Prince Gabriel Constantinovich of Russia - War and Revolution

War and Revolution

At the outbreak of World War I, Prince Gabriel had to be separated from his mistress. He and four of his brothers joined the active Russian army in the military effort, fighting in advance operations. His brother Prince Oleg was killed in action at the beginning of the war. The following year Gabriel's father died of a heart attack. Evacuated to Petrograd in the fall of 1914, he joined the military academy, graduating at the age of twenty-nine with the rank of colonel. His affair with Nesteroskaya continued openly and was discussed publicly. The two lived together for a long time, and in 1916 Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, seeing the sincerity of their feelings, decided to help them get married even though it was considered a misalliance.

After the overthrow of the Russian monarchy in the February Revolution of 1917, Prince Gabriel asked his mother for permission to marry Antonina Nesteroskaya, but she did not give him her consent. He decided to disobey, and on 9 April 1917 at three o'clock pm in a little church, they married. A morganatic union would have never been allowed under the reign of Nicholas II and Gabriel kept his marriage secret from both his mother and his uncle Dimitri Constantinovich, who only later learned of the wedding.

Gabriel had asked his cousin Prince Alexander of Leuchtenberg, who himself intended to marry morganatically, to find a priest to bless the wedding secretly. At the wedding ceremony, only Lydia Tchistiakova (Antonina's sister) and a couple of their friends were present. Gabriel Constantinovich had told his secret to his brother Ivan a few days before, but his elder brother did not want to attend the ceremony because of their mother. However, he promised to keep the secret. On his way to the church, Prince Gabriel saw his brothers Konstantine and George who were walking on Morskaïa Street. They had just met Antonina in wedding dress in another car. Only later, the two brothers realized what had happened. Once married, Prince Gabriel went to see his mother who, although she was very upset, at the end gave him her blessing. From then on Prince Gabriel moved into Nesteroskaya's apartment where for a time, the couple lived quietly.

Prince Gabriel tried to keep a low profile in Petrograd during the spring 1917. Fearing a vengeful mob, Antonina telephoned to warn him, and dispatched a car and driver to collect him from the Military Academy and spirit him to the relative safety of her house.