Wedding of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and Rebecca Virginia Bettarini

Last updated
Wedding of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and Rebecca Virginia Bettarini
Date1 October 2021
Venue Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Location Saint Petersburg, Russia
Participants Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia
Rebecca Virginia Bettarini

The wedding of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia and Rebecca Virginia Bettarini took place on 1 October 2021 at Saint Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. It was reported as the first royal wedding to take place in Russia since the Russian Revolution. The groom is the son and heir of Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, the disputed head of the House of Romanov. The bride, who converted to the Russian Orthodox faith from Catholicism and took the name Victoria Romanovna, is the daughter of the former Italian Ambassador to Belgium, Roberto Bettarini.

Contents

Background and engagement

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia is the son and heir of Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, the disputed head of the House of Romanov, [1] and Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia. [2] He is the great-grandson of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and a great-great-great-grandson of Alexander II of Russia. [2] [3]

Rebecca Virginia Bettarini is the daughter of the Italian diplomat Roberto Bettarini, who served as the Italian Ambassador to Belgium, and Carla Virginia Cacciatore. [2] [4]

Grand Duke George met Bettarini while working for the European Parliament in Brussels. [4] [5] They moved to Russia in 2019. [6]

Bettarini's engagement ring featured a centered ruby cabochon gemstone and two diamonds. [1]

Bettarini converted from Roman Catholicism to Russian Orthodoxy for the wedding, adopting the name Victoria Romanovna. [3] [4]

Celebrations and events

The wedding occurred despite the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. [5] The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted with obtaining travel visas for guests and the Russian Ministry of Culture assisted in obtaining locations for the wedding ceremony and festivities. [5]

The couple were first married in a civil ceremony on 24 September in Moscow. [2] [7]

Saint Petersburg was picked as the location for the religious wedding and following celebrations because it was the first place in Russia where the Romanov family returned following the collapse of the Soviet Union. [4]

Wedding service

The Russian Orthodox ceremony took place on 1 October 2021 at Saint Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. [8] [9] The bride was attended by a group of young bridesmaids, who carried her twenty-three foot long train. [1] She was walked down the isle by her father. [10] Her wedding dress featured the coat of arms of the Russian Empire, embroidered in gold. [11] Her wedding dress, a white satin gown, was reportedly designed by Reem Acra. [2] [4] Bettarini wore the Lacis tiara, a 27.03 carat diamond tiara by French jeweler Chaumet, and a veil with an Imperial Eagle embroidered on it. [4] The tiara featured two central diamonds of 5.02 and 2.21 carats and four hundred and thirty eight pavé diamonds. [6] [2] The couple's wedding rings were designed by the House of Fabergé.[ citation needed ]

The couple were attended by a ceremonial honor guard. [1] [12] The ceremony was blessed by Metropolitan Varsonofy Sudakov, the top official of the Russian Orthodox Church in Saint Petersburg. [3]

Bettarini, now Victoria Romanovna, was bestowed the title of princess with the style Her Serene Highness by Grand Duchess Maria, although this title is not recognized by the Russian government.[ citation needed ]

Reception

The wedding ceremony lasted approximately two hours, with only a third of the guests invited for reception at the Russian Ethnographic Museum, symbolically founded by Nicholas II. [2] [13]

Bettarini changed for the reception, into an embroidered white ballgown with puff-sleeeved jacket. [6] Sicilian wine and food provided by catering magnate Yevgeny Prigozhin was served at the reception. [4] [7]

A wedding breakfast, served "à la Russe", followed at the Konstantinovsky Palace, attended by 700 guests. [2] [6] The brunch included live performances and an auction. [7] That evening, guests attended a concert in honor of the opening of the Russian Imperial Music Society. [7]

Guests

The wedding was attended by approximately 1,500 guests. [14] Many guests were members of Russian, Spanish and other European nobility. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Groom's family

Bride's family

Foreign royalty

Reigning royalty

Non-reigning royalty

Politicians and government officials

Other notable guests

Reactions and aftermath

The wedding was reported as the first royal wedding to take place in Russia in over a century, following the wedding of Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia to Elisabetta di Sasso Ruffo in 1918. However, the wedding of Prince Dimitri Romanov and Countess Dorrit Reventlow took place in Kostroma on July 28, 1993. [23]

