Prince Constantine Constantinovich of Russia

Infobox Russian Royalty|prince
name =Constantine Constantinovich
title =Prince Constantine Constantinovich of Russia


imgw = 180px
caption =
spouse =
issue =
imperial house =House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
father =Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia
mother =Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg
date of birth = birth date|1891|01|01
place of birth = Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
date of death = death date and age|1918|07|18|1891|01|01
place of death = Alapayevsk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
place of burial= |

Prince Constantine Constantinovich of Russia ("Константин Константинович") (January 1, 1891 – July 18, 1918), nicknamed Kostia by the family, was the fourth child of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia by his wife Elisbeth Mavrikievna née HH Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg.

The Prince was a silent, shy person who fancied theatre and was educated in the Corps des Pages, a military academy in Saint Petersburg. He served in the army during the First World War. A priest who met him at the front, Hegumen Seraphim, wrote: "He was an extremely modest officer of the Guard of the Ismailovsky Regiment, much beloved by officers and soldiers alike; along with them he was a brave soldier who distinguished himself. I personally remember seeing him in the trenches among the soldiers, risking his life."

After seeing the happiness of his two elder siblings, John and Tatiana, Constantine was keen to start his own family. He fancied the Tsar's oldest daughter, Olga, but was also keen on Princess Elisabeth of Romania. Elisabeth's grandmother, the former Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, wrote to her daughter, the Crown Princess Marie of Romania in 1911, saying, "The young Kostia is seized now with terror that she will be snatched away, as he says, before he has even made her acquaintance. The young man seems really quite nice, is much liked in his regiment, and they have really been very well brought up. This one is full of life...if you have nothing against this youth coming on a passing visit, will you telegraph to me." However, the request was denied on political grounds, as Prince John was married to Helen of Serbia, and Constantine never did find the marriage he longed for.

In March 1918 he was exiled to the Urals by the Bolsheviks and murdered in a mineshaft near Alapayevsk, along with his brothers HH Prince John Constantinovich and HH Prince Igor Constantinovich, his cousin His Serene Highness Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley and other relatives and friends. His body was eventually buried in the Russian Orthodox Church cemetery in Beijing, which was destroyed years later to build a park.

Ancestors

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1= 1. Prince Constantine Constantinovich of Russia
2= 2. Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia
3= 3. Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg
4= 4. Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich of Russia
5= 5. Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg
6= 6. Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg
7= 7. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen
8= 8. Emperor Nicholas I of Russia
9= 9. Princess Charlotte of Prussia
10= 10. Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
11= 11. Duchess Amelia of Württemberg
12= 12. George, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
13= 13. Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
14= 14. Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
15= 15. Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
16= 16. Emperor Paul I of Russia
17= 17. Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
18= 18. King Frederick William III of Prussia
19= 19. Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
20= 20. Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
21= 21. Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
22= 22. Duke Louis of Württemberg
23= 23. Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg
24= 24. Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (=20)
25= 25. Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (=21)
26= 26. Hereditary Prince Frederick Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
27= 27. Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia
28= 28. George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
29= 29. Louise Eleanor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
30= 30. William II, Elector of Hesse
31= 31. Princess Augusta of Prussia

ee also

*Romanov sainthood