Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov will tie the knot with Italian fiancé Victoria Romanovna Bettarini on Friday at St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg in an elaborate religious ceremony that will be attended by hundreds of foreign guests.
Russia’s last Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and five children were killed by a revolutionary firing squad in the basement of a merchant’s house in Yekaterinburg, a city 1,450 kilometers (900 mi) east of Moscow, in July 1918.
“It was the first place in Russia we returned to,” 40-year-old George Mikhailovich told the news website Fontanka.ru about St. Petersburg’s choice for their wedding.
George Mikhailovich was born in Spain to Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia – the self-proclaimed heir to the imperial throne of Russia – and her husband, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia. He lived in France and Spain for most of his life.
His great-grandfather, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, managed to escape the Bolshevik violence in Finland during the 1917 revolution. He and his family later relocated to Western Europe.
George Mikhailovich first visited Russia in 1992, and now lives in Moscow where he works on several charity projects.
Bettarini, 39, converted to Russian Orthodoxy last year and took the name Victoria Romanovna.
The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia for 300 years before the abdication of Nicholas II in 1917, setting Russia on course for the Bolshevik Revolution, civil war, and 70 years of communist rule.
Russia’s Orthodox Church canonized Nicholas II in 2000, after being portrayed as a weak leader by Soviet authorities.