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| Karl Emich of Leiningen | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas III | |||||
 Karl Emich in 2014 | |||||
| Head of the House of Romanov (disputed) | |||||
| Time | 1 June 2013 – present | ||||
| Predecessor | Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia(regent) | ||||
| Heir presumptive | Prince Andreas (1955–) | ||||
| Archchancellor | PrinceAnton Bakov | ||||
| Born | (1952-06-12)12 June 1952 (age 73) Amorbach,West Germany | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue |
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| House | House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov(cognatic) Leiningen(agnatic) | ||||
| Father | Emich, 7th Prince of Leiningen | ||||
| Mother | Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg | ||||
| Religion | Lutheranism (before 2013) Russian Orthodoxy (since 2013) | ||||
Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen (German:Karl Emich Nikolaus Friedrich Hermann Prinz zu Leiningen;Russian:Карл Эмих Николаус Фридрих Герман цу Лейнинген; born 12 June 1952), also known by his Orthodox Russian nameNikolai Kirillovich Romanov (Николай Кириллович Романов), and recognized with theregnal nameEmperor Nicholas III byMonarchist Party supporters of theImperial Throne, is the eldest son ofEmich, 7th Prince of Leiningen and his wife, Duchess Eilika of theGrand Duchy of Oldenburg, and is an elder brother of Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen.[1]
He is aclaimant to thedefunct throne of theRussian Empire, held until 1917 by the ImperialHouse of Romanov, as a grandson ofGrand Duchess Maria Kirillovna (1907–1951), eldest child ofGrand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who claimed the Russian crown from exile in 1924.[citation needed] He is a great-great-great-grandson of EmperorAlexander II of Russia and grandnephew ofGrand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia.[citation needed] In 2013, theMonarchist Party of Russia declared him the primary heir to the Russian throne upon his conversion fromLutheranism toEastern Orthodox Christianity, and in 2014 announced the formation of theImperial Throne, wherein Karl Emich had agreed to assume imperial dignity asEmperor Nicholas III.[2][3][better source needed] As such, however, he came into competition with the widely recognized pretender to the throne,Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, who is recognized by thePatriarch of Moscow.[4][better source needed]
He also claimed the headship of theHouse of Leiningen in the past.[citation needed]
He married Princess Margarita ofHohenlohe-Öhringen on 8 June 1984. He had one daughter by this marriage, Princess Cécilia of Leiningen (born 10 June 1988).[5] Princess Margarita died in 1989 in a car accident.[1]
On 24 May 1991, Prince Karl Emich marriedmorganaticallyGabriele Renate Thyssen.[1] After an inheritance dispute, he desisted claim to the family's legacy in favour of his younger brother Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen. The couple had one daughter, Princess Theresa Anna Elisabeth of Leiningen (born 16 April 1992)[1] In 1998, Karl Emich and Gabriele were divorced[1] and she became the second wife of theAga Khan IV.
He married Countess Isabelle von und zuEgloffstein in acivil ceremony on 8 September 2007 inAmorbach, and in a religious ceremony on 7 June 2008 inPappenheim (her maternal grandmother, Countess Ursula (1927–2018), was the heiress of the Pappenheimestate and a member of themediatisedHouse of Pappenheim).[6][7] On 12 April 2010, they had a son, Prince Emich Albrecht Karl of Leiningen. The family lives atKunreuth Castle.[8]
Because his marriage to Countess Isabelle would not have been deemed equal according to thePauline Laws, their son, Prince Emich, though considered a dynast of theHouse of Leiningen, cannot inherit his claim to the headship of theHouse of Romanov, which shall pass to his brother, Prince Andreas (b. 1955 ), and the latter's descendants born of equal marriages upon the death of Karl Emich, and on the condition that they should convert toOrthodoxy.[9][10]
In 2000, Karl Emich began the final round of a lawsuit to inherit £100 million worth of castles, property, and aMediterranean island that had been denied him by his family because he chose to marryGabriele RenateThyssen.[11][12] Karl Emich was disinherited shortly after his 1991 wedding, as his mother, father, and brother Andreas withheld approval, contending that the bride did not meet themediatized family's traditional standard for aristocratic lineage.[12] The marriage was therefore deemed to constitute a violation of an 1897 Leiningen family edict requiring thatdynastically valid marriages be authorised by the head of the Leiningen family (or by successful appeal to a panel of mediatized nobles),[13] such permission historically being granted for brides descended from royalty or the titled nobility.[12] Karl remarked about the whole affair,
"From the very beginning of our marriage I was turned into an enemy. We were both subjected to enormous pressure. No marriage can withstand that sort of thing in the long term. I had hoped things would improve when our child arrived. But after our daughter was born, nothing happened. My mother has refused to speak to me since the wedding".[12]
Karl Emich maintained that the stress this feud put upon his marriage is the reason why Thyssen left him, converted toIslam, andeloped withAga Khan IV.[12]
Karl Emich and his supporters argue that the marriage of Maria Vladimirovna's parents was in contravention of the Pauline Laws. They maintain that theHouse of Bagration-Mukhrani did not possess sovereign status and was not recognized as equal byNicholas II for the purpose of dynastic marriages at the time of the union ofPrincess Tatiana Constantinovna of Russia andPrince Constantine Bagration-Mukhransky in 1911, thirty seven years prior to that ofPrincess Leonida andGrand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich.[9] Therefore, as thenext of kin to Vladimir (in the exclusion of his daughter), the RussianMonarchist Party recognises Karl Emich as the heir to the Russian throne, since he and his wife converted on 1 June 2013, fromLutheranism toEastern Orthodox Christianity, enabling his accession.[14] The couple received Orthodox names of Nikolai Kirillovich and Yekaterina Fyodorovna.
