in support of Maria Vladimirovna is that Tatiana Konstantinovna’s mandated renunciation proves that Romanov princes were required to marry "equally" in order to transmit succession rights to their descendants, an interpretation denied by Nicholas Romanovich Romanoff, president of the Romanoff Family Association
, in an interview with the royalty magazine, Point de Vue, published 14 February 1991, who stated, "Let’s take the example of the Princess Tatiana who, in 1911, married a prince of a very great family of Georgia, but which was not reigning. Before giving his authorization, Czar Nicholas requested that the princess renounce her rights of succession in advance. That argument is very important since, although her mother was Lutheran, the princess only renounced upon her marriage, whereas there was a law stating that children born of a non-Orthodox marriage had no right to succeed as czar. Nonetheless, Nicholas II requested her renunciation."
The counter-claim has been that the wording of the August 1911 ukase restricting the ban on morganatic marriages to grand dukes was silent on imperial princes, therefore the Frederiks memorandum was not given full legal effect.
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia
Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia was a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, and a poet and playwright of some renown...
by his wife Elisaveta Mavrikievna née HH
Highness
Highness, often used with a possessive adjective , is an attribute referring to the rank of the dynasty in an address...
Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg.
Princess Tatiana (not to be confused with her cousin, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolayevna
Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia , , was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and of Tsarina Alexandra...
, second daughter of Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
, 1897–1918) had eight brothers and sisters.
Title
On 14 July 1886 Emperor Alexander III of RussiaAlexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
modified the Romanov house laws by restricting the title
Title
A title is a prefix or suffix added to someone's name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may even be inserted between a first and last name...
of grand duke and grand duchess
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...
to children and grandchildren in the male line
Patrilineality
Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
of a Russian emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
. More distant agnatic
Patrilineality
Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
descendants would henceforth bear the title of prince or princess
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
of the Blood Imperial
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
. Thus, Tatiana, being a great-granddaughter of Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
of the so-called "Konstantinovich" branch of the Romanov
Romanov
The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917...
s was only a princess
Princess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
from birth, entitled to be addressed as Highness
Highness
Highness, often used with a possessive adjective , is an attribute referring to the rank of the dynasty in an address...
rather than Imperial Highness
Imperial Highness
His/Her Imperial Highness is a style used by members of an imperial family to denote imperial - as opposed to royal - status to show that the holder in question is descended from an Emperor rather than a King .Today the style has mainly fallen from use with the exception of the Imperial Family of...
.
Terms of marriage
In early 1911, Tatiana was rumored to be marrying Prince Alexander of SerbiaAlexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...
(later Alexander I of Yugoslavia), but nothing came of this; Alexander later married Princess Maria of Romania.
In the spring of 1911, Tatiana Konstantinovna became engaged to Prince Konstantin Alexandrovich Bagration-Mukhransky (2 March 1889, Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, - 19 May 1915, Jarosław), a Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
by birth who was serving in a Russian Imperial Guard
Russian Imperial Guard
The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard were military units serving as personal guards of the Emperor of Russia. Peter the Great founded the first such units following the Prussian practice in the 1690s, to replace the politically-motivated Streltsy.- Organization :The final...
s regiment, and died in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. She was to be the first daughter of the Romanovs to openly marry a Russian subject or non-dynastic prince since the dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
ascended the throne in 1613. Her anxious father approached the Emperor
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
and Empress
Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse
Alix of Hesse and by Rhine later Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova , was Empress consort of Russia as spouse of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire...
for approval. On 30 November 1910 he noted in one of his posthumously published journals ("From the Diaries of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich", Moscow, February 1994), that he received assurances that "they would never look upon her marriage to a Bagration as morganatic
Morganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
, because this House
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
, like the House of Orléans
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
, is descended from a once ruling dynasty."
Previously, the morganatic wives of Romanov grand dukes had been banished from Russia along with their disgraced husbands (for example, Countess Sophia de Torby and Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Mihailovich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a first cousin of Alexander III of Russia. He followed a military career, but was banished from living in Russia when in 1891 he contracted a morganatic marriage with Countess Sophie of Merenberg...
