30-09-2010, Rougemont

Prince Nicholas Romanov: the Russian Cathedral in Nice was a property of Russia and naturally becomes so again.

The "affair" of the Russian cathedral of Nice could not leave indifferent the descendant of the tsars. For four years, a conflict has opposed the Russian Federation to the religious association that has managed this property for nearly a century. This judicial standoff ended with a first epilogue at the beginning of this year: on 20 January, the High Court awarded ownership of the building to the Russian State. The association immediately appealed. The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal is expected to rule next spring.

Questions about this dispute to Prince Nicholas, 88, great-grandson of Nicholas II, the tsar who had built the cathedral.

The great-grandson, Prince Nicholas, considers "legitimate" the return of this religious building in the bosom of Russia. He explaines in our columns.

Are you a pretender to the throne of Russia?

I am now the eldest male descendant of the Romanov dynasty. But I am not a pretender to the throne of Russia. I do not intend to become the next Tsar! I am simply the dean of the Imperial House of Russia. When I die, it is my brother Dimitri who will occupy this position.

How did you react to the French court decision attributing the ownership of the orthodox church on Tzaréwich Boulevard to the Russian Federation?

That's what I've always wanted.

Russia has not been kind to your family! We remember the terrible massacre of Yekaterinburg perpetrated by the bolsheviks, the assassination of Nicholas II, your great-grandfather, his wife, his children...

Fortunately times have changed! At the very moment when the Soviet Union ceased to exist, Russia became Russia again. The time of exile has ended. The young descendants of White Russians then began to return to the country. Therefore, I am delighted from the bottom of my heart that the Russian Cathedral in Nice is finally returning to the common roof of Russian Orthodoxy. It had been built according to the desire of the imperial family, with the financial support of the Russians living in Nice. It was a property of Russia and naturally becomes so again.

In the depths of your conscience, given this bloody past, do you not reject the idea that the current regime, heir to the previous one, can once again dispossess the old Russia of which you are a part?

I am part of Russia anyway. Of the old and the present that finally finds the past values. Should the French be ashamed of France for executing the Bourbons? No, of course. You cannot "fragment" your country's past. We have to accept everything, good and bad.

Still, do you not think that this church may well have belonged to the Romanovs in person, according to the autocratic principle that the goods of the tsar and those of the crown are inseparable?

It is absurd and unseemly to think that the Tsar could own a church in a personal capacity. Moreover, by confirming by a ukase of December 20, 1908 that the cathedral was to be listed in Russia as property of the imperial cabinet, Nicholas II solemnly confirmed that it was a state property.

What about the many white Russians who participated financially in the construction of this church, bequeathed them their icons and other religious goods? Will they not be harmed if the Aix court approves the decision of the Nice court?

Everyone who has given must consider that a gift is a gift. The most beautiful gift if it is granted to a church. Their descendants should rejoice that the Russian church of Nice has been classified as a French cultural heritage. Their gifts have become inalienable.

How do you see Russia today?

It is a democratic regime that elects its rulers, something unthinkable in Stalin's time! In Russia, the Church also participates in the greatness of the State. Its revival shows the wish of the Russians to regain their past splendor.

Nice-Matin
Russian Church: the descendant of Tsar Nicholas II commits
Published on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 09:24

Photo: On the right, Prince Nicholas of Russia in Rougemont, Switzerland, with Pierre de Fermor, president of the Association of friends of the Russian cathedral of Nice, whose grandfather was an officer of the launchers of the Russian Imperial Guard.