Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-09
MANY ROYAL RUSSIANS.
There are Twenty-four Princes Who
are Grand Dukes.

AHcTc are lWeuty-IOur f'r1nceS VINO
are Grand Dukes.
From the London Pail Mall Gazette.
There are at present over twenty Russian
princes who are entitled to be styled grand
duke. says the Pal Mall CARTE. A few years
ago there were still more, but statute of the
imperial family, dated July IA, 1886, limited
the titles of grand duke and grand duchess to
sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grand
children by the fathers side of the czars The
statute practically deposed a number of mag
nificoes who up to that time had supposed
themselves and had been generally believed by
others to be grand ducal. 1t gave the inferior
title Of highness to other grandchildren of the
czars and to their first-born male descendants,
and to all remaining descendants by the male
line, of czars it gave the minimum princely
| rank of most serene highness. In addition to
the car himself and his three sons nicholas,
George, and MichaeD, his four brothers (Vla-
dlmir, Alexis Sergius. and Paul., his three I'M
cles Constantine. Nicholas, and MichaeD, his
three nephews Cyril, Boris, and Andrew,
| and his eleven cousins nicholas, Constan-
tine, Demetrius, Nicholas, Peter, Nicholas.
Michael, George. Alexander Sergius, and
Alexis) legitimately enjoy the title of grand
duke. There are thus five grand dukes Nicho-
las three grand dukes Michael, and two grand
dukes Alexis, Sergius, George, Alexander. and
Constantine. Fortunately, every Russian, be-
sides his own name and that of his family has
| a patronym which materially helps to distin-
gu1sh him from other people. The five Nicho-
lasses, therefore. are not SO easily to be mis-
taken for one another as at first sight may ap-
pear. One is Nicholas Constantinovitch, an
other is Nicholas Alexandrovitch, and third
is Nicholas Michaelovitch. But the system
good though it is will not stand unlimited
strain upon it, and in this matter of Nicholas
it has broken down. There are two Russian
grand dukes Nicholas Nicholaievitch. and they
have to suffer the humiliation of being num-
bered. just as if they were convicts or stalls at
the opera.
OF the Russian grand dukes the most inn
pOrtant are the three uncles of the car The
eldest Constantine Nicholaievitch, is in his
sixty-second year. and besides being a general
on land is ''general-admiral' at sea- He used
In his brothers reign to be also president of
the council of state, but since the accession of
his nephew he has fallen into a kind of splen-
did disgrace, and at Oriana, in the Crmea, he
now keeps court of his own, from which he
seldom or never energies. He married prin-
cess OF Saxe-Altenburg, and has five children.
one of whom is the queen of the Hellenes.
Although he is in disgrace, he is still colonel of
seven Russian regiments and honorary colonel
OF three others. His brother, Nicholas Nicholaie-
witch l, is in his fifty-eighth year, and is phys
lcally one of the finest men in Russia. He
was commander-in-chief of the Danube army
during the Russo-Turkish war, and he is now
lnspector-general of engineers, field mar
shall, inspector-general of cavalry, and
colonel OF nine regiments. The cars young
est uncle is Michael Nicholaieyitch. He suc-
ceeded his disgraced brother, Constantine. as
president of the council of state, and he is also
field marshal, general-in- chief of artillery,
lde-de-camp-gcneral to the czar, colonel of
thirteen regiments, honorary colonel or pro-
prietor of two more and otherwise very dis
tinguished and influential. In the war of
1S77-7S he commanded in Asia Minor. and both
before and after it he was governor of the eau
casus. He is reputed to be immensely rich
and his estates in the Caucasus are as large as
many principality.
After the uncles come the ears four brothers
Alexandrovitch. Vladimir, the eldest. may be
called the most influential subject in Russia.
he Is alde-de-camp-general. military governor
of st. Petersburg, commander of the Imperial
guard. contdant of the car, president of the
Russian Imperial academy of sciences and arts.
and colonel of eight regiments He is in his
forty second year, and in the Grand Duchess
Marie Paulovna, Mecklenburg princess he
has charming wife, who is, however in bad
odor in st. Petersburg society owing to her no.
torlous Bismarckian sympathies. Sine has four
children-the Grand Dukes Cyril. Boris and
Andrew, and the grand Duchess Helena The
eldest boy is only thirteen, but both he and his
two brothers are colonies of regiment The
Grand Duchess Helena, who is but seven, has
not yet had this honor conferred upon her but
Edinburg, will be a colonel. The second
brother of the ear is the Grand Duke Alexis
a man OF thirty-nine, admral-g eneral-in-chief
OF the Russian fleet, aide-de-camp general to
the emperor, exceptionally handsome, an ex-
cellent seaman high liver, a deep drinker
colonel of seven regiments, and the morgan
attic spouse of the daughter of the Russian
poet, JOnoffski. To Alexis Alexandrovitch is
chiefly due the rapid increase which has of late
been made in the strength of the Russian Black
Gao Hnaf VI 10
comes Sergius, who is now thirty-one. As
bachelor he had the reputation of being
the best-dressed and most fashionable man in
Russia, but in 1884 he married the princess
Elizabeth OF Hesse, princess of Great Britain
and Ireland, and it is said that he has since
very much changed his habits and customs.
He is popular in his own country, chiefly be-
cause he is president of a society which enables
Russian religious pilgrims to go from Moscow
to Jaffa for 60, but he is much dsliked by his
German connections. He is colonel of five reg
iments. His youngest brother Paul, now aged
twenty-nine, is SO much of an invalid that little
is known of him. He usually spends the winter
at Athens. where he is a great favorite with his
cousins At home he holds no important Office,
but he is chief of two regiments.
OF the cars cousins who are grand dukes
Nicholas Constantinovitch, who is the eldest
holds absolutely no official position. His brother
Constantine, who Is one-and-thirty, il colonel
of regiment and husband of princess of
Saxe-Altenburg. Another brother, Demetrius,
is also colonel of a regiment. OF the two sons
of Nicholas Nicholaievitch l, the elder, Nicho-
las, is colonel of three regiments, and the
younger, Peter, colonel of one regiment; while
of the six sons of the Grand Duke Michael,
Nicholas commands two. Michael two, and
George two, and the remainder command one
regiment apiece. Excluding the car, there
are twenty-four grand dukes, who divide
among them the colonelcies, honorary or
otherwise, of no fewer than seventy-four regi-
ments. 1t is not astonishing that one of the
princes, Michael Nicholaievitch is obliged to
keep over one hundred uniforms in his ward
robe.
The SeuOrifa,S Gr;ef