, or Princess Olga Paley and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia was the eighth child of Tsar Alexander II of Russia by his first wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna. His birth was commemorated by the naming of the city of Pavlodar in Kazakhstan...
). Female Romanovs had only dared marry morganatically in secret, and the couples’ relationships had been kept as open secrets (examples include, Empress Elizabeth of Russia and Alexey Razumovsky
Alexey Razumovsky
Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky , was a Ukrainian Cossack who rose to become lover and, the morganatic spouse of the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna.- Early life :...
and the second marriage of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna of Russia and Count Grigory Stroganov
Stroganovs
The Stroganovs or Strogonovs , also spelled in French manner as Stroganoffs, were a family of highly successful Russian merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen of the 16th – 20th centuries who eventually earned nobility.-Origins:...
).
Nonetheless, legally Tatiana Konstantinovna's marriage was morganatic. It was, in fact, the first marriage in the dynasty conducted in compliance with the Emperor’s formal decision not to accept as dynastic the marriages of even the most junior Romanovs—those that bore only the title of prince/princess—with non-royal partners. According to "Always A Grand Duke", the 1933 memoir of Nicholas II’s brother-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (published in New York, by Farrar and Rinehart, Inc.), concern about the eventual marriages of cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
Romanovs so troubled the senior grand dukes that Alexander approached the Emperor about relaxing the requirement that dynasts
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
marry partners "possessing corresponding rank" enshrined in article 188 of the Fundamental Laws (the so-called "Pauline Laws
Pauline Laws
The Pauline Laws are the house laws of the House of Romanov of the Russian Empire. The name comes from the fact that they were initially established by Emperor Paul I of Russia in 1797....
"), but was rebuffed. The grand dukes officially petitioned the Emperor through a commission chaired by Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich of Russia, requesting that a new category of dynastic marriages be recognized, to consist of Imperial princes and princesses entitled, with specific Imperial consent, to marry persons of non-royal blood and to transmit to the issue thereof eligibility to inherit the throne. The Emperor’s response was issued formally on 14 June 1911 in the form of a memorandum
Memorandum
A memorandum is from the Latin verbal phrase memorandum est, the gerundive form of the verb memoro, "to mention, call to mind, recount, relate", which means "It must be remembered ..."...
from the Imperial court minister, Baron Vladimir Freedericksz (Frederiks) (State Archives of the Russian Federation, Series 601, {"The Emperor Nicholas II"}, Inventory {register} 1, File 2143, pages 58–59):
The Lord Emperor has seen fit to permit marriages to persons not possessing corresponding rank of not all Members of the Imperial Family, but only of Princes and Princesses of the Blood Imperial...Princes as well as Princesses of the Blood Imperial, upon contracting a marriage with a person not possessing corresponding rank, shall personally retain the title and privileges which are theirs by birth, with the exception of their right to succession from which they shall have abdicated before entering the marriage. In relation to the categorization of the marriages of Princes and Princesses of the Blood Imperial, the Lord Emperor has seen fit to recognize only two categories in these marriages: (a) equal marriages, i.e. those contracted with persons belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, and (b) unequal marriages, i.e. those contracted with persons not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, and will not recognize any other categories.
As promised in this communiqué, the Emperor proceeded to legalize authorized marriages of imperial Romanovs below grand ducal rank to persons who lacked "corresponding rank". Such marriages had been altogether banned, rather than deemed morganatic, by Alexander III’s
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
ukase #5868 on 23 March 1889. But ukase #35731/1489, issued on 11 August 1911, amended the 1889 ban with the words, "Henceforth no grand duke or grand duchess may contract a marriage with a person not possessing corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling house."
Both the 1889 and 1911 decrees were addenda to article 188 of the Pauline laws
Pauline Laws
The Pauline Laws are the house laws of the House of Romanov of the Russian Empire. The name comes from the fact that they were initially established by Emperor Paul I of Russia in 1797....
