Princess Rohays Galitzine (1952-2023), Great-Granddaughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia

The death notice of Rohays Galitzine.
From The Times of 17 January.

 

Aged seventy, Princess Rohays Galitzine died on 7 January 2023. Rohays is survived by her husband Prince Alexander Galitzine and their two daughters, Princess Sasha and Princess Nadezhda. 

The wedding of Sir David Butter and Myra Wernher.

Born on 9 April 1952 at London, Rohays Georgina Butter was the third daughter and child of Major David Henry Butter (1920-2010) and Myra Alice Wernher (1925-2022), who wed in 1946. Rohays joined two older sisters, Sandra Butter (b.1948; married William Morrison) and Marilyn Butter (b.1950; married James Ramsay, 17th Earl of Dalhousie). She was followed by a younger sister and brother, Georgina Butter (b.1956; married Count Peter Pejačević de Veröcze), and Charles Butter (b.1960; married Agnieszka Szeluk). 

Rohays's great-grandparents: Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich and Countess Sophie de Torby. 

Rohays Butter's paternal grandparents were Colonel Charles Adrian James Butter (1876-1949) and Agnes Marguerite "Madge" Clark (1885-1972). Her maternal grandparents were Sir Harold Wernher, Baronet (1893-1973) and Countess Anastasia "Zia" de Torby (1892-1977), the daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (1861-1929) and Countess Sophie Nikolaievna of Merenberg (1868-1927).

On 18 March 1988, the engagement between Rohays Butter and Prince Alexander Galitzine was announced in The Daily Telegraph. On 7 May 1988, Rohays Georgina Butter married Prince Alexander Peter Galitzine at Dunkeld Cathedral. The Reverend T. Dick officiated. Rohays was walked down the aisle by her father. Her attendants were the Honourable Alice Ramsay, Alexandra Munemann, Molly Seymour, Georgia Jacob, Lady Edwina Grosvenor, Charles Morrison, Edward Phillips, Victor Burnett, Aidan Crawley, and Lord Eskdaill. Count Paul Raben was Prince Alexander's best man. The wedding reception was held at the home of the bride, and the couple honeymooned abroad. Prince Alexander and Princess Rohays had two daughters: Princess Sasha Alice Natalia Galitzine (b.1989) and Princess Nadezhda "Nadia" Georgina Galitzine (b.1990). 

Princess Anne Marie with her daughter Princess Caroline and her son Prince Alexander, ~1947.
Photo (c) National Portrait Gallery, London / Francis Goodman.

Born on 6 September 1945 at Marlow, Bucks, Prince Alexander Peter Galitzine was the first son and second child of Prince George Galitzine (1916-1992) and Baroness Anne Marie von Slatin (1916-2007), who wed in 1943 and divorced in 1954. Alexander joined an older sister, Princess Caroline Galitzine (b.1944; married [and divorced] Jonathan Hazell). Caroline and Alexander were followed by a younger brother, Prince George Galitzine (b.1946; married Emma de Bendern). After his father's remarriage in 1963 to Jean Dawnay, the three older Galitzine siblings were joined by a younger sister, Princess Catherine Galitzine (b.1964; married Nicholas Laing). Alexander's mother Anne-Marie married Arthur Ponsonby in 1956; the couple divorced in 1963 and Arthur went on to become the 11th Earl of Bessborough. 

Prince Alexander's great-grandparents: Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitzand Natalia Vanljarskaya, Countess von Carlow, with their four children. Alexander's grandmother Catherine is standing next to her father.

Prince Alexander Galitzine's paternal grandparents were Prince Vladimir Galitzine (1884-1954) and Countess Catherine von Carlow (1891-1940), the daughter of Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1859-1909) and Natalia Vanljarskaya (1858-1921). His maternal grandparents were Major-General Baron Rudolf Carl von Slatin (1857-1932) and Baroness Alice von Ramberg (1873-1921). 

Emperor Paul.

Through their mutual descent from Emperor Paul I of Russia, Rohays Butter and Alexander Galitzine were fifth cousins. 

May Rohays Rest In Peace.