Did Russia play a role in encouraging the marriage between Prince David Bagraton and Princess Anna Bagration-Gruzinsky in order to establish and control the Georgian monarchy?
This is the view of Georgian's Interior Minister Vamo Merabisvili, who was interviewed the newspaper, Kommersant. He discussed Russia's attempt to influence Georgia's political stituation, despite the fact that the Georgian population largely supports their government. Merabishvilli said that the idea for restoring the Bagration dynasty in Georgia was the "Russian project."
"After the appointment of [Yevgeny[ Primakov in our direction, the idea of restoring the Bagration dynasty occurred. Representatives of the dynasty were forced to marry immediately, forcing the bride to divorce her husband. But this project did not justify itself and the idea broke up, like the Bagrations' marriage."
Primakov, who was raised in Georgia, and speaks the language, is a former foreign minister and Prime Minister of Russia, who has also been instrumental in trying infiltrate the Georgian political system. This appears to include the restoration of the Georgian monarchy. In order for Primakov's idea to come to fruition, he needed to unite in marriage the two main branches of the Bagration family.
In January 2008, Prince David Bagration-Moukhrani succeeded his father, Jorge, as head of the Royal House.
David was born and raised in Madrid, where the Bagration family had lived for some years. His mother, Mercedes, was born Doña Maria de las Mercedes de Zornoza y Ponce de Leon.
It was only after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the establishment of an independent Georgia, when the family could establish ties with a country they barely knew, and a language they did not understand.
David moved to Tbilisi in 2003, and received citizenship a year later. (He is also a citizen of Spain.) His elder brother, Irakli, renounced his succession rights, which made David the heir apparent until Jorge's death.
Although David visited Georgian troops during the war with Russia over South Ossetia, he regretted Georgia "had to pay such a price to show the world the true face of Russia. He also believed that the time was not right for a restoration, and it would be up to Georgian people to make the final decision.
On February 8, 2009, Prince David married Princess Anna Bagration-Gruzinsky, whose father, Nugzar, who is the head of the Kakheti line of the Bagration family. This branch ruled in Kakheti, and retained sovereignty until the Russian annexation in 1800. In April 2009, the Georgian media reported problems in the marriage. The couple separated, and the marriage was dissolved.
Both lines have their claims to the throne. Prince David is the senior most heir male of the Bagration line, but Nugzar represents senior male primogenitorial line of descent from the last king of Georgia, George XII, who died in 1800. It was after his death that Russia annexed Georgia, and the royal family was forced out of the country.
The marriage between the two branches delighted Georgian monarchists. Georgian newspapers and television gave prominent coverage to first royal wedding in more than 200 years.
Less than two months after the wedding, the couple separated. Anna's father acknowledged that there were problems between the couple, but he did not elaborate. Anna, who was the mother of two children by her first marriage, was already back teaching at a local school.
Nugzar is the last male in this line. His two older brothers do not have male issue.
It is sad, perhaps even tragic mixed with a little hubris, to think that the participants in this wedding, primarily the groom, may have had knowledge of Russia's desire, and role in this attempt to subvert Georgian democracy.
It is one thing to dream and yearn for a monarchical restoration. Oh, wouldn't be great to see Georgia as a monarchy? Hear the door knocking: that's reality knocking.
Yes, it is important to understand how the Bagration family can play a role in the social and cultural fabric of Georgian life. But play the king -- with the Russian masters controlling the puppet strings? Is that what Georgian monarchists want?
Georgia may see itself as a western country, but it is not. The Bagrations did not reign or rule as constitutional monarchs of a western nation. For that matter, neither did the Romanovs.
Prince David Bagration has lived in Georgia for seven years, but he does not have the expertise to be king of a country that is still trying to establish its own sovereignty as a nation. Georgia has serious issues, but going to war with Russia over a chunk of land was not a good idea. The Russians, who suffer from their own unique paranoia, want to regain the control they once had when Georgia was one of many Soviet Socialist Republics.
Freedom House describes Georgia as a partially free country, with serious "flaws in the presidential and parliamentary election processes."
The failed marriage was set up by collusion. What role did Prince David play, apart from the bridegroom, in this farce? Was he involved in the actual collusion with the Russians: marry Anna, and we will make you king! Anna's family also had to be aware of the implications of what was about to happen, especially after Anna was forced, according to Georgia's Interior Minister, to divorce her first husband, so she could marry David.
It appears that Georgian officials realized what had happened, and the marriage was soon over. We do not know all the facts, but it appears that David and Anna were used, and allowed themselves to be manipulated for Russia's political gain in Georgia.
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