Conservative political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin said the event was "a kind of imperial wedding. A remembrance of eternal Russia — of sacred czars and patriarchs and the church." [3]

Vladimir Putin did not acknowledge the wedding. [1] His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that no congratulations was sent to the couple from the Russian government. [1] Peskov stated that, "Putin doesn't plan to congratulate the newlyweds, this wedding has nothing to do with our agenda. In Moscow and St. Petersburg and other cities across Russia, there are weddings every day. We're happy for all our newleyweds." [1] [3]

Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Minister of Defence, brought officials to disciplinary liability representatives of the Western Military District for sending military personnel to the wedding ceremony [24] An official investigation was conducted, which found certain officials violated the requirements of their governing documents which state that military personnel not be involved in the honor guard company for events that are not regulated by the Ministry of Defense. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Romanov</span> Imperial dynasty of Russia (1613–1917)

The House of Romanov was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russia. Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, and his immediate family were executed in 1918, but there are still living descendants of other members of the imperial house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia</span> Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900

Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she was Duchess of Edinburgh and later Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the wife of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was the younger sister of Alexander III of Russia and the paternal aunt of Russia's last emperor, Nicholas II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia</span> Disputed head of the House of Romanov

Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia has been a claimant to the headship of the House of Romanov, the Imperial Family of Russia 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. Since her father's death on April 21, 1992, some of her monarchist supporters have referred to her as Maria, titular "Empress of Russia", a title she does not claim herself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia</span> Russian Imperial and Prince of Prussia

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia is the heir apparent to Maria Vladimirovna, a claimant to the disputed Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia. He is the only child of Maria and her former husband, Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia. George's mother attributes to him the title of Tsesarevich and he bears the prefix of "Grand Duke" with the style of Imperial Highness which is still being questioned. As the son of a cadet member of the branch of the House of Hohenzollern which formerly ruled the German Empire and Kingdom of Prussia, he is also sometimes entitled "Prince of Prussia" with the style of Royal Highness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonida Bagration of Mukhrani</span> Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna of Russia

Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna of Russia was the consort of Vladimir Kirillovich, Grand Duke of Russia, a pretender to the Russian throne. She was advanced by Vladimir and their daughter, Maria Vladimirovna, to be accepted as the legitimate Heads of the Romanov dynasty and de jure sovereigns of the Russian Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark</span> Grand Duchess of Russia

Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark was a daughter of King George I of Greece and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia. She was a sister of King Constantine I of Greece and a first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King George V of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Tatiana Constantinovna of Russia</span> Russian princess (1890–1979)

Princess Tatiana Constantinovna of Russia was the third child and eldest daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia and his wife, Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich of Russia</span> Russian prince

Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich of Russia was the fourth son and fifth child of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia. He was a nephew of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg</span>

Eilika von Habsburg is married to Georg von Habsburg, the third in the line of succession to the former Austro-Hungarian throne. By birth she is the member of the House of Oldenburg, while by marriage she became a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones</span> 1999 British royal wedding

The wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones took place on 19 June 1999 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth II's youngest child, Prince Edward, was created Earl of Wessex hours before the ceremony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedding of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and Mary Donaldson</span> 2004 Danish royal wedding

The wedding of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and Mary Donaldson took place on 14 May 2004 in the Copenhagen Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson</span> 1986 British royal wedding

The wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson was held on 23 July 1986, at Westminster Abbey in London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna</span> 1894 royal wedding

The wedding of Nicholas II of Russia to Alexandra Feodorovna occurred on 26 November [O.S. 14 November] 1894 at the Grand Church of the Winter Palace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Saint Anastasia</span>

The Imperial Order of Saint Anastasia the Holy Great Martyr 'Alleviatrix of Captives' is a dynastic order of the former Russian Imperial House for women. It was established and its statutes approved on August 20, 2010 by Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedding of Prince Edward and Katharine Worsley</span> 1961 British royal wedding

The wedding of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Katharine Worsley took place on Thursday, 8 June 1961, at York Minster in York, England. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, was the eldest son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, while Katharine Worsley was the only daughter and fourth child of landowner Sir William Worsley, 4th Baronet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedding of Prince George and Princess Marina</span> 1934 British royal wedding

The wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark took place on Thursday, 29 November 1934, at Westminster Abbey. The Duke of Kent was the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, while Princess Marina was the youngest daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. The couple were second cousins through mutual descent from King Christian IX of Denmark.

