ST PETERSBURG (Russia) – On Friday, a descendant from Russia’s imperial family wed his Italian bride in the first Russian royal wedding since tsarist times over a century ago.

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini were married at St. Isaac’s Cathedral. This was in Russia’s former imperial capital St Petersburg.

Russian Orthodox clergy performed the ceremony. Hundreds of people were present to witness it.

George Mikhailovich’s great-grandfather Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich fled Russia during 1917 Bolshevik revolution. He fled first to Finland, then he escaped to Western Europe with his family.

Russia’s final tsar Nicholas II and his five children, were killed by revolutionary firing squads in July 1918 in Yekaterinburg. This city is 1,450km (900 miles) northeast of Moscow.

George Mikhailovich (40), was born in Madrid, and has spent most of his adult life in France and Spain.

Bettarini (39), who converted to Russian Orthodox Christianity last year, took on the name Victoria Romanovna and was lead to the altar of God by Roberto Bettarini her father who had previously served as a diplomat in Italy.

George Mikhailovich first visited Russia in 1992. He then moved to Moscow, where he continues his work on several charity projects.

Russia was ruled by the Romanov Dynasty for more than 300 years, before Nicholas II abdicated early 1917. This set the country in motion for the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1918, civil war, and 70 years under Communist control.

Russia’s Orthodox Church, in 2000 canonized Nicholas II. Soviet authorities had portrayed him as a weak leader.