Rebecca Bettarini

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Sends Letter of Congratulations and Blessings to HIH Grand Duke George and HSH Princess Victoria Romanovna

On October 1st, the Hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia sent a congratulatory testament, or “gramota” to HIH Grand Duke George, and to HSH Princess Victoria Romanovna.

An image of the certificate, signed by Metropolitan Hilarion, Archbishop Kirill, and Bishop Nicholas was published on the FB page of the Head of the Russian Imperial Chancellery today. What follows is a copy of the original document, and a translation by a Mr. Gregory Walker Levitsky also posted there.

September 18/October 1, 2021

To His Imperial Highness,

the Sovereign Tsesarevich & Heir

Grand Duke

GEORGE MIKHAILOVICH

and

To Her Serene Highness,

the Serene Princess

VICTORIA ROMANOVNA

Your Imperial Highness, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich!

Your Serene Highness, Serene Princess Victoria Romanovna!

Noetically joining ourselves to the joint prayer of the faithful children of our Holy Russian people, both in the homeland and in the diaspora, we greet You with warm hearts on "this chosen and holy day" of Your blessed and praiseworthy matrimony, fervently wishing with God’s great mercies and blessings!

Your wedding is a most significant event, one which will be remembered for many years. May today’s joyous and grace-filled day become years both for You and for all of Your faithful subjects, that You might never know sadness or sorrow. But if they come nonetheless, may they speedily flee in the face of your memories of today’s good and radiant feast. No trials can withstand the power of love, total forgiveness, humble gratitude, and mutual patience and respect. And so, let Your good feelings of love be without limit, and your support of one another uncompromising. May the seeds of the Kingdom of Heaven, sown now in Your hearts and watered by the prayers of the Holy Right-Believing Great Prince Alexander Nevsky, born 800 years ago, and the saints who shone forth in the Russian Church Abroad – which this year celebrates the centennial of the I All Diaspora Council – bring forth abundant fruit in Your shared life and in Your service to Russia for many years!

With love in the Lord,

+HILARION

Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York

First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad

+KYRILL

Archbishop of San Francisco & Western America

Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad

+NICHOLAS

Bishop of Manhattan

Deputy Secretary of the Synod of Bishops

Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese

Canadian Blogger Spreads False Information About Romanoff Wedding

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An amateur Canadian blogger is once again spreading disinformation online.  

“On 1st October, the wedding of George Mikhailovich Romanov [a Spanish citizen] to his fiancé Rebecca Bettarini [a citizen of Italy] was held in St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg.”

On 1st October, the wedding of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (a citizen of the Russian Federation, Spain, and Germany) and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini (a citizen of Italy, and now, thanks to her marriage, will be eligible to become a citizen of the Russian Federation), were indeed married in St. Petersburg at St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

“More than 1,500 guests crammed the historic cathedral. Guests refused to wear protective masks or practice social distancing, despite the record number of daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in Russia.”

1,500 guests did not “cram” the historic cathedral which can hold 15,000 congregants.  The number 1,500 was decided upon to comply with current Russian restrictions for public gatherings.

For anyone arriving in the Russian Federation, proof of vaccination and a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours are required.  

Additionally, Russian authorities from both the Federal government and the local St. Petersburg City government required that the 1,500 invited guests to the cathedral receive and produce a negative Covid-19 PCR test within 24 hours of admission to the Cathedral.  

Tests were taken by all invited guests, and proof of negative results submitted to the event organizers.  Special QR codes were then issued to guests to ensure that only people who had tested negative were admitted to the cathedral.

Each guest was handed a mask on entrance to the Cathedral, and it was understood that anyone who wished to wear a mask was able to do so.  This is the same process that the Russian government used recently for the recent FIFA games, and also for the Summit in Moscow.

The Russian and some Western media outlets hailed the event as both the Romanov “wedding of the century” and the “first Romanov to marry in Russia”, since the fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917. Neither are correct.

Agreed.  The media has incorrectly reported this since the beginning.  This is the first marriage of a member of the Russian Imperial House on Russian soil in over 100 years.  HH Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia (1897-1976) was the last member of the Imperial house to marry on the territory of the Empire in 1918.  That was over 100 years ago.

The 1993 wedding of Dimitri Romanovich Romanov to Dorrit Reventlow was not a marriage of a member of the Imperial House.  Dimitri Romanovich Romanov was the product of an unequal marriage, and while he was a member of the Romanov Family, he was not a member of the Imperial House.

In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Maria Vladimirovna’s public relations team issued press releases, detailing an impressive list of royals and dignitaries who would attend her son’s nuptials, in reality, however, none of them attended. 

Prominent on the guest list was Queen Sofia of Spain, who was present at George’s christening, but she failed to attend. None of the many Romanov descendants scattered around the world were even invited, as Maria and her son, both look down their noses at them.

