Background
Romanov, Vladimir Kirillovich, Grand-Duke was born on August 30, 1917 in Borja, Finland. Son of Grand-Duke Kirill (Cyril), cousin of Nicholas II, and Princess Victoria Melita, daughter of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
Head of the Romanov family in exile
Romanov, Vladimir Kirillovich, Grand-Duke was born on August 30, 1917 in Borja, Finland. Son of Grand-Duke Kirill (Cyril), cousin of Nicholas II, and Princess Victoria Melita, daughter of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
Studied at London University. Educated privately at a Russian high school in Paris. Studied at London University.
His father, a naval officer, was initially sympathetic to the revolution, but the Navy was very soon taken over by radical anarchist and Bolshevik sailors. His father was proclaimed head of the Romanov family and pretender to the throne (other Russian monarchists preferred Grand-Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, a former commander-in-chief during World War I). Settled with parents at St. Briac-sur-Mer in Brittany.
Worked as a factory worker in the Midlands (under the name Mikhailov, used previously by Peter the Great during his brief stay in England). At the beginning of World War II, managed to return to France. In 1944, stayed at his sister’s home near Heidelberg (she was married to Prince Carl of Leiningen).
Interned at Lichtenstein with a Russian monarchist regiment formed by the Germans, in May 1945. After World War II, lived in Madrid and St. Briac. His claim to the throne of Russia is disputed by some monarchists who regard his marriage to Princess Bagration-Mukhranskii as morganatic.
His only daughter, Grand-Duchess Maria, married Prince Franz Wilhelm Hohenzollern in 1976. Lives between St. Briac and Paris.