Vsevolod Ivanovich of Russia

Prince of the Imperial Blood Vsevolod Ioannovich of Russia (; – 18 June 1973) was a male line great-great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and a nephew of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. He was the last male member of the Romanov family born in Imperial Russia. He was a distant cousin and godson of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, as well as second cousin of both Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.

During the revolution his father and two uncles were imprisoned and later murdered along with other Romanov relatives in July 1918. In October 1918 his grandmother fled with the four-year-old Prince Vsevolod to Sweden where he was able be reunited with his mother, Princess Helen of Serbia. After a time in France and Belgrade they eventually settled in England. Prince Vsevolod was educated at Eton and Oxford. He spent the rest of his life in exile in Great Britain. In 1939 he married Lady Mary Lygon of Madresfield Court. They were divorced in 1956. Prince Vsevolod married twice more, but had no children from any of his marriages.

Early life Prince Vsevolod of Russia, godson of Tsar Nicholas II. 1915.

Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich was the eldest child of Prince John Constantinovich of Russia and Princess Helen of Serbia. He was born on 20 January 1914 at the Marble Palace in St Petersburg. In a manifesto issued the next day, Tsar Nicholas II decreed Vsevelod to be a Highness and a Prince of the Imperial Blood. He spent his early years living with his parents in a suite of rooms in the northern wing of Pavlovsk During the First World War, Vsevelod's father, Prince Ivan fought in the army and was decorated as a war hero, he was at the front when the Russian Revolution of 1917 started. Vsevelod's mother served as a nurse during the war, while Vsevelod and his sister Catherine were left in St. Petersburg under the care of their paternal grandmother.

Revolution During the chaotic rule of the Provisional Government, and after the October Revolution, Prince Vsevolod lived with his grandmother and some relatives, at Pavlovsk. When the Serbian diplomatic mission left Russia in 1918, they offered to take the family to Finland under Serbian protection. They refused. After the Bolsheviks took power, Vsevolod's father and two of his uncles Constantine and Igor were sent to internal exile in the Urals. They were killed at Alapaevsk, along with other Romanov relatives, in July 1918. Vsevolod's mother, who had followed her husband, spent many months imprisoned, narrowly escaping being killed herself. Prince Vsevolod and his sister were safe under the care of their grandmother in the Marble Palace. As time went on, their circumstances became increasingly difficult as the palace and its contents were requisitioned. Their grandmother was forced to secretly sell family heirlooms to provide for the family.

They were finally able to escape revolutionary Russia with the help of Swedish diplomats, at the invitation of Queen Victoria of Sweden. In October 1918, the small family group consisting of four-year-old Vsevolod, his sister Catherine, their paternal grandmother, his uncle George, his aunt Vera, Miss Irwin (the children's Irish nanny) and three attendants were permitted by the Bolsheviks to leave Russia. They traveled first to Tallinn in Estonia, from there they crossed the Baltic to Finland. In Helsinki they boarded the Swedish vessel Ångermanland and traveled via Mariehamn to Stockholm. At Stockholm harbor, they met Prince Gustaf Adolf, who took them to the royal palace.

Exile Prince Vsevolod of Russia (wearing a sailor suit) with his sister Catherine and their great grandfather King Nicholas I of Montenegro, 1921.

After spending sometime recuperating in Stockholm royal palace, they moved to a small spa town in Sweden. There, in 1919, Vsevolod was reunited with his mother. They moved to Paris and eventually went to live in Belgrade with his maternal grandfather King Peter I of Serbia. In October 1933 Vsevolod was operated on for appendicitis in a London nursing home. During the following year, Prince Vsevolod, who was in his early twenties, appeared frequently in social circles. He visited Queen Mary in July 1936, attended the christening of Prince Victor Emmanuel of Italy in June 1937 and presided the Russian Charities ball that December. At the outbreak of World War II in September, the Prince volunteered to serve at night as an Air raid precaution Warden. His duties included ensuring that the blackout was observed, sounding air raid sirens, evacuating areas around unexploded bombs, helping casualties from bomb damage and finding accommodation for people whose homes were destroyed. In August 1942, Evelyn Waugh moved in with the couple, staying in their small cottage between army duties. There were no children from this union.

In London on 8 June 1961, Vsevolod married again, this time to Valli Knust (b. London 4 April 1930, d. Sherborne, Dorset 10 July 2012), a woman sixteen years his junior. She was created Princess Romanovsky Knust; their marriage was very happy, but they had no children. In January 1966 Prince Vsevolod was appointed personal assistant to the Chairman and chief Executive of United Guarantee, holdings. In June 1970 Vsevolod underwent an operation in London, the beginning of a long painful battle with cancer. He died in London on 18 June 1973. His funeral services took place a week later at the Russian Orthodox church in Kensington. Among those present were Prince and Princess Paul of Yugoslavia and Prince and Princess Vassili of Russia.

Ancestry