Nicholas Romanovich Romanov^[1][2][3] (Russian:Николай Романович Романов; 26 September 1922 – 15 September 2014) was a claimant to the headship of theHouse of Romanov^[1][4] and president of theRomanov Family Association. Although undoubtedly a descendant of EmperorNicholas I of Russia, his claimed titles and official membership in the former Imperial House were disputed by those who maintained that his parents' marriage violated the laws of theRussian Empire.^[5]

Prince Nicholas was born inCap d'Antibes nearAntibes, France, the eldest son ofPrince Roman Petrovich and his wife Princess Praskovia Dmitrievna (née CountessSheremeteva). Prince Nicholas had a younger brother,Prince Dimitri Romanovich. Their father Prince Roman Petrovich was the only son ofGrand Duke Peter Nicolaievich andGrand Duchess Militsa Nikolaievna (née Princess of Montenegro). His grandfather was the younger son ofGrand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich andGrand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (née Duchess of Oldenburg). His great grandfather Nicholas Nikolaevich was a younger son of EmperorNicholas I of Russia and EmpressAlexandra Fyodorovna (née Princess Charlotte ofPrussia) and founded theNikolaevichi branch of the Russian Imperial Family.

Prince Nicholas was brought up in Cap d'Antibes with his family still using theJulian calendar and he spoke both fluent Russian and French from his childhood on.^[1] He was brought up in a Russian environment with his local church having a Russian priest and his family employing Russian staff and a Russian nanny.^[6]

Prince Nicholas received a private education in France with his studies following the old Russianschool curriculum. In 1936 his family moved to Italy due to the standard of schooling supposedly being better there.^[6] He aspired to be anaval officer and had convinced his parents by the age of 12 that this was his dream. However, as he was a Romanov and there was aSoviet Navy and not anImperial Russian Navy, he decided to work towards a career in theItalian Navy. Using his family's close relationship to theItalian Royal Family (both his grandmother Militza andQueen Helena of Italy, wife of KingVictor Emmanuel III, were daughters of KingNicholas I of Montenegro) he began to study in Italy under the tutelage of a retired Italian Naval officer with the aim of attending theNaval Academy ofLivorno. However, Nicholas's hopes of a Naval career evaporated when he showed signs ofnear-sightedness.^[1]

He completed his education in Italy graduating from aLiceo classico in 1942.

DuringWorld War II, Prince Nicholas and his family lived at the residence ofVictor Emmanuel III of Italy. When the King left Rome, Nicholas and his family went into hiding for nine months. During the occupation of Rome by Germany, Nicholas's grandmother, who was at great risk of deportation as a sister of the Queen, had to take shelter in theHoly See.^[1] In 1942, the rulingFascists in Italy approached Prince Nicholas to offer him the throne ofMontenegro. He declined.^[7][8]

Prince Nicholas wanted to study engineering at theUniversity of Rome but the war prevented this, so following its conclusion, he found employment by working as a civilian for theAllies in thePsychological Warfare Division and theUnited States Information Service. On the advice ofKing Umberto II Prince Nicholas and his family left Italy forEgypt in 1946.^[9] While living in Egypt he was involved in the purchasing and sale ofTurkish tobacco as well as finding work in an insurance company.

Returning to Europe in 1950 Prince Nicholas worked in Rome for theAustin Motor Company until 1954. Following the death of his brother-in-law he took over the management of his wife's property and business in Tuscany. The business was a large farm which he managed for 25 years from 1955 to 1980 where he bredChianina cattle and produced wine.^[6] He sold the farm in 1982 and moved toRougemont, Switzerland.^[1] Arefugee from birth, Prince Nicholas was astateless person and used to travel abroad on a letter issued by the King of Greece. He finally became a citizen of Italy in 1988.^[9] Prince Nicholas visited Russia for the first time in June 1992 when he acted as a second tour guide for a group of businessmen.^[10] He often appeared in the media to talk about the Romanovs, giving over 100 television interviews,^[1] and appearing in television documentaries such as the 2003 Danish documentary"En Kongelig familie" and the 2007France 3 produced documentary called"Un nom en héritage, les Romanov".^[11] In 1999, a documentary on his life was produced by the Russian television channelNTV.^[12]

His father Roman Petrovich came up with the idea of a family association of the Romanovs in the mid-1970s.^[9] After looking through the papers of his father, who died in 1978, Nicholas found that everything was in place for its creation. He then wrote to all the members of the Romanov family who had been in communication with his father and it was agreed that a family association should be created. A year later, in 1979, theRomanov Family Association was officially formed withPrince Dmitri Alexandrovich as president and Nicholas as vice-president. WhenVasili Alexandrovich became president in 1980, Nicholas remained vice-president.^[13]

In 1989, after the death of Vasili Alexandrovich, Prince Nicholas was elected the new president of the Romanov Family Association. The Association currently has as members the majority of the male-line descendants of EmperorNicholas I of Russia, althoughGrand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna has never joined, nor did her late fatherGrand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich.

The official position of the Romanov Family Association is that the rights of the family to the Russian Throne were suspended when EmperorNicholas II abdicated for himself and for his sonTsarevich Alexei in favour of his brotherGrand Duke Michael Alexandrovich who then deferred ascending the Throne until a Constituent Assembly ratified his rule. Emperor Michael II, as he was legally pronounced by Nicholas II, did not abdicate but empowered theProvisional Government to rule. Michael's "reign" was ended with his execution in 1918.^[14]

Prince Nicholas considered that following the death of Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich in 1992 that he was head of the House of Romanov and his rightful successor.^{[1][4][15][16]} On the basis that Vladimir Cyrillovich was the last male dynast and all other Romanovs are excluded due to their parents' "unequal" marriages, Vladimir's daughterGrand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna also put forward a claim to the headship of the imperial house on her father's death. With the exception of Grand Duchess Maria, Prince Nicholas was recognized by the rest of the family as head of the Romanov family.^[17] However, the final edition of theAlmanach de Gotha published byJustus Perthes, in 1944, stated that the marriage of Nicholas's parents was "not in conformity with the laws of the house"^[18] although one wartime edition had listed him as a dynastic member of the Imperial House. Prince Nicholas said regarding "unequal" marriages in the Imperial Family:

Our parents married commoners. So what? We have married commoners. Again, so what? There was nobody to ask us to renounce our rights, so we married without renouncing them, and we and our children still have rights to the throne of Russia.^[19]

Prince Nicholas led the Romanov family at the funeral inSt. Petersburg of the last Russian EmperorNicholas II and his family in July 1998.^[1] As head of the family he was also present at the reburial of the remains of theDowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in Russia in September 2006.^[20] Prince Nicholas and his brother Prince Dmitri had been responsible for lobbying theDanish royal family and the Russian PresidentVladimir Putin to allow the transfer of the Dowager Empress's remains to Russia so they could be buried alongside her husbandEmperor Alexander III.^[21]

In 1950, Prince Nicholas and the Countess Sveva della Gherardesca (b. 15 July 1930), daughter of Count Walfred della Gherardesca and Nicoletta de Piccolellis, met at a party in Rome. Sveva is a member of the Italiandella Gherardesca noble family fromTuscany and a direct descendant of CountUgolino della Gherardesca. They were married inFlorence in acivil ceremony on 31 December 1951 followed by a religious ceremony on 21 January 1952 in the Russian Cathedral atCannes.^[1]

Prince Nicholas and his wife had three daughters:

• Princess Natalia Nikolaevna Romanova (b. 4 December 1952), married to Giuseppe Consolo (born 1948). Her daughter is the Italian actressNicoletta Romanoff.
• Princess Elisaveta Nikolaevna Romanova (b. 7 August 1956), married to Mauro Bonacini (born 1950);
• Princess Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova (b. 12 April 1961), married firstly to Giambattista Alessandri (born 1958), then Giancarlo Tirotti (born 1947).

Prince Nicholas and his wife lived inRougemont, Switzerland, for seven months every year, usually in the winter. During the rest of the year they stayed in Italy with their daughters.^[6] The prince still used theJulian calendar and was fluent in French, Russian, Italian and English. He was also able to read Spanish.^[1]

Prince Nicholas's death in Tuscany aged 91 was reported on 15 September 2014.^[22] He was survived by his wife, their three children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.^[23]

• His Highness Prince Nicholas Romanovich of Russia

Since theRussian Revolution, members of the Romanov family have tended to drop the territorial designation "of Russia" and use a princely title with the surname Romanov. However this title, and even his right to the surname Romanov are disputed.^[24]

He is also known asPrince Nicholas Romanov,^{[25][26][27][28][29][30]}Prince Nicholas of Russia,^{[31][32][33][34]}Prince Nicholas Romanoff,^{[35][36][37][38][39][40]} andPrince Nikolai Romanov.^{[41][42][43][44]}

• Knight of theOrder of Petrovic Njegos
• Grand Cross of theOrder of Prince Danilo I
• Knight of theOrder of Saint Peter of Cetinje

• Massie, Robert K. (1995).The Romanovs The Final Chapter. Jonathan Cape.ISBN 0-224-04192-4.

• Romanov Family Association
• Lunch with the FT: Nicholas Romanov
• Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia atIMDb

• 1922 births
• 2014 deaths
• Pretenders to the Russian throne
• House of Romanov in exile
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• Italian winemakers
• Italian businesspeople
• Princes of royal blood (Russia)

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