No guest list for the event was ever released in advance of the event due to security concerns.  One will certainly be released in the coming days.  All media speculation on who would attend was simply that, speculation.  

Despite the blogger’s assertion, several members of the extended Romanov family were invited, and a few accepted, later declining due to Covid-19 concerns. The blogger has no way to know this, as this has never been made public. The information was provided to RL by a wedding guest close to the organizers.

There were no reigning kings or queens of the European royal houses or ambassadors to represent them. The only “royals” in attendance, were a few princes and princesses and members of numerous, now defunct European royal houses. 

Again, a deliberate falsehood.  The reigning house of Liechtenstein was represented as was the reigning house of Belgium, and H.E. the Prime Minister of Luxembourg was present as chief minister of the Grsbd Duke. The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess were unable to attend due to a previous commitment.

Due to the difficulty of traveling during Covid, there were no reigning sovereigns present at the wedding of HRH Princess Beatrice of York, either.  Sadly, this will likely be common at royal weddings for the foreseeable future.

In addition, the groom’s father Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia was notably “absent”.

The inability of HRH Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia to attend the wedding was due to a serious health condition which began only days before the ceremony.  He was prohibited from travel on the advice of his doctors. We wish His Royal Highness a speedy recovery, and regret that he was unable to attend the wedding of his own son, which must have been distressing to him. He and the Prussian royal House were represented by his half-sister, Desirée, Princess of Prussia.

Prince Franz Wilhelm was a co-host of the wedding, and listed on the invitation.  He came to Russia with his wife last year for the reception into Orthodoxy of Princess Victoria Romanovna held at the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul.  

This distasteful attempt to create a political problem out of thin air is typical of this blogger.

It should also be noted that no live broadcast of the wedding was conducted on any federal or regional TV channel in Russia. So much for the “Romanov wedding of the century!”

False.  The wedding was livestreamed internationally by both Russian channels and foreign services, and was covered by more than 265 news outlets over three days.

In a final bit of typical hysteria, the blogger coos over President Vladimir Putin’s asserted “non recognition" of the Imperial House.  To be clear, the government of the Russian Federation cannot possibly and does not recognize ANY claimant to the non-existent Russian throne.  Russia is not a monarchy. This is self-evident.

This senseless posturing on the part of the blogger obscures the fact that it was the Russian Department of Foreign Affairs which handled the organization of the events and the special visas required for all foreign visitors.  

Russia is currently closed to foreigners without special permission of the Government via the Department of Foreign Affairs.  Further, the Russian Federation allowed the use of the Presidential Palace and National Congress Center (the former Konstantinovsky Palace at Strelna) as a venue for the final event of the wedding weekend.  

We at Russian Legitimist do not feel that any further information is necessary to understand the favorable position of the government regarding this event.

International News Media Report on the Imperial Wedding at Petersburg


international news media have been reporting on the events in St Petersburg for the last few days here is just a sampling. This list is in formation.

Reuters:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/descendant-tsars-becomes-first-royal-marry-russia-since-revolution-2021-10-01/

BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58767448

Radio Free Europe:

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-romanov-royal-wedding/31488187.html

The Moscow Times:

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/01/russia-hosts-first-royal-wedding-in-a-century-in-former-imperial-capital-a75189

The Punch:

https://punchng.com/pictorial-russias-first-royal-wedding-since-1917/

The Daily Mail:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10048865/Russian-Grand-Duke-George-Romanov-set-marry-long-term-girlfriend-Italian-writer-Rebecca-Bettarini.html

RIA Novosti

https://ria.ru/20211001/venchanie-1752665119.html?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=mobile&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fyandex.ru%2Fnews%2Fsearch%3Ftext%3D

The New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/world/europe/russia-romanov-wedding.html

The Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/01/russia-romanov-wedding-petersburg/

The New York Post:

https://nypost.com/2021/09/30/russia-to-host-first-royal-wedding-in-more-than-100-years/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons

Tatler

https://www.tatler.com/article/grand-duke-george-romanov-wedding

The Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/russian-royal-wedding-george-romanov-rebecca-bettarini-b1930715.html

Yahoo News:

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/russian-royal-wedding-george-romanov-140133266.html

Asia One:

https://www.asiaone.com/world/russia-host-first-royal-wedding-more-century

Edmonton Sun:

https://edmontonsun.com/news/world/descendant-of-tsars-becomes-first-royal-to-marry-in-russia-since-revolution/wcm/892534f2-028a-4a12-92da-5b4c25d0bb1e

CBS News:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-mikhailovich-romanov-victoria-romanovna-bettarini-royal-wedding-russia/

NBC News:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-hosts-first-royal-wedding-revolution-descendant-tsars-marries-n1280581

The Daily Express:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1499310/russian-royals-St-Petersburg-Grand-Duke-Georgy-Mikhailovich-Romanov-ont

CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/10/01/russia-romanov-wedding-royal-descendant-orig-na-jk.cnn

France 24

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211001-aristocrats-flock-to-russia-for-first-royal-wedding-in-century

Euronews:

https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/01/aristocrats-flock-to-russia-for-first-royal-wedding-in-century

Town & Country

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a37824815/george-mikhailovich-romanov-russian-royal-wedding-photos/

Urdu point News:

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/wedding-of-russias-romanov-royal-family-desc-1365014.html


THIS LIST IS IN FORMATION.

