Video: Scandalous unequal marriage: who was the woman because of whom Mikhail Romanov abdicated the throne
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Younger brother of Nicholas II, son of Alexander III Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich was the last Russian emperor - however, only one night, March 3, 1917, when Nicholas abdicated in his favor. He had every chance to take the Russian throne for a longer period, but he deliberately refused this opportunity back in 1912, when he secretly married a twice divorced Natalia Wulfert … Having entered into this morganatic marriage, Mikhail Alexandrovich actually renounced the throne.
Mikhail Alexandrovich was proclaimed heir to the throne in 1899, when the second son of Alexander III, Grand Duke George, died, and held this title until 1904, when Nicholas II had a son, Alexei. According to the testimony of contemporaries, Mikhail Alexandrovich was a well-mannered, modest and gentle man, he was burdened by his high position and never claimed the throne.
Mikhail Romanov met the wife of Lieutenant Wulfert Natalya Sergeevna in 1908 at a regimental festival in Gatchina near St. Petersburg. That evening, Mikhail Alexandrovich invited her to dance several times, to the displeasure of his family - it was indecent for a representative of the royal family to dance with a married lady.
Natalia Wulfert (née Sheremetyevskaya) was the daughter of a Moscow lawyer. Her first husband was the conductor of the Bolshoi Theater S. Mamontov, but the marriage soon fell apart. For the second time, she married officer A. Wulfert. She was called attractive, intelligent, educated and sharp-tongued. However, these qualities were not enough to become a suitable party for the Grand Duke Romanov after two divorces.
When Nicholas II learned about his brother's intention to marry this "cunning, evil beast", he sent him to Oryol. The emperor wrote to his mother: “Poor Misha, obviously, became insane for a while. He thinks and thinks as she orders. It's disgusting to talk about her. " But Natalia Wulfert divorced her husband and followed her beloved.
In 1910, the couple had a son, George, to whom the emperor granted the title of nobility and the surname Brasov. But Mikhail Alexandrovich, despite his gentle nature, remained adamant in his desire to be legally married to Natalya. In Russia, the wedding was impossible, and the couple secretly went abroad. The emperor knew about his brother's intentions, so he established supervision over him.
Mikhail Alexandrovich managed to send his pursuers down the wrong path. In Vienna, he found an Orthodox priest in a Serbian church, and in October 1912 the lovers got married. The next day, the Grand Duke wrote to his mother: “All the last time I have been terribly tormented that due to circumstances I could not talk to you about what constituted the main meaning of my life all these years, but you yourself, apparently, have never wanted. It has been five years since I met Natalia Sergeevna, and I love and respect her more and more every year, but my moral state was always very difficult, and the last year in St. Petersburg, in particular, brought me to the realization that only marriage will help me. get out of this difficult and false situation. But, not wanting to upset you, I, perhaps, would never have dared to do this, if it were not for the illness of little Alexei and the thought that the heir could separate me from Natalia Sergeevna, which can no longer be."
Upon learning of this morganatic marriage, the emperor furiously dismissed his brother from all posts and posts and forbade him to return to Russia. As a private person, Mikhail Alexandrovich settled with his family in the English castle of Knebworth near London. Two years later, under the influence of his mother, Nikolai changed his anger to mercy, allowed his brother to return, returned all titles to him, and granted his wife the title of Countess of Brasova.
On March 2, 1917, the emperor abdicated in favor of his brother. Members of the Provisional Government immediately summoned the Grand Duke to the capital, and on the morning of March 3, the heir to the throne renounced the throne. In fact, he turned out to be the last Russian emperor, although his reign lasted only one night.
In 1918, Mikhail Romanov was exiled to Perm, where he was soon shot by the Bolsheviks. Natalya Brasova, after nine months in prison, managed to go abroad. She learned about the fate of her husband only in 1934. In France, among the emigre environment, she was not respected, she was called a smart lady, but evil. Romanov's son Georgy died in a car accident, children from previous marriages lived separately, and soon Natalya Brasova was left completely alone. She spent her last days in poverty and disease. In 1952, she died of cancer in a hospital for the poor and homeless. And in Russia the Bolsheviks destroyed all the relatives of the Romanov family
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