In early 2014Russian Monarchist Party leaderAnton Bakov announced he views the "Imperial Throne" from the point of international law as a subject of state sovereignty regardless of any other attributes, referring to analogies with theHoly See. He outlined that Karl Emich, upon adhering to the Orthodox denomination, obtained a right to take thissee according to pre-RevolutionFundamental Laws of the Russian Empire. Bakov proposed that the Prince accept the throne, thereby forming a new independent state and incorporate it into Bakov's promotional projects such as the Monarchist Party'sImperial Thronemicronation and several others. In April 2014 Bakov and Karl Emich appeared in a newspaper textual and photo report[15] declaring that the Prince accepted the proposals as well as the title of "Emperor Nicholas III" (as successor toNicholas II). In the report Bakov emphasized that Karl Emich has long been an entrepreneur but henceforth he would refrain from all non-royalist related public activities. The report included a "Manifesto Grant of the Constitution to the State", signed by Nicholas III, proclaiming the formation of the sovereign state "Imperial Throne" aimed at consolidating all the people around the world devoted to Christianmonarchism. The see in the documents is viewed as a legacy of the first-ever Christian Roman Imperial Throne ofConstantine the Great, deemed to have passed through theByzantine Empire to theRussian Empire and theHouse of Romanov by religious process.[16]
Later Bakov announced he has purchased a plot of land inMontenegro to form a location for the new state (80ha, "twice as big asVatican"[17]), and is in negotiations with Montenegro authorities for recognition of the state. He also announced that Russian PresidentVladimir Putin declined to grant such a plot inYekaterinburg (Bakov's residence and site of the1918 Romanov assassination) in response to Karl Emich's request,[18] transmitted to Putin by Bakov, a formerMP.[19] In early 2015, as a follow-up to theinternational sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Bakov told the press there are talks with Montenegro authorities to establish anoffshore zone at this plot, aimed at providing financial intermediation to Russian companies.[20] Also in 2015 Imperial Throne representatives claimed to be in talks with the authorities of the neighbouringRepublic of Macedonia andAlbania on possible collaboration and futurestate recognition. In particular, Bakov met with Macedonian Prime MinisterNikola Gruevski.[21] Later there was a similar talk withPresident of GambiaYahya Jammeh at the70th UN General Assembly session in New York.[22] Also, talks were held with Macedonian and Montenegro Eastern Orthodox clergy — Bakov discusses creation of churches associated with Imperial Throne and proposescanonization of Russian ancient rulerIvan III and his wifeSophia Palaiologina. Talks withGaston Browne, Prime Minister ofAntigua and Barbuda, also took place.[23] In early 2017 it was reported that there was preliminary consent from the government ofKiribati to sell three inhabited Pacific islands to Bakov to set up the state which is expected to be renamed to Romanov Empire. Kiribati rejected the proposal in February 2017.[24][25][26][27][28]
In December 2017, Bakov announced that the purchase of artificial islands belonging to theRepublic of The Gambia had been successfully negotiated and the Romanov Empire had become a partially recognised country.[29] The claim was denied by the Gambian government.[30]
In June 2021 Karl Emich, or Nikolai Kirillovich (Nicholas III) gave his first-ever interview in Russian language where he clarified his civil and political attitude and told some details about history of his family.[31]
| Ancestors of Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen |
|---|
| Vladimirovichi line |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Nikolayevichi → Mikhaylovichi line | ||
| Leiningen line | Nicholas (since 2013) | |
