Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen
| Karl Emich of Leiningen | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas III | |||||
Karl Emich in 2014 | |||||
| Head of the House of Romanov | |||||
| Time | 1 June 2013 – present | ||||
| Predecessor | Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia (regent) | ||||
| Heir presumptive | Prince Andreas (1955–) | ||||
| Archchancellor | Prince Anton Bakov | ||||
| Born | 12 June 1952 Amorbach, West Germany | ||||
| Spouse | Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Oehringen
(m. 1984; died 1989)Countess Isabelle von und zu Egloffstein
(m. 2007) | ||||
| Issue |
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| House | House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov (cognatic) Leiningen (agnatic) | ||||
| Father | Emich, 7th Prince of Leiningen | ||||
| Mother | Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg | ||||
| Religion | Lutheranism (before 2013) Russian Orthodoxy (since 2013) | ||||
Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen (German: Karl Emich Nikolaus Friedrich Hermann Prinz zu Leiningen; Russian: Карл Эмих Николаус Фридрих Герман цу Лейнинген; born 12 June 1952), also known by his Orthodox Russian name Nikolai Kirillovich Romanov (Николай Кириллович Романов), and recognized with the regnal name Emperor Nicholas III by Monarchist Party supporters of the Imperial Throne, is the eldest son of Emich, 7th Prince of Leiningen and his wife, Duchess Eilika of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, and is an elder brother of Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen.
He is a claimant to the defunct throne of the Russian Empire, held until 1917 by the Imperial House of Romanov, as a grandson of Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna (1907–1951), eldest child of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who claimed the Russian crown from exile in 1924. He is a great-great-great-grandson of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and grandnephew of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia. In 2013, the Monarchist Party of Russia declared him the primary heir to the Russian throne upon his conversion from Lutheranism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and in 2014 announced the formation of the Imperial Throne, wherein Karl Emich had agreed to assume imperial dignity as Emperor Nicholas III. As such, however, he came into competition with the widely recognized pretender to the throne, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, who is recognized by the Patriarch of Moscow.
He also claimed the headship of the House of Leiningen in the past.