Congratulations to HIH Grand Duke George and HSH Princess Victoria!

The Russian Legitimist

extends our sincere congratulations to

H.I.H. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia

and

H.S.H. Princess Victoria Romanovna Romanoff

on the occasion of their marriage at Saint Petersburg

1 October 2022

Многаа лета!

Grand Duke George and Princess Romanoff married at Petersburg.

Our very best wishes to HIH Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and his bride HSH Princess Victoria Romanovna Romanova. We will provide full coverage of the wedding events at the end of all the festivities.

Until then, congratulations to the happy couple from all of us at Russian Legitimist.

The Bride and Groom head to St Petersburg for October I Wedding

After celebrating their civil wedding in Moscow on the 24th, Grand Duke George, Victoria Romanovna, and members of their family headed to Russia’s “second capital” St. Petersburg.

The couple heads to St Petersburg. Photo detail from Instagram.

The couple heads to St Petersburg. Photo detail from Instagram.

In St. Petersburg, the couple will meet the groom’s mother, HIH the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, his father, HRH Prince Franz-Wilhelm of Prussia, other members of their extended families, and the wedding guests, who will be arriving in St Petersburg this week in advance of the wedding festivities, which are scheduled to begin Thursday, September 30.

HIH Grand Duke George and HSH Princess Victoria Romanoff wed in Moscow Civil Ceremony.

At 2:00pm in Moscow, HIH Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and HSH Princess Victoria Romanoff were civilly married at the Khamovniki Town Hall in Moscow.

The Grand Duke is the only child of Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia and Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia. The princess is the only child of Ambassador Roberto Bettarini and his wife, the former Carla Virginia Cacciatore. Ambassador and Mrs. Bettarini attended the Civil Ceremony after meeting their children in advance before the religious wedding in St. Petersburg at St. Isaac’s Cathedral on Friday October 1st.

The dress worn by the new Princess Romanoff was created by Italian designer Chiara Boni in an ice-blue color, with Russian gold thread embroidery inspired by the traditional folkloric designs of Khokhloma. Pale blue is also the color of the Russian Imperial Order of Saint Andrew the First Called, the highest dynastic order of the House of Romanoff. The light blue ribbon of the Order served as an inspiration for the color of the dress for the civil marriage.

Grand Duke George and Princess Victoria will leave the capital shortly to celebrate their religious marriage in St. Petersburg next Friday, 1 October.

Photographs and full coverage by David Niviere available on Histoire Royales






Vanitatis Interview with fiancée of Grand Duke George!

Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, Image courtesy Russian Imperial Chancellery.

Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, Image courtesy Russian Imperial Chancellery.

A charming piece ran in Spanish society magazine “Vanitatis” containing an interview with Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, who, after her marriage to Grand Duke George of Russia will be known as HSH Princess Victoria Romanoff.

"The wedding is on October 1 in St. Isaac's Cathedral, which is very large and in which weddings have not been held for more than 100 years, because now, in addition [to being a church], it is a museum. In fact, there have been very few, the most relevant, that of Emperor Peter the Great." said Miss Bettarini in a telephone meeting.

Bettarini noted that all Covid-19 protocols will be followed to the utmost extent during the wedding and its ancillary events, and that all events have been carefully planned so that all participants, the guests and the events team, will be safe.

St. Isaac’s Cathedral, St. Petersburg

St. Isaac’s Cathedral, St. Petersburg

"There will be many people in the cathedral (1), but for the gala dinner the capacity will be more limited as a consequence of the current coronavirus prevention protocols. This dinner will be attended by about 400 people… The places are very large, but that does not mean that you do not have to ensure the safety of everyone. In fact, all guests, even if they are vaccinated, will have to have PCR tests. We are careful to apply all relevant restrictions so that everything goes well and there are no surprises,” Bettarini notes.

Regarding the Orthodox ceremony (which, it is rumored, will be performed by the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg himself), Miss Bettarini looks forward to the moment of the greatest symbolism:: "There is a crucial moment in the ceremony, in which there are people selected to hold the crowns over the heads of the bride and groom. There are several people to do it; they must be unmarried Orthodox men, and cannot be women. We are seeing which of our friends meet those characteristics and can fulfill that function."

For the original article in Spanish, click HERE

(1) The Cathedral of Saint Isaac’s has a capacity of 12,000. It has been published that the wedding guests at the ceremony may number as many as 2,500 keeping the event safe.