Romanov, Andrey Andreevich

Childhood and education

Prince Andrei Andreevich was born on January 21, 1923 in London , in the family of Prince Andrei Alexandrovich and Princess Elizabeth Fabricevna, nee Duchess of Sasso Ruffo , Princess San Antimo ^[4] . His godfather was the future king Edward VIII . The third child and youngest son in the family, Andrei Andreevich spent his childhood with his sister and brother in the Windsor Castle guesthouse, provided by King George V. He was brought up in the Russian tradition under the strict control of his grandmother, Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna , who until the end of her days was sure that the Romanovs would once again be called to the Russian throne, and her grandson should take his rightful place in Russia in the future. Andrei Andreyevich’s parents belonged to another generation of the family, and they no longer had hope for the restoration of the monarchy in Russia, so they tried to raise their children as simple and responsible people, with a sense of duty to their homeland, and the ability to cope with the realities of the modern world ^[5] . At home, the family always spoke only Russian.

Once, while riding a bicycle in the Windsor park, Andrei Andreyevich ran into Princess Elizabeth , who was walking with her nanny. On the same day, the secretary of George V ^[5] called Ksenia Alexandrovna, and stated that it was undesirable for any guests to be in the king’s private estates, especially when the royal family was resting in Windsor . At the age of six, Andrei Andreevich met Queen Mary , who had come for tea to Ksenia Alexandrovna . As Andrei Andreyevich himself recalled, the queen asked Ksenia Alexandrovna about him, and then, having suspected him, she said that he could call her “Aunt Mary” and the king was uncle ^[6] .

From childhood, Andrei Andreyevich was fond of frequent walks in the woods, loved fishing for perch on the River Thames , and also with great pleasure watched the animals at the local zoo. Since childhood, he began to show interest and success in drawing, the first teacher for him was his father Andrei Aleksandrovich , who became an emigrant landscape painter ^[7] . Until the age of 12, he studied at home, having received a private traditional education, characteristic of the Romanov dynasty. Then he studied at the College of Imperial Service .

World War II

In 1942, at the height of World War II, he entered the British Navy . He refused to accept an officer position, preferring to be a simple sailor. He served on the light cruiser HMS Sheffield under the command of Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt. He took part in the Arctic convoys , more than once sailed to Murmansk, often acting as a translator. Andrei Andreyevich was the first of the Romanovs to visit his homeland after the revolution .

- And when was the first time you were in Russia?

- It happened during the Second World War. Our ship was one of six in the convoy, which escorted cargo ships to Murmansk. Two German ships tracked us and attacked us. A battle ensued. Our ship was hit in the stern area, fortunately no one was killed. After that we were on Normandy, then in North Africa, then we spent two years in the Pacific Ocean.

- Tatishchev-Nikitin A. A. - “And they crucified him: the last road of the last emperor” - Interview with Andrei Andreyevich Romanov ^[1]

He also took part in the battle for the Atlantic , the North African campaign and the Allied landings in Normandy . The end of the war met in the Pacific. After demobilization in 1946, he returned to Britain for a short time.

Life in America

After the war, Andrei Andreyevich became a trainee on an English farm in Kent in order to obtain the profession of an agronomist. For a short time he worked at a tree nursery near London . Finding no further prospects in Europe, in 1949, at the invitation of Uncle Prince Vasily Alexandrovich , together with his cousin Prince Nikita Nikitich and having only $ 800 in his pocket, he emigrated to the United States on a cargo ship carrying racehorses, pigeons and eight passengers.

After settling in California , he began working in a store, then worked with his uncle at California Packing, where he grew hydroponic tomatoes and developed new varieties of vegetables. He studied sociology and forensics at the University of California at Berkeley . Then he worked as a broker in a shipping company and spent three years in Japan and Korea. Returning to San Francisco, he became a real estate agent, worked as a simple employee and designer. In 1954, he accepted American citizenship. After the death of his second wife, he moved to the city of Inverness, north of San Francisco, where he worked as a carpenter and joiner, was engaged in jewelry.

After retirement, he devoted himself entirely to art. He began to paint as a primitive artist, without a formal art education, drawing pictures by intuition, relying on fantasy. He is a member of the Guild of Artists at Point Flight Station. Also engaged in art photography.

He currently lives with his wife, American artist Ines Storer in Inverness, in a house that is 110 years old and, as the oldest descendant of Emperor Nicholas I jokes, is a convenient place for a real “royal” life.

