More than 100 years after the fall of the Romanov dynasty, a royal wedding returned to Russia.
In front of hundreds of guests inside St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg on Friday, Oct. 1, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov and bride Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, the daughter of Ambassador Roberto Bettarini, tied the knot in an Orthodox ceremony. Their union marked the country’s first royal wedding in over a century for the House of Romanov since their rule ended when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne and the family was overthrown in 1917.
The groom’s great-grandfather, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, was a cousin of Tsar Nicholas. The couple’s engagement was announced in January after they received permission from George’s mother, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna.
As evidenced by the photos sweeping the internet, the couple wed in elaborate fashion as hundreds of guests lined the inside of the grand cathedral for the milestone occasion.
