Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia
Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (Russian: Пётр Никола́евич Рома́нов; 22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1864 – 17 June 1931) was a Russian Grand Duke and a member of the Russian Imperial Family. Early life and marriage. Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich was the second son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich the Elder (1831–1891) and Duchess Alexandra of Oldenburg (1838–1900). He was born in Saint Petersburg. As was the custom for Russian Grand Dukes (the title applied to all sons and grandsons of a Russian Emperor), the Grand Duke Peter served in the Russian army as  a Lt.-General and Adjutant-General. On 26 July 1889, he married Princess Milica of Montenegro (1866–1951), daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro (1841–1921). The Grand Duke and Duchess had four children: Life at court. In 1907, his elder brother, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, married Grand Duchess Militza's sister, Princess Anastasia of Montenegro, known as Stana. The two couples were socially very influential at the Russian Imperial Court in the early 20th century. The Grand Duke joined a cult nick-named "the black peril", a group interested in the occult. They are credited with introducing first a charlatan mystic  named merely Philippe, and then, with graver consequences, Grigori Rasputin (1869–1916) to the Imperial family. Prince Felix Yussupov (1887–1967) – who was their neighbour in Koreiz – once described Znamenka, the Grand Duke and Duchess's palace, as "the central point of the powers of evil". This was later to be a widely held belief within the higher echelons of the divided Russian court. The Dowager Empress Marie firmly believed that the couple plotted with Rasputin and others to gain influence and favours through the neurotic Empress Alexandra (1872–1918). However, by 1914, Alexandra herself referred to them as "the black family" and  felt herself to be manipulated by them. Honours and awards. The Grand Duke received several Russian and foreign decorations: Exile. The couple escaped the Russian Revolution to the south of France. Here Grand Duke Peter Nicholaievich died at Cap d'Antibes, near Antibes on 17 June 1931. His wife died in Alexandria, Egypt, in September 1951.