George was baptised on 6 May 1981, in Madrid; his godfather is Constantine II of Greece. Also present at the baptism were King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain and Simeon II and Queen Margarita of Bulgaria.[5] The announcement that George Mikhailovich would be known as a Russian Grand Duke prompted Prince Vasili Alexandrovich, then president of the Romanov Family Association, to respond in writing that "The Romanov Family Association hereby declares that the joyful event in the Prussian Royal House does not concern the Romanov Family Association since the newborn prince is not a member of either the Russian Imperial House or of the Romanov family".[6] This response was ignored by Grand Duke Vladimir as he had already selected his daughter to succeed him according to the Pauline laws, and because the marriage between her and Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia was deemed dynastic. Prior to their wedding, the Grand Duke and his first cousin, then Head of the House of Hohenzollern, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, had made a dynastic agreement that any child born from this marriage should be raised as a Romanov. Therefore, George is considered a dynast of both houses (Romanov and Hohenzollern),[7][8] as his father has never renounced his Prussian royal title.[9]
His father, who stopped using his Russian title after his separation, has said of his son, "I have his German passport right here; I always carry it with me. It says he is Prince George of Prussia".[citation needed]
George spent the first years of his life in France before moving to Spain.[10] There he and his mother lived, along with his maternal grandmother, in the home of his maternal aunt, Helen Kirby, who inherited a significant fortune from her father, Sumner Moore Kirby.[11]
In Brussels, he worked at the European Parliament where he was an assistant to Loyola de Palacio, former European Commissioner for Transport and Energy. Later he moved to Luxembourg where he was employed at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Atomic Energy and Security.[citation needed]
On 12 December 2008, he was appointed an aide to the Director General of MMC Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian nickel-mining company.[12] In 2012 he was nominated chief executive of Metal Trade Overseas, the main sales hub for Norilsk Nickel in Switzerland.[13] In 2014 he started his own company, Romanoff & Partners, in Brussels.[14]
Heir to his mother
On 21 April 1992, upon the death of his maternal grandfather Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich, George's mother claimed to have succeeded as the sovereign and Curatrix of the Throne of Russia,[15] making him, to supporters of his mother, heir-apparent and tsesarevich. He visited Russia for the first time shortly thereafter to attend the funeral of his grandfather. His claim to the throne is contested.[16][17]
In 1996, when he, his mother, and his grandmother Leonida returned to Russia after living in Madrid, one of PresidentBoris Yeltsin's former bodyguards was assigned as tutor to the 15-year-old prince. He was also set to study at a Russian Naval college but these plans were dropped.[18]
In January 2021, the family announced that George was engaged to marry Victoria Romanovna Bettarini (born Rebecca Virginia Bettarini in Rome on 18 May 1982), having received the permission of Grand Duchess Maria.[20][21] His mother decreed that Bettarini would have the title of Princess, with the predicate "Her Serene Highness" and the right to use the surname Romanova from her marriage, which therefore implies that theirs is a morganatic union.[21][22] Victoria Bettarini is the Director of the Russian Imperial Foundation. She is daughter of Roberto Amedeo Simeone Bettarini (born in Taranto on 5 May 1947), an Italian diplomat, ambassador in Luxembourg from 2006 to 2010 and in Brussels from 2010 and 2013, and wife Carla Virginia Cacciatore (born in Rome, Italy, on 30 April 1945), whom he married in Kinshasa, Zaire, on 13 August 1977.[23]
On 22 May 2022 the Imperial House of Russia announced that Princess Victoria was expecting their first child in autumn.[34] Later, on 21 July, the Russian Imperial House announced that the couple were expecting a boy.[35]
The Grand Duke and Princess Victoria had a son, born in Moscow on 21 October 2022, who is named Alexander Georgievich Romanov.[36] Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, head of the Imperial House of Russia, announced that her first grandchild will be called "His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Georgievich Romanov".[37]
Prince Alexander was baptized on 6 December 2022. Prince Alexander's godparents are:
^"For hard work by strengthening the good work of the Imperial Fund for the Study of Oncology and in connection with the long-term, dedicated and glorious service to the good of the peoples of our Fatherland and the Russian Diaspora".
References
^ abde Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, p. 99, 111, 799 (French) ISBN2-9507974-3-1
^ abGenealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser, Band XIV. "Haus Preußen". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1991, p. 153. (German) ISBN3-7980-0700-4.
^Eilers, Marlene. Queen Victoria's Descendants. Rosvall Royal Books, Falkoping, Sweden, 1997. pp. 82–84, 127, 152, 173. ISBN91-630-5964-9
^"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2007.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Succession to the Imperial throne of Russia.
