David Bagration of Mukhrani - Intra-dynastic Marriage

Intra-dynastic Marriage

Prince David Bagration of Mukhrani married Princess Anna Bagration-Gruzinsky on 8 February 2009 at the Tbilisi Sameba Cathedral. The marriage united the Gruzinsky (Kakheti) and Moukhransky (Mukhraneli) branches of the Georgian royal family, and drew a crowd of 3,000 spectators, officials, and foreign diplomats, as well as extensive coverage by the Georgian media.

The dynastic significance of the wedding lay in the fact that, amidst the turmoil in political partisanship that has roiled Georgia since its independence in 1991, Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia publicly called for restoration of the monarchy as a path toward national unity in October 2007. Although this led some politicians and parties to entertain the notion of a Georgian constitutional monarchy, competition arose among the old dynasty's princes and supporters, as historians and jurists debated which Bagrationi has the strongest hereditary right to a throne that has been vacant for two centuries. Although some Georgian monarchists support the Gruzinsky Royal branch's claim, others support that of the re-patriated Mukhrani branch. Both branches descend in unbroken, legitimate male line from the medieval kings of Georgia down to Constantine II of Georgia who died in 1505.

Whereas the Bagration-Mukhrani (Bagrationi-Mukhraneli) was a cadet branch of the former Royal House of Kartli, they became the genealogically seniormost line of the Bagrationi family in the early 20th century: yet the elder branch had lost the rule of Kartli by 1724.

Meanwhile, the Bagration-Gruzinsky line, although junior to the Princes of Mukhrani genealogically, reigned over the kingdom of Kakheti, re-united the two realms in the kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti in 1762, and did not lose sovereignty until Russian annexation in 1800.

The bridegroom is the only member of his branch who retains Georgian citizenship and residence since the death of his father, Prince George (Jorge) Bagration-Mukhrani in 2008. Aside from his unmarried elder brother, Prince David is the heir male of the Bagration family, while the bride's father is the most senior descendant of the last Bagrationi to reign over the united kingdom of Georgia. Since Nugzar and Princes Peter and Eugene Bagration-Gruzinsky are the last patrilineal males descended from King George XII, and all three were born before 1950, their branch verges on extinction. But the marriage between Nugzar Gruzinsky's heiress and the Mukhrani heir resolves their rivalry for the claim to the throne, which has divided Georgian monarchists. A son born of this marriage is apt to eventually become both the heir male of the House of Bagration and the heir general of George XII of Georgia.

The Georgia Times filed a story on 20 April 2009 stating that Prince David and Princess Anna were "on the verge of divorce" and no longer lived together. The father of Princess Anna, Prince Nugzar Bagration-Gruzinsky, confirmed that the marriage between his daughter and Prince David had indeed run into difficulties.

On 3 August 2009, Russian news agency Blagovest reported that Prince David and Princess Anna had separated within a month of their marriage. Princess Anna's mother was quoted as saying that the Bagrationi family will not be commenting to the media on what they believe is a strictly private matter. The Blagovest article also stated that there is little chance of a reconciliation and that the marriage is effectively over. However, it was subsequently reported that the couple were vacationing together in Venezuela in October 2009, two months after the separation story surfaced and nearly a year after the marriage.

Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili stated in an interview published by Russian newspaper Kommersant on 7 April 2010 that the marital union of Prince David Bagration-Muhkransky and Princess Anna Bagration-Gruzinsky was arranged with the primary purpose of promoting the restoration of the Georgian monarchy under the Bagrationi. Therefore, according to Merabishvili, Princess Anna was forced to divorce her first husband Grigoriy Malania in order to allow her to wed Prince David. Merabishvili maintained that the Bagrationi couple were no longer married. However it was rumoured by the Georgian press that the couple had reconciled and was expecting their first child. The royal couple's first child, Prince George Bagration-Bagrationi was born in Madrid on 27 September 2011. 23 November 2011 (day of St. George) Nugzar Bagrationi Recognizes his grandson as an heir of the Gruzinski Branch.