Georg Friedrich von Preussen Prince of Prussia Guests departure Sanssouci
The Prince of Prussia religious wedding ceremony at the Friedenkirche (Church of Peace) beside the Sanssouci Park is now over and the guests are slowly walking to their next destination which is the private Wedding Party taking place in another part of the castle grounds. On her way to Luisenplatz some Ladies in the crowd recognize the colourful Maria Vladimirovna Romanova and start to chat with Her Imperial Highness who was that day always followed by her unique child and son George Mikhailovich, who is in fact a Great Grandchild of Wilhelm II, the last German Imperator himself. Grand Duchess Maria is like her son descendant of Tsar Alexander II, Queen Victoria and her son is also the grandchild of Wilhelm II youngest son Joachim, a cadet brother of the famous Kronprinz who resided in Cecilienhof till 1945. Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia (Russian: Мари́я Влади́мировна Рома́нова; born 23 December 1953 in Madrid), has been a claimant to the headship of the Imperial Family of Russia and pretender to the titles Empress and Autocrat of All the Russias (historically the modern states of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland), since 1992. She has used Grand Duchess of Russia as her title of pretension with the style Imperial Highness throughout her life. She is a great-great-granddaughter in the male-line of Tsar Alexander II of Russia.Maria Vladimirovna was born in Madrid, the only child of Vladimir Kirillovich, Grand Duke of Russia, Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and titular Emperor of Russia,and Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani who was half-Polish. Her paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna (née Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). Maria was educated in Madrid and Paris, before spending a few terms at Oxford University, where she studied Russian history and literature.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 Romanov males whom he had recognised as dynasts, 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,[4] 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 Madrid on 22 September 1976, Maria married Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, a Hohenzollern great-grandson of Germany's last emperor, Wilhelm II and, like his bride, a great-great grandchild of Victoria, Queen of the British Empire. Franz Wilhelm converted to the 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 lives in France and Spain. She is fluent in Russian, English, French and Spanish, and also speaks some German, Italian and Arabic.(Wikipedia)