A warm welcome from the GD Elizabeth Society
Our Society was founded in 2015 in memory of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Romanov. We work to spread knowledge about the Romanov dynasty and the royal history of Great Britain and Russia in 19th and 20th centuries.
who was Grand Duchess Elizabeth romanov?
GD Elizabeth was born in 1864 to Prince Ludwig of Hesse and his wife Alice, the third child of Queen Victoria. She was a German princess of Hesse-Darmstadt by birth, English in her upbringing, and a Russian Grand Duchess of the House of Romanov by her marriage to Sergei, the brother of Tsar Alexander III. During her life she was praised for her extraordinary beauty and charitable character. After her husband’s murder in 1905 she established the Martha Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow, and become its prioress. She was martyred during the Russian Revolution and has been canonised as a saint.
St Elizabeth is gradually being honoured in Britain, and statues of her have been erected at Westminster Abbey and in St Alban’s Cathedral. Her figure has enormous potential to promote Christian values in our society, to improve mutual understanding between the peoples of Britain, Germany and Russia, and to show our common roots and values.
To see more about the life and works of the Grand Duchess please visit our GD Elizabeth page.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SOCIETY
The Society is run by a dedicated group of volunteers based in East Sussex, UK. From the beginning, we had big plans for the Society and with the generous support of our members we have managed to achieve a lot in the past few years. The Society has organised a number of conferences, events, concerts and exhibitions, all with our key aim of historical education in mind. We recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Society with an event hosted online for our members. Our full objectives as a charity can be viewed here. See our current projects here.
ROMANOV MONUMENT
The Society is very happy to have led the initiative to erect a monument to the Romanovs on the Isle of Wight, near Osborne House, in partnership with East Cowes community. The monument is dedicated to the centenary of the martyrdom of the Romanov Imperial Family.
This seven-and-a-half-tonne granite monument, designed by Russian sculptor Elena Bezborodova, was unveiled on 8th July 2018 in the presence of 200 people, including representatives of the Isle of Wight authorities, the Lord-Lieutenant Major General Sir Martin White, the Naval Ambassador of the Embassy of the Russian Federation Yury Melenas, and His Highness Prince Rostislav, representing the Romanov Family Association.
The monument is a moving reminder of the close ties between the Romanovs and Great Britain. The royal family visited the island in 1909 and watched the Cowes Week yachting regatta.
Read the Society’s report from the unveiling of the monument and coverage on the BBC. It is also possible to watch a video of the unveiling.
exhibitions
The Society has organised and presented a number of unique exhibitions about the Romanovs.
In 2016, the Society’s exhibition “Members of the Romanov House during the First World War: Charity and Heroism” was successfully presented inside the former Russian Embassy chapel in Welbeck Street, Marylebone. We also had the honour of showing elements of the exhibition to HRH Prince Charles at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in London.
In 2018, the Society presented a new exhibition “The Cross of The Romanovs” on the Isle Wight, during the unveiling of the Romanov Monument. This exhibition was further developed as part of the commemorative events in 2019. Another exhibition entitled “Romanov Estates in Crimea”, was part of our “Rescuing The Romanovs” conference in 2019.2
conferences and lectures
In 2017, the Society’s first conference entitled “The Last Romanovs: Archival and Museum Discoveries in Great Britain and Russia” took place at the magnificent Cumberland Lodge in Windsor. Also in 2017, the Society organised a day of talks entitled “Romanovs in The Kremlin and in their Country Estate near Moscow: Coronations and Family Life”.
In 2019, the Society hosted Metropolitan Kallistos, who gave a talk entitled “The Eucharist As Sacrifice”. The video of the talk can viewed on our website. The Society organised a conference entitled “Rescuing the Romanovs: Crimea – Malta – Britain, 1919-2019”, which took place in Oxford in October 2019. The three day event was dedicated to the Centenary of the British operation in Crimea to rescue the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and other members of the Romanov Family.
publications
The Society has produced a magnificent eBook, which presents the proceedings of the international symposium “The Last Romanovs: Archival and Museum Discoveries in Great Britain and Russia”. The book contains over hundred colour illustrations, along with unique research and documents. It can be purchased on our website.
In January 2021 we launched our quarterly magazine Romanov History UK.
trips and PILGRIMAGES
The Society has organised a number of trips and pilgrimages for its members. We travelled to Russia in 2016 and 2018 – this last trip was to Siberia and the Urals. We have also visited more local sites with Romanov connections. In 2017 we organised a trip to the Isle of Wight to visit Osborne House and other locations of historical importance. Other local trips included Eastbourne (which GD Elizabeth once visited) and Provender, the home of Princess Olga Andreevna Romanoff.
support our work
join us
Find out how to join our Society on the membership page.
BUY OUR EBOOK
Our ebook “The Last Romanovs” is currently on sale. For details on how to purchase the ebook see this page.
make a donation
You can support our projects with a donation to our account – Sort Code: 309986, A/C 83843968. Any small donation will help. You can also contact our treasurer Anna Scriven (anna.scriven@yahoo.com).