Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia

Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich
Born	(1864-01-10)10 January 1864 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	17 January 1931(1931-01-17) (aged 67) Antibes
Spouse	Princess Milica of Montenegro ​ ​ (after 1889)​
Issue	Princess Marina Petrovna Prince Roman Petrovich Princess Nadejda Petrovna Princess Sofia Petrovna
Names Peter Nikolaevich Romanov
House	Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Father	Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich
Mother	Alexandra Petrovna (Alexandra of Oldenburg)

Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (10 January 1864 – 17 January 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:

• Princess Marina Petrovna of Russia (1892–1981)
• Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia (1896–1978)
• Princess Nadejda Petrovna of Russia (1898–1988)
• Princess Sofia Petrovna of Russia (3 March 1898 – 3 March 1898); buried in the convent cemetery in Kiev by her grandmother, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, who was a nun there

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:

Russian

• Knight of the Order of St. Andrew
• Knight of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky
• Knight of the Order of St. Anna
• Knight (first class) of the Order of Saint Stanislaus
• Knight of the Order of the White Eagle

Foreign

• Kingdom of Italy : Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation - July 1902 - during a visit to Russia of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

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.

Ancestry

Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia: ancestors in three generations

Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (1864–1931)	Father: Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891)	Paternal Grandfather: Emperor Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855)	Paternal Great-grandfather: Emperor Paul I of Russia (1754–1801)
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (1759–1828)
		Paternal Grandmother: Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1798–1860)	Paternal Great-grandfather: King Frederick William III of Prussia (1770–1840)
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Princess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1776–1810)
	Mother: Duchess Alexandra of Oldenburg (1838–1900)	Maternal Grandfather: Duke Peter of Oldenburg (1812–1881)	Maternal Great-grandfather: Duke George of Oldenburg (1784–1812)
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia (1788–1819)
		Maternal Grandmother: Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg (1815–1871)	Maternal Great-grandfather: William, Duke of Nassau (1792–1839)
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1794–1824)