George Mikhailovich, Count Brasov - Exile

Exile

On the night of 12–13 June 1918, George's father was shot dead on the outskirts of Perm by the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. The circumstances of his father's death would not become known until after George's death. Still believing Michael to be alive, George's mother and half-sister Natalia, his mother's daughter from her first marriage, were smuggled out of Russia to Kiev, in German-controlled Ukraine, by the Germans. After the armistice in November 1918, the Royal Navy evacuated George's mother and half-sister to England, and George and Miss Neame joined them in a rented house at Wadhurst, Sussex, just after Easter 1919.

George was enrolled at St Leonards-on-Sea College in September 1919, until he moved to Harrow, a prominent public boarding school in 1920. In 1927, due to financial problems, his mother relocated to Paris but he remained in England to finish his school year. He then went to another boarding school, École des Roches in Verneuil, Normandy, and then the Sorbonne. As he matured, many remarked at his strong resemblance to his father.

To George's amusement, the idea of him claiming the throne was circulated during his lifetime. By the 1920s, the Soviets had a firm grip on power in Russia, and the return of the monarchy was not a serious possibility. Nevertheless, George's cousin, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich, declared himself Emperor Cyril, and granted George the empty title of prince.

In 1928, George's grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie, died and George inherited a third of her estate. He had enjoyed riding his Norton motorcycle as a teenager, and some of his inheritance was spent on a Chrysler sports car. In Summer 1931, he finished his final examinations at the Sorbonne, and planned a holiday in the south of France with his 19-year-old Dutch friend, Edgar Moneanaar. On the drive from Paris to Cannes, their car skidded near Sens, while Moneanaar was driving. They crashed into a tree, and Moneanaar was killed. With both thighs broken and severe internal injuries, George was taken to hospital. Natalia rushed to be at his bedside. He died without recovering consciousness the following morning.

George was buried in Passy Cemetery in Paris. In 1952, his mother died from cancer, and she was interred beside him in a grave marked by a Slavonic cross of stone on a marble tomb. (Section 9, near the intersection with the outer wall and Section 8.) The gold inscription reads, Fils et Epouse de S.A.I Grand Duc Michel de Russie.

Although he had no succession rights due to the morganatic marriage of his parents, George was the last male-line descendant of Alexander III of Russia.