Prince and Russia

Andrei Andreyevich was the first of the Romanovs to visit his homeland after the revolution and exile. In December 1942, he spent several days as a simple sailor in Murmansk . In the spring of 1990, he visited Leningrad with an exhibition of his paintings. In June 1992, he participated in a meeting of seven Romanov princes in Paris , at which a decision was made to create the Romanovs for Russia charity fund. In October 1992, he became the first of the Romanovs to visit Yekaterinburg . He visited the old Koptyakovskaya road, the place of discovery of the remains of the family of Emperor Nicholas II , members of his family and servants. In June 1994, along with Dimitri Romanovich , Mikhail Fedorovich and Nikita Nikitich , he participated in the opening ceremony of the exhibition in the Hermitage “Nikolai and Alexandra”. In July 1997, participated in the opening of the exhibition in the Smolny Cathedral of St. Petersburg “Princes of the Romanovs. Family album for a century and a half. " The exhibition represented a historical retrospective of the life of the Romanov family from Alexander II to the present day. The photographs were kindly provided by the French genealogy and researcher of the Romanov dynasty, Jacques Ferrand .

On July 17, 1998, together with his family, he took part in the ceremony of reburial of the remains of Emperor Nicholas II, members of his family and servants in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. In 2000, he was an honored guest of the Romanov Readings in Yekaterinburg . In 2001, he visited Crimea for the first time, having visited the Livadia Palace , Haraks , Dyulber and his grandfather Ai-Todor’s estate. He was one of the initiators of the reburial in Russia of the ashes of his great-grandmother Empress Maria Feodorovna , in September 2006 he took part in all activities related to the transfer of the remains of the Dowager Empress to the Peter and Paul Cathedral . After the discovery in July 2007 of the remains of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna , he actively helped the investigation, donated his genetic material to establish the authenticity of the remains. He advocates the speedy burial of the ashes of the children of the last Russian emperor in the Catherine’s side-chapel of the Peter and Paul Cathedral . In 2013, he visited Petersburg as part of the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

Origin

Belongs to the fourth branch of the "Mikhailovich" Romanov clan .

The great-great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I in a direct male line ^[8] , the great-grandson of Alexander III in the female younger line (but due to the extinction of male and senior lines, is now the genealogical senior descendant of Alexander III), the grandson of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (Sandro) (1866-1933 ) and Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960).

On the paternal side, is related to the Danish Royal House , the Greek Royal House , the Leiningen Princely House and the Baden Ducal House .

On the mother’s side, he is a descendant of the Dukes of Sasso Ruffo , rulers of the city of Bagnar in Calabria , and is a distant relative of the Pauls of Belgium, who comes from the same kind.

Dynastic status

From birth, he was titled by His Highness the Prince of Imperial Blood , which, however, was never recognized by the descendants of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich . Since the creation of the “ Association of Romanov Clan Members ” in 1979, it has been a part of this organization, which today unites the majority of male and female descendants of Emperor Nicholas I.

He did not recognize Prince Vladimir Kirillovich as the head of the Romanov House. After the death of the latter in April 1992, he supported Prince Nikolai Romanovich in his claim to supremacy in the Romanov dynasty. Together with other representatives of the House of Romanov, he declared the legitimacy of claims to the Russian throne of Vladimir Kirillovich and his daughter Maria Vladimirovna . From 1989 to 2016, he was an adviser to the head of the "Association of Romanov Family Members" and several times was a member of the organization’s general committee. In September 2014, after the death of Nikolai Romanovich , he recognized his cousin Dimitry Romanovich as the head of the Romanov House. On December 31, 2016, he inherited Dimitry Romanovich’s claims for supremacy in the Romanov dynasty ^[9] . All descendants of the Russian Imperial House (except Maria Vladimirovna and her son ) are recognized as the head of the Romanov dynasty. The heir to Andrei Andreevich is his eldest son, Prince Alexei Andreevich Romanov .

Family and Children

September 9, 1951 in San Francisco married Elena Konstantinovna Durneva (May 5, 1927, Tokyo - May 31, 1992, Auckland ), the daughter of Konstantin Afanasevich Durnev (1896-1970) and Felix Stanislavovna, nee Zapalskaya (1903-2002). In marriage, one son was born, divorced in 1959.

• Alexey Andreevich (born 1953) - since 1987 he is married to Zetta Leyza (born 1956). He has no children. The heir to his father in primacy in the House of Romanov .

March 21, 1961 in San Francisco married Kathleen Norris (March 1, 1935, San Francisco - December 8, 1967, ibid. ), The daughter of Frank Norris and Alice McGreevey, granddaughter of the famous American writer Charles Norris Gilman (1881-1945) . In marriage, two sons were born.

• Pyotr Andreevich (born 1961) - since 2009, married to Barbara Anna Yurgens. He has no children.
• Andrei Andreyevich (born 1963) - since 1989, married to Elizabeth Maria Flores (born 1964). Children:
  • Natasha Katherine (born 1993).

In 1969, the prince married the artist Ines Storer (born 1933).

Pedigree

• Andrei Romanov: "I always prayed for Russia." A Chelyabinsk Worker correspondent talks with Nicholas II’s great-nephew ( 1 , 2 , 3 )
• The Boy Who Would Be Tsar: The Art of Prince Andrew Romanoff. San-Francisco, 2007
• Prince Andrew Romanoff - New Drawings and Paintings

• Association of members of the Romanov clan
• Romanovs after 1917