by Ph.D. Alexander N. Zakatov
Director Chancellery of the Head
of the Russian Imperial House
A Conceptual Rationale
Correcting the injustices done to the Russian Imperial House of Romanoff, which made a significant contribution to the foundation, development, and growth of the Russian state over the course of 760 years, is a vital and necessary part of the general policy to affirm the continuity of the current Russian government with the nation’s past. Russia’s rejection of its former Communist ideology and Russia’s Constitutional guarantees of freedom of thought have together created the conditions for the revival of the full range of diverse and dynamic ideals, among the most significant of which are the religious, social, and political values embodied by the Romanoff dynasty. It would be wholly unthinkable to attempt to construct and cultivate a healthy civil society, which all recognize is essential for our nation, without acknowledging our country’s glorious past, to which its social and political structures are inextricably linked.
It was a profoundly Providential moment for our country when November 4 was declared the Day of National Unity—a date that is linked to the restoration of the Russian state after the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century. It was on that date in the year 1612 that foreign occupiers were expelled from Moscow and that internal enemies and traitors were defeated, beginning a historical process that culminated in the Assembly of the Land of 1613, which called the House of Romanoff, in the person of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, to the throne. The Russian government and society today understand and accept the need to eradicate the effects of a new Time of Troubles of the 20th century: the Revolution of 1917 and the atheistic and totalitarian regime it gave birth to. It was therefore that very meaningful date—November 4—that was chosen to mark the Day of National Unity.
The Historical and Legal Foundations of the Russian Imperial House
The Russian Imperial House continues to exist as a historical institution on the basis of its historical and legal traditions and in full accord with its historical and dynastic laws.
No other legal foundation for determining the membership and internal structure of the Imperial House exists, nor can exist, except the House Laws.
Membership in the Imperial House is determined by the Family Statute, and the question of the Headship of the dynasty is determined in accordance with this Statute, “which provides complete clarity on the question and grants no allowance for a choice from among the various members of the ruling House.”