After the official announcement of their engagement on January 20, 2021, Grand Duke Georgi Mikhailovich Romanov and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini – born Rebecca Virginia Bettarini – said their vows in church on October 1, 2021 at lunchtime. Both had previously entered into a civil marriage at their main residence in Moscow. But the most important ceremony now follows: The couple gets married in front of numerous noble guests – last week there was talk of 1,000 invitations sent out – in St. Isaac’s Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.
It is the first wedding of a member of the former tsarist family in Russia since 1917, more than a century. To catch a glimpse of the beautiful bride, many fans and onlookers gather in front of the cathedral and cheer on the newlyweds after the wedding ceremony. Eyes are particularly drawn to the new Princess Victoria in her wedding dress by Reem Acra and the Russian designer Elina Samarina, topped with the 27-carat Lacis tiara from Chaumet.
The bride and groom finally reward those waiting with a kiss. And then disappear with their guests to a dinner in the Natural History Museum and other program items on an island in the Neva River, where there is a celebration in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Family background of the bride and groom
The 40-year-old Romanov is a great-grandson of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, himself cousin of the last reigning Tsar Nicholas II. This part of the family fled to Finland after the Tsar’s family was shot in 1918; Grand Duke Georgi himself was born in Spain, grew up and studied in France in England. He has lived mainly in Russia for three years. The bride is the daughter of an Italian diplomat.
These noble guests were spotted
Among the wedding guests were Bulgaria’s ex-King Simeon II with his wife, crown princess and grandson, the Albanian Crown Prince Leka, the Egyptian King Fuad II with the crown prince couple, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Prince Emanuel Filiberto of Savoy and other noble relatives Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Spain, Italy, Georgia and Belgium.
Sources used: NYTimes, fotanka.ru, The Moscow Times, blog “eurohistoryjournal”