The wedding of Constantine II, King of the Hellenes, and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark took place on Friday, 18 September 1964, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedding of Princess Beatrix and Claus van Amsberg</span> 1966 Dutch royal wedding

The wedding of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus van Amsberg took place on Thursday, 10 March 1966, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They were married first in a civil ceremony at the Prinsenhof, after which the marriage was religiously blessed in the Westerkerk. The bride was the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and heir presumptive to the Dutch throne. The groom was an untitled German nobleman. The engagement of the future queen to a German caused an uproar among some Dutch people and the wedding was marred by protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabetta di Sasso Ruffo</span> Russian aristocrat

Donna Elisabetta Fabrizievnadei duchidi Sasso-Ruffodei principidi Sant' Antimo, known after her marriage as Princess Andrew of Russia or Princess Andrei Romanovskya, was a Russian aristocrat. She was the daughter of the exiled Italian nobleman Frabrizio Ruffo, Duke of Sasso-Ruffo and the Russian noblewoman Princess Natalia Alexandrovna Mescherskaya. She married, firstly, to Imperial Russian military officer Major General Alexander Alexandrovitch Friederici and, secondly, to Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia. When she married Prince Andrei, it was the last royal wedding to take place in Russia until 2021. During her second marriage, she fled Russia aboard HMS Marlborough following the Russian Revolution and lived abroad as a White émigré in France and the United Kingdom. Elisabetta was killed in 1940 during a German air raid on Hampton Court Palace.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hopkins, Valerie (2021-10-01). "After 100 Years, a Royal Wedding in Russia Evokes Days of the Czars". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Cope, Rebecca (2021-10-01). "The first Russian royal wedding in 100 years is taking place in St Petersburg today". Tatler. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Maynes, Charles (2021-10-02). "After a century of waiting, Russians witness a royal wedding once more". NPR.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Russia Hosts First Royal Wedding in a Century in Former Imperial Capital". The Moscow Times. 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  5. 1 2 3 "Великий князь Романов венчается в Исаакиевском соборе. Что ждет Петербург (фото)". fontanka.ru - новости Санкт-Петербурга (in Russian). 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "See Photos From the First Russian Royal Wedding in 100 Years". Town & Country. 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Oliphant, Roland; Pavlova, Uliana (2021-09-30). "Russia hosts first royal wedding in more than a century in lavish two-day ceremony". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  8. ↑ "Descendant of tsars becomes first royal to marry in Russia since revolution". Reuters. 2021-10-01.
  9. ↑ "See Inside Russia's First Royal Wedding in More Than 100 Years as the Ramonov Family Reemerges". E! Online. 2021-10-04. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  10. ↑ "A Romanov return: Royal wedding in Russia after more than 100 years". CBS News. 2021-10-02. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  11. 1 2 "Aristocrats flock to Russia for first royal wedding in century". France 24. October 1, 2021.
  12. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/01/russia-romanov-wedding-petersburg/
  13. ↑ ""Russia: the first royal wedding after the Bolshevik revolution in 1917". The European Times. FMVCS. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  14. 1 2 3 "See pictures as Billionaires, Royalty, Monarchs attend first Russia royal wedding in ova 100 years". BBC News Pidgin. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  15. ↑ "Last Czar's Heir of Russia Marries 104 Years After the Revolution". Prime Time Zone.
  16. ↑ "Russia Hosts First Royal Wedding in a Century in Former Imperial Capital". The Moscow Times. October 2021.
  17. ↑ "Lavish Russian wedding for Tsar's descendant". BBC News. October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "PICTORIAL: Russia's first royal wedding since 1917". Fast Observer. October 2021.
  19. ↑ "Russia hosts first royal wedding since revolution". NBC News. 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  20. ↑ "Romanov Wedding Is a Royal Russian Flashback". Vanity Fair. 2021-10-02. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  21. ↑ AFP (2021-10-01). "Inside Russia's first royal wedding since 1917". The National. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  22. ↑ "History professor participates in recent Russian royal wedding". Westminster College. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  23. ↑ Manaev, Georgy (2021-10-06). "No, Russia DID NOT have its 'first royal wedding in 100 years'!". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  24. 1 2 Новости, Р. И. А. (2021-10-06). "Шойгу наказал военных, отправивших почетный караул на венчание Романовых". РИА Новости (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.