(re-codified as article 63 of the Imperial Family Statute). Left intact, however, was that original statute: "A person of the Imperial family who has entered into a marriage alliance with a person not possessing corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, cannot pass on to that person, or to any posterity that may issue from such a marriage, the rights which belong to the Members of the Imperial family."
Also remaining unrepealed was article 36 ("Children born of a marriage between a member of the Imperial Family and a person not of corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, shall have no right of succession to the Throne"). Aside from article 188, article 36 applied to prevent Tatiana Konstantinovna's issue from claiming succession rights.
Her contemplated marriage having been rendered legal, Tatiana Konstantinovna renounced her dynastic rights, as required. Nicholas II acknowledged this in a ukase addressed to the Imperial Senate on 9 February 1914 (Collection of Statutes and Decrees of the Government, 1914, #441): "Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna has presented to Us over Her own sign manual, a renunciation of the right to succession to the Imperial Throne of All the Russias
All the Russias
All the Russias is the standard English translation of a term which was used to refer either to the Russian Empire, or to the Russian-inhabitated lands of the Russian Empire...
belonging to Her as a member of the Imperial House," receiving in return Nicholas II’s authorization to marry Bagration-Mukhransky.
Finally, Tatiana Konstantinovna and her Georgian prince were married, at her father's estate at Pavlovsk, on 3 September 1911. The Emperor was present at the wedding and, according to a family tradition subsequently repeated by the bride’s son, Nicholas II is reported to have suggested that the bridegroom sign the wedding register as "Prince Gruzinsky
Gruzinsky
Gruzinsky was a title and later the surname of two different princely lines of the Bagrationi dynasty of Georgia, both of which received it as the subjects of the Russian Empire. The name "Gruzinsky" derives from Russian, originally and literally meaning "of Georgia"...
" (i.e. "Prince of Georgia"), perhaps a courteous acknowledgement of the fact that, although for the preceding century the Bagrations
Bagrationi Dynasty
The Bagrationi dynasty was the ruling family of Georgia. Their ascendency lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.The origin of the Bagrationi...
might only rank as nobles who bore the fairly common title of Knyaz
Knyaz
Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....
(prince) in Russia, historically the Mukhranskys were a branch of a deposed royal dynasty that had ruled on both sides of the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
for hundreds of years longer than the Romanovs. By changing the law, granting unprecedented permission for the marriage, and personally attending it, Nicholas II was not, in fact, treating this marriage as an act of rebellion, nor as a disgrace to the Romanovs. Yet his acceptance was conditioned upon the marriage being deemed legally morganatic, reflecting the non-dynastic
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
status that the Bagration-Mukhranskys held in Russia in 1911.
On the same day, the Emperor issued yet another ukase, (#35766): "By Our and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich’s and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna’s consent, the wedding took place on 24th day of this August [old style] of the Daughter of Their Imperial Highnesses, Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna, with Prince Konstantin Bagration-Mukhransky. In consequence of this order: The Princess Tatiana Konstantiovna to retain the title of Highness and henceforth to bear the name of Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna Princess Bagration-Mukhransky..."
Adult life
Tatiana and Prince Konstantin Bagration-MukhranskyBagrationi Dynasty
The Bagrationi dynasty was the ruling family of Georgia. Their ascendency lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.The origin of the Bagrationi...
(2 March 1889 – 19 May 1915) had two children: Prince Teymuraz Konstantinovich Bagration-Mukhransky
Teymuraz Bagration
Prince Teymuraz K. Bagration was a Georgian-Russian nobleman and an émigré in the United States where he served as President of the Tolstoy Foundation, a New York-based charitable organization....
(12 August 1912 Pavlovsk - 10 April 1992 New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
); and Princess Natalia Konstantinovna Bagration-Mukhransky (6 April 1914 Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
- 26 August 1984 London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
), who married Sir Charles Hepburn-Johnston GCMG and, as Lady Johnston, accompanied him on his many diplomatic postings overseas when not living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
After the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Konstantin enlisted in Russia’s armed forces, and was killed in action in 1915. Her brother Oleg was wounded in action, and subsequently died on 29 September 1914 at Vitebsk Hospital in Vilno. Three other brothers, Ioann, Konstantin and Igor, were murdered by Bolsheviks in 1918.
