Grand Duke Dimitri Constantinovich of Russia - Russian Grand Duke

Russian Grand Duke

Dimitri was very religious and he assumed responsibility for the church of the Apparition of the Virgin near Strelna, which was the regimental church of the Horse Grenadiers. He commissioned both an enlargement and a renovation program, which he paid for himself.

The grand duke's main residence was the splendid Palace of Strelna, where he lived a quiet and misanthropic life and was his main residence until the revolution. He lived in a suite of rooms of the ground floor on the west wing that had previously been occupied by his father. He had the palace electrified, telephones were installed and modern plumbing provided for the bathroom and the kitchen.

Dimitri Constantinovich was fair, with blond hair and blue eyes, and wore a small cavalry mustache. He was tall and lean with long legs and a long neck that increased his extraordinary height. In a family known for the height of its male members, Dimitri was among the tallest. Grand Duchess Militsa considered him “the nicest and best among the grand dukes”. He was proper, dignified and very refined in his manners.

Alexander Mossolov, head of Nicholas II’s Court Chancellery, described him as "full of good sense”, remarking that Dimitri Constantinovich “was