⭐ 😃 El cumpleaños de la Gran Duquesa María Vladimirovna, jefa de la Casa Imperial de Rusia

Su Alteza Real la Gran Duquesa María Vladimirovna de Rusia.

La Gran Duquesa Leonida Georgievna con la Gran Duquesa María Vladimirovna en el bautizo del bebé.

La pulsera de dijes creada por el Gran Duque Vladimir y la Gran Duquesa Leonida para celebrar el nacimiento de su hija, la Gran Duquesa María.

La pequeña heredera.

El 23 de diciembre de 1953 nació en la Clínica Nuestra Señora de Loreto de Madrid la Gran Duquesa María Vladimirovna de Rusia, hija única del Gran Duque Vladimir Kirillovich de Rusia, Jefe de la Casa Imperial de los Romanov, y su esposa Leonida (de soltera Princesa Bagration-Mukhranskaya). María Vladimirovna era nieta del gran duque Kirill Vladimirovich (1876-1938) y de la gran duquesa Victoria Feodorovna (1876-1936; de soltera princesa Victoria Melita de Sajonia-Coburgo y Gotha), bisnieta del gran duque Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847-1909) y de la gran duquesa María Pavlovna (1854-1920; de soltera duquesa María de Mecklemburgo-Schwerin), y tataranieta del emperador Alejandro II Nikolaevich de Rusia (1818-1881) y de la emperatriz María Alexandrovna (1824-1880; de soltera princesa María de Hesse y del Rin). Con casi cuarenta años, Leonida Georgievna había empezado a preocuparse de no poder darle a su marido un heredero muy deseado. En busca de todos los remedios posibles, a principios de 1953 Leonida hizo una peregrinación a la reliquia de San Nicolás el Taumaturgo en Bari y, varias semanas después de regresar a España, se emocionó cuando su médico le informó que estaba embarazada. Los padres de la Gran Duquesa María siempre consideraron a su hija como una especie de milagro (" una niña de Dios "), y los tres formaron un vínculo familiar excepcionalmente estrecho. Cuando fue bautizada en la fe ortodoxa rusa el 3 de febrero de 1954, la niña recibió el nombre de María; los padrinos elegidos fueron su tío abuelo, el Gran Duque Andrei Vladimirovich, quien debido a su mala salud fue representado en el evento por el Príncipe Nicolás de Rumania (un hijo de la tía abuela de María Vladimirovna, la Reina María de Rumania), y la Reina Madre Giovanna de Bulgaria.

Gran Duquesa María de Rusia.

La Familia Imperial en un zoológico de Roma.

La joven gran duquesa.

The Romanov trio spent the year moving about their various homes. In Spain, they resided in a comfortable apartment on the rue Velasquez that was just around the corner from the home of Maria’s maternal grandparents. At some point, the family exchanged the apartment for a more spacious villa in the posh Madrid suburb of Puerto de Hierro. Their French residences included Ker Argonid in St Briac (named after Maria’s grandmother Victoria Melita) and an apartment in Paris. The Romanovs were particularly quite close to the Albanian, Bulgarian, and Spanish royal families.

Grand Duchess Maria, Grand Duke Vladimir, and Grand Duchess Leonida at their Puerto de Hierro residence in Madrid. Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari.

Grand Duchess Maria of Russia in Madrid, 1966. Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari.

Grand Duchess Leonida, Grand Duke Vladimir, and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia in 1966. Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari.

The Romanovs in Madrid, 1968. Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari.

Grand Duchess Maria recalled her early years: “I had a very happy childhood. There was such a harmony between my parents. They very much loved each other. They never quarrelled or were separated. I was thus raised in an atmosphere of mutual love and respect.” When she was a toddler, Maria was often taken by her parents to visit her great-uncle Andrei and his wife Mathilde at their “enchanting” Villa Molitor in Paris, with its “big windows and conservatories.” There Maria enjoyed playing with the Grand Duke’s pet turtle Rosalie, who was kept in one of the gardens and was one of Maria’s earliest guests at her childhood tea parties. The grand duchess had a multitude of Prussian, Leiningen, and Bagration first cousins from her paternal and maternal aunts and uncles; however, Maria was the youngest of the group. From her aunt Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna (1907-1951), who married Fürst Karl of Leiningen, Maria Vladimirovna had seven first cousins: Fürst Emich of Leiningen (1926-1991; husband of Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg), Prince Karl (1928-1990; husband of Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria), Princess Kira (1930-2005; wife of Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia), Princess Margarita (1932-1996; wife of Fürst Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern), Princess Mechthilde (b.1936), Prince Friedrich (1938-1998), and Prince Peter (1942-1943). From her aunt Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna, who married Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, Maria Vladimirovna also had seven first cousins: Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (1939-2015), Prince Michael (1940-2014), Princess Marie Cécile (b.1942; wife of Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg), Princess Kira (1943-2004), Prince Louis Ferdinand (1944-1977; husband of Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen), Prince Christian-Sigismund (b.1946; husband of Countess Nina of Reventlow), and Princess Xenia (1949-1992). A twenty-seven year age gap thus separated Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia from her eldest first cousin, Fürst Emich of Leiningen.