Tatiana Konstantinovna is reported to have become especially close to her uncle, Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich during her widowhood. After the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
, she stayed with him in his palace, where she fell in love with his aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
, Alexander Korochenzov (17 August 1877 – 6 February 1922). Urged by her uncle, she left Russia with Korochenzov and her young children. They were fortunate enough to escape, as Dmitri Konstantinovich was executed in St. Petersburg in January 1919.
Tatiana Konstantinovna and Korochenzov at first fled to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and later to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. In November 1921, they married in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. Not quite three years later, however, Tatiana became a widow for the second time when Alexander died in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
. Tatiana raised her children alone, and, after both were grown and married, she took the veil. She died as Mother Tamara (named so after the medieval Georgian queen Tamar
Tamar of Georgia
Tamar , of the Bagrationi dynasty, was Queen Regnant of Georgia from 1184 to 1213. Tamar presided over the "Golden age" of the medieval Georgian monarchy...
, a remote ancestor of Tatiana’s first husband), Abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of the Mount of Olives
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...
Convent on 28 August 1979 in Jerusalem.
Marriage's Implications for Succession Claims
In post-monarchy debates over which pretenderPretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
has the strongest claim to Russia’s throne under the dynastic laws, the marriage of Tatiana Konstantinovna is often cited in support of rival claimants. Some cite it as evidence that marriage to a member of the Bagration family cannot be considered any more "equal" than marriage to any other prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
of Russia’s nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
, since the marriage was morganatic and she was only able to obtain the Emperor’s approval by first renouncing her succession rights. According to this argument, Maria Vladimirovna Romanov and her son, George Mikhailovich, cannot be rightful claimants to the throne because Maria Vladimirovna’s mother is Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhransky
Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhranskaya
Leonida Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, Leonida Georgiyevna Romanova , wife of Vladimir Cyrillovich, Grand Duke of Russia, Pretender to the Russian throne...
, belonging to the same family previously banned from marriage with the Romanovs on equal terms. An oft-heard rebuttal is that the Bagrations fall into the same "grey area" as the 1856 marriage of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna to Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg, who was not a member of a "royal or ruling family", despite his historical dynastic connections, yet Emperor Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
exercised Imperial authority to rule in favor of Duke Maximilien’s dynasticity for marital purposes.
Other monarchists argue that the circumstances of Tatiana Konstantinovna’s marriage confirm Maria Vladimirovna’s claim on two counts. First, they maintain that Nicholas II’s acceptance of Tatiana Konstantinovna’s renunciation prior to marriage explicitly confirms that she had succession rights despite being born of a Lutheran mother who never converted to the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
, which is a prerequisite for successors to Russia’s throne. A rebuttal is that article 185 of the Pauline laws is explicit: "The marriage of a male member of the Imperial House who might succeed to the Throne to a person of another faith may not take place until she embraces Orthodoxy."
The second relevant claim in support of Maria Vladimirovna is that Tatiana Konstantinovna’s mandated renunciation proves that Romanov princes were required to marry "equally" in order to transmit succession rights to their descendants, an interpretation denied by Nicholas Romanovich Romanoff, president of the Romanoff Family Association
Romanov Family Association
The Romanov Family Association, Obyedineniye Chlenov Roda Romanovykh , is an organization for male-line descendants of Emperor Paul I of Russia...
, in an interview with the royalty magazine, Point de Vue, published 14 February 1991, who stated, "Let’s take the example of the Princess Tatiana who, in 1911, married a prince of a very great family of Georgia, but which was not reigning. Before giving his authorization, Czar Nicholas requested that the princess renounce her rights of succession in advance. That argument is very important since, although her mother was Lutheran, the princess only renounced upon her marriage, whereas there was a law stating that children born of a non-Orthodox marriage had no right to succeed as czar. Nonetheless, Nicholas II requested her renunciation."
The counter-claim has been that the wording of the August 1911 ukase restricting the ban on morganatic marriages to grand dukes was silent on imperial princes, therefore the Frederiks memorandum was not given full legal effect.