Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia

The original House of Romanov had died out with Empress Elizabeth of Russia in 1762 and was continued by Peter III of Russia, who was born a Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, a branch of the House of Oldenburg, from which the current reigning monarchs of Denmark, Norway and Great Britain, as well as the former of Greece, also descend in the male line.

The oldest ancestor of this extensive family is Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg, first mentioned in 1091.

Maria's parents' marriage of equal rank is, of course, questioned by her cousins, who claim that her mother's family, the Bagrationi dynasty, became Russian subjects after they lost their thrones in the Georgian kingdoms of Kartli-Kakheti and Imereti around 1800 and was therefore not a ruling dynasty.

By the Romanov House law, the Pauline Laws, she is however the rightful heir to the throne if the Bagrationi are seen as royal equals, although, to be precise, the last one, because her son's marriage does not meet these requirements.

The Pauline Laws emphasize male succession before female succession.

Although the charter of the Romanov Family Association (RFA), which represents other descendants of the Romanov family, asserts the premise that Russia's form of government should be determined democratically and that therefore the Association and its members undertake to adopt no position on any claims to the Imperial throne, its two most recent presidents have personally opposed Maria's claims: Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia, who maintained his own claims to dynastic status and to headship of the Romanov family, stated, "Strictly applying the Pauline Laws as amended in 1911 to all marriages of Equal Rank, the situation is very clear. At the present time, not one of the Emperors or Grand Dukes of Russia has left living descendants with unchallengeable rights to the Throne of Russia," and his younger brother, Prince Dimitri Romanov, said of Maria's assumption of titles, including "de jure Empress Of all the Russias", "It seems that there are no limits to this charade".

The supporters of Maria Vladimirovna point to the fact that neither Nicholas nor his brother Dimitri had any dynastic claims due to the morganatic marriage of their parents.

As an example, if Tsarevich Alexei Romanov had not been murdered in 1918, and died without issue (i.e., without children), his sisters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia wouldn't become Empresses before male Romanov relatives.

Alexander III had four sons: Nicholas II of Russia whose only male son died before he could produce heirs, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich of Russia, who died shortly before he was 11 months old, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia, who died with no issue, and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia whose only son, George Mikhailovich, Count Brasov died at age 20, childless.

From there, the line of succession looks to Alexander III's father, Alexander II.

His sons, Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia, and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia both died without issue.

Excluding the future Alexander III, the third boy Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia – born after the childless Tsarevich and Alexander III, whose descendants couldn't claim leadership for many reasons – had four sons.

The eldest died in infancy and the second eldest, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, had one son, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia.

His only child is Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, making her the legal heir to the Russian throne.

Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia (Мария Владимировна Романова; born 23 December 1953) has been a claimant to the headship of the House of Romanov, the Imperial Family of Russia (who reigned as Emperors and Autocrats of all the Russias from 1613 to 1917) since 1992.

She is a great-great-granddaughter in the male line of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

Although she has used Grand Duchess of Russia as her title of pretence with the style Imperial Highness throughout her life, her right to do so is disputed.

On 23 December 1969, upon reaching her dynastic majority, Maria swore an oath of loyalty to her father, to Russia, and to uphold the Fundamental Laws of Russia which governed succession to the defunct throne.

At the same time, her father issued a controversial decree recognising her as heiress presumptive and declaring that, in the event he predeceased other dynastic Romanov males, then Maria would become the "Curatrix of the Imperial Throne" until the death of the last male dynast.

This has been viewed as an attempt by her father to ensure the succession remained in his branch of the imperial family, while the heads of the other branches of the imperial family, the Princes Vsevolod Ioannovich of the Konstantinovichi, Roman Petrovich of the Nikolaevichi and Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of the Mihailovichi declared that her father's actions were illegal.

In Dinard on 4 September 1976 (civil) and at the Russian Orthodox Chapel in Madrid on 22 September 1976 (religious), Maria married Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, her third cousin once removed.

He is a Hohenzollern great-grandson of Germany's last emperor Wilhelm II and a great-great-great-grandchild of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom.

Franz Wilhelm converted to the Eastern Orthodox faith prior to the wedding, taking the name Michael Pavlovich and receiving the title of a Grand Duke of Russia from Maria's father.

The couple separated in 1982, a year after the birth of their only child, George Mikhailovich, who had been granted the title Grand Duke of Russia at birth by his grandfather Vladimir.

Following the divorce on 19 June 1985, Franz Wilhelm reverted to his Prussian name and style.

Maria Vladimirovna is a patrilineal descendant of Alexander II of Russia.

Following the discovery of the remains of Emperor Nicholas II and most of his immediate family in 1991, Maria Vladimirovna wrote to President Boris Yeltsin regarding the burial of the remains, saying of her Romanov cousins, whom she does not recognise as members of the Imperial House (including the grandchildren of Nicholas II's sister Grand Duchess Xenia), that they "do not have the slightest right to speak their mind and wishes on this question. They can only go and pray at the grave, as can any other Russian, who so wishes".

Since her father's death on April 21, 1992, some of her monarchist supporters have referred to her as Maria I, titular "Empress Of Russia", a title she does not claim herself.

Maria Vladimirovna was born in Madrid, the only child of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia, head of the Imperial Family of Russia and titular Emperor of Russia, and Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani of Georgian, Polish, German and Swedish descent.

Her paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Victoria Fyodorovna (née Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) through whom she is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Her godfather was Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia, for whom Prince Nicholas of Romania stood in at the christening ceremony, and her godmother was Queen Ioanna of Bulgaria.

Maria was educated in Runnymede College in Madrid and Paris before studying Russian history and literature at Oxford University.

Maria Vladimirovna lives in Madrid.

She is fluent in Russian, English, French, and Spanish, and also speaks some German, Italian, and Arabic.

As it happened, Vladimir Kirillovich, who died in 1992, outlived all the other male Romanov dynasts, and his daughter had no occasion to assume curatorship.

When Vladimir Kirillovich died on 21 April 1992, his daughter Maria claimed to succeed him as head of the Russian Imperial Family on the grounds that she was the only child of the last male dynast of the Imperial house according to the Romanovs' Pauline laws.

At the behest of the Russian Orthodox Church, Maria did not recognise the authenticity of the remains and declined to attend the reburial ceremony in 1998, however according to Victor Aksyuchits, ex-advisor of Boris Nemtsov, the exact reason behind Maria's absence from the state burial for Nicholas II and his family in 1998 was motivated by the Russian government's refusal to recognize her status as official Head of the Romanov House, after asking via a letter prior the funeral ceremony.

She has also said, regarding some of her Romanov cousins, that "My feeling about them is that now that something important is happening in Russia, they suddenly have awakened and said, 'Ah ha! There might be something to gain out of this.

When questioned about the ongoing rift among Romanov descendants, Maria said:

"'Attempts to disparage my rights have originated with people who, firstly, do not belong to the Imperial Family, and, secondly, either do not themselves know the relevant laws or think that others do not know these laws. In either case, there is unscrupulousness at work. The only thing that causes me regret is that some of our relatives waste their time and energy on little intrigues instead of striving to be of some use to their country. I have never quarreled with anyone about these matters and I remain open to a discussion and cooperation with all, including, of course, my relatives. But there can be no foundation for cooperation without respect for our dynastic laws, fulfilling these laws, and following our family traditions.'"