By Aidan Morales
Inside the grand St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St.Petersburg, the great great great great nephew of the late Nicholas II of Russia married his Italian bride. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini held the first Russian royal wedding in over a century, exciting curiosity and skepticism throughout the Russian Federation. Mikhailovich, born and raised in Spain strongly believes he is the hereditary crown prince of the Romanov dynasty and has affirmed that he has no intention to impose his reign over Russia. With the marriage blessed by the Russian Orthodox Church, it is seen by many as a return to imperial Russian tradition. In an interview with NPR, popular nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin said, “It’s a kind of imperial wedding. A remembrance of eternal Russia — of sacred czars and patriarchs and (the) church.” Dugin’s involvement and attendance of the wedding however has recieved backlash, with many citing Dugin’s work as inflammatory or reactionary. Joining Dugin was controversial ultra-nationalist and oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, with both attending the wedding. In 2017, following international sanctions by many world powers, Malofeev was put on Ukraine’s international wanted list for allegedly creating illegal paramilitary groups and interfering with the War in Donbass. He is closely associated with pro-russian and right wing paramilitary groups within Ukraine, even being friends with the former Prime Minister of Donetsk. Dugin later added in an interview with NPR that “In an age of ‘cancel culture,’ when everybody in the West tries to forget your own identity — your own history — Russia offers an alternative process. We are trying to return to our roots.” Both Malofeev and Dugin support Putin, who has refused to comment on the wedding. Peskov, the Press Secretary of the Putin administration stated that it was just like any other wedding, claiming “In Moscow and St. Petersburg and other cities across Russia, there are weddings every day. We’re happy for all our newlyweds.” He made no further comments.
In contrast to Mikhailovich, another Romanov and his Monarchist Party claim direct right to ruling Russia, but plan to do so through legal means. Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, the great grandson of a cousin of the late Nicholas II, claims that hereditary rules put in place by the Romanov dynasty would make him the hereditary crown prince of the Romanov dynasty. Him and Anton Bakov run the Russian Monarchist Party and claim rule over several islands via the “Romanov Empire”, making them leaders of a micronation. The process of them finding land to start their empire has been a slow one, dating back to the early 2000s. They’ve since settled on a plan to build artificial islands in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean, near Venice.
Both claimants to the Romanov throne have one thing in common; they are both lacking in public support. They both married non-nobles and are claiming a vacant throne that hasn’t been touched in over a century following the Russian revolution. “It’s very unlikely that George Romanov would play some political role in the future of Russia, but who knows?” said Dugin in his interview with NPR. Dugin also claims that the Grand Duke is a good friend.
Both Mikhailovich and Karl Emich will likely never sit upon the throne of Russia, imposing their rule on the Russian people. “But we cannot say never,” Dugin added. “Never is not Russian.”