Grand Duchess Maria of Russia with her dog while in the UK, November 1971. Photograph (c) Getty Images.

Maria of Russia, circa 1976.

Maria was partially raised by a nurse: a Swiss-German woman by the name of Hanny Vögelin. Hanny, described as “firm but fair,” taught the little girl how to read and write, and stayed on with the family until Maria went to primary school at the age of seven. After this, Maria went on to the British Institute in Madrid. Passionate about languages, she then made the choice to enter Oxford University, where she began her studies in 1972 at Lady Margaret Hall. Grand Duchess Maria left Oxford in early 1975 an accomplished polyglot, fluent in English, French, Russian and Spanish as well as possessing a thorough knowledge of Russian literature.

Grand Duchess Maria and Prince Franz Wilhelm. Photograph (c) Seeger-Presse.

Grand Duke Vladimir, Grand Duchess Leonida, Prince Franz Wilhelm, and Grand Duchess Maria. Photograph (c) Seeger-Presse.

Grand Duchess Maria and Grand Duke Michael on their wedding day. Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari.

In July 1976, Grand Duke Vladimir and Grand Duchess Leonida announced the engagement of their daughter Maria to Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, the son of the late Prince Karl Franz Joseph of Prussia and his first wife Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich (as Franz Wilhelm became known after converting to Russian Orthodoxy and being granted the style and title of Grand Duke of Russia by his soon-to-be father-in-law) were married in great style on 22 September 1976 at the small Orthodox Church in Madrid. Their wedding was attended by four kings (King Leka I of the Albanians, King Simeon II of Bulgaria, King Umberto II of Italy, and King Juan Carlos of Spain) and six queens (Queen Mother Geraldine of Albania, Queen Susan of the Albanians, Queen Mother Giovanna of Bulgaria, Queen Margarita of Bulgaria, Queen Farida of Egypt, and Queen Sofía of Spain) as well as a deluge of other royals.

Grand Duke George with his grandfather Grand Duke Vladimir and aunt Hélène Kirby at his baptism, May 1981. Photograph (c) Getty Images / Gianni Ferrari.

The Modern Romanovs: Vladimir, Leonida, Maria, and George.

Maria and Michael’s only child was born almost five years into their union. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia arrived on 13 March 1981 at Madrid. On 6 May 1981, the feast day of St. George, the little grand duke was baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church. Grand Duke George’s godparents are King Constantine II of Greece, for whom the baby’s grandfather Grand Duke Vladimir stood proxy, and Hélène Kirby, Countess Dvinskaya, George’s maternal aunt.

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Grand Duchess Maria Vladmirovna and Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich separated in 1982. Their divorce became final in 1985. The grand duchess has never remarried. As a single mother, Grand Duchess Maria raised her son with the assistance of her parents. Once again, the four Romanovs formed a tight family unit. Grand Duke George also had regular visitation with his father Prince Franz Wilhelm (who reverted to his Prussian title after the divorce).

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En 1992, la Gran Duquesa María sucedió a su padre como Jefe de la Casa Imperial de los Romanov tras la repentina muerte de éste. El 21 de abril, a los setenta y cuatro años, el Gran Duque Vladimir sufrió un infarto mortal en Miami. Su viuda, la Gran Duquesa Leonida, le sobrevivió más de veinte años; falleció en Madrid el 23 de mayo de 2010, a los noventa y cinco años. Tanto Vladimir Kirillovich como Leonida Georgievna están enterrados en la Fortaleza de los Santos Pedro y Pablo en San Petersburgo.

La Gran Duquesa María y el Gran Duque Jorge de Rusia con el Papa Benedicto XVI en 2011.

El Gran Duque Jorge y la Gran Duquesa María llegan a la boda del Príncipe Alberto II de Mónaco, 2011. Fotografía (c) Getty Images / Gareth Fuller / PA Images.

El Rey Guillermo Alejandro y la Reina Máxima de los Países Bajos con la Gran Duquesa María de Rusia, 2011.

La Gran Duquesa María y el Príncipe Mohammed Ali de Egipto llegan a la boda del Príncipe Heredero Leka de Albania y la Princesa Heredera Elia (de soltera Zaharia) en Tirana, 2016. Fotografía (c) Seth B. Leonard.

La Princesa Nadia (de soltera Nour) de Prusia, el Príncipe Francisco Guillermo de Prusia y la Gran Duquesa María de Rusia en la boda del Príncipe Heredero Fernando de Leiningen y la Princesa Victoria Luisa de Prusia en 2017.

El patriarca Kirill de Moscú y la gran duquesa María en 2018.

La Gran Duquesa María, el Gran Duque Jorge y Rebecca Bettarini en la boda del Príncipe Joaquín de Prusia y la Condesa Angelina zu Solms-Laubach en Mallorca en junio de 2019. Fotografía (c) Seeger-Presse / Albert Nieboer.

Desde que asumió la jefatura de la Familia Imperial, la Gran Duquesa ha cumplido su función con una dedicación y un deber inescrutables. La Gran Duquesa María está presente con frecuencia en los eventos de Gotha: desde cumpleaños hasta bodas y funerales. Reside en Madrid y su Cancillería está en Moscú.