In St. Petersburg a "royal" wedding, such as has not been seen for more than a century.
In St. Isaac's Cathedral, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov married his Italian fiancée Rebecca Virginia Bettarini in front of hundreds of foreign guests, including the former Queen of Spain Sofia and the Dukes of Kent, cousins of Queen Elizabeth II.
He, 40, is the "heir" of the Romanov family: descended from the last Tsar Nicholas II, killed with his wife and five children by a revolutionary firing squad in July 1918 in the cellar of a merchant's house in Ekaterinburg .
"This city was the first place in Russia we went back to," said George Mikhailovichalla Fontanka, explaining the choice to get married in St. Petersburg: "It's a place very, very close to the family".
She, 39, converted to the Russian Orthodox faith last year and took the name of Victoria Romanovna. Daughter of Ambassador Roberto Bettarini, she is the author of international thrillers under the pseudonym Georgina Perosch.
She officially got engaged in December 2020, after the Grand Duke received permission to marry from her mother, who is formally head of the imperial house.
(Unioneonline / D)
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