Grand Duke Kyrill Vladimirovich.
Photo: Imperial Union of Russia. 
Exiled Russian tsar to be laid to rest in city
By Yevgenia Borisova
The last Russian tsar in exile, Kyrill Vladimirovich Romanov, is to be buried in the
Peter and Paul Fortress on Tuesday. March 7.
The remains of the Grand Duke have been brought to St Petersburg from Coburg, in Germany,
and will be laid to rest in the grand ducal tomb during a midday ceremony.
Kyrill proclaimed himself Tsar of Russia in Paris in 1924 after it was officially confirmed
that Nicholas II and his family had died at the hands of Bolshevik death squad.
At the coronation service, he pronounced, "I, the head of the tsarist family and only
legal successor to the Russian imperial throne, hereby take the title of
"Tsar of All Russia, which is unequivocally mine."
Kyrill was seventh in line to the throne following Nicholas II, Nicholas' mother,
Maria Fedorovna,his wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, his son Alexei Nikolayevich, his
brother, Mikhail Alexandrovich, and his sister-in-law, Maria Pavlovna,
who was Kyrill's mother.
According to a law passed in 1797 by Paul I, which stated that only male heirs
can succeed to the throne, Kyrill took the title after Mikhail Alexandrovich was forced
to abdicate by the Provisional Government in 1917.
Born in 1876, Kyrill was a skilled linguist and performed several diplomatic missions
on behalf of Nicholas II.
He served during the Russo-Japanese war as a senior officer on board the Petropavlovsk
battleship and was lucky to escape with his life when the ship was blown up
by a mine in April 1904.
During his exile in France, Kyrill always dreamed of returning to his motherland and
believed firmly that Russia had a great future. At a reception in 1931, he said,
"My faith in the Russian people is unshakeable. I am convinced that communism will
burn itself out and the people will build a new order out of its ruins."
He also believed, "It will not be long before the whole world bows down before
a free Russia."
Kyrill died in 1938 in Paris and his remains were taken to Germany
at his relatives' behest.
Tuesday's burial has been arranged by the Grand Duchess Wladimir of Russia,
Leonida Georgiyevna, the widow of his son, Grand Duke Vladimir Kyrillovich.
Vladimir was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress in April, 1992.
Nikolai N Braun, acting head of The Order of Imperial Union of Russia said
he would prefer to see the last Russian tsar buried in the imperial
rather than the grand ducal tomb.
"But it's certainly a matter for the imperial family to decide," he added.
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