Russian Grand Duchesses (Velikaya Knyaginya) -       Part II: Grand Duchesses by

Russian Grand Duchesses (Velikaya Knyaginya) -       Part II: Grand Duchesses by Marriage

These are the Grand Duchesses of Russia who gained the tittle by marriage to a Grand Duke of the House of Romanov. They were styled “Her Imperial Highness.” Grand Dukes were required to make “equal marriages,” that is, they had to marry into other reigning families. This was done as part of strategic diplomacy and to benefit national interests.

 According to the laws of the House of Romanov (originally known as Pauline Laws), which were amended over time, Grand Dukes had to ask for the Tsar’s permission to marry. A marriage with a person not coming from a ruling family would be termed “morganatic.“  A morganatic marriage was considered one to a man or woman of lower social station and/or not from a reigning house. In Tsarist Russia, if the marriage was acknowledged as legal at all, the spouse of lower rank would not acquire the tittle of the spouse of higher rank and the children from the marriage would not have succession rights. 

During his time as Tsar, Nicholas II had to contend with multiple members of his family marrying morganatically. His own stance on the issue of equal marriages was very strict. The Grand Dukes asked him to amend the laws; he did this at the end of his reign. Nicholas II legalized authorized marriages of Imperial Romanovs below grand ducal rank (those who were not sons or grandsons of a Tsar) to spouses who lacked “corresponding rank.” The Grand Dukes continued to be required to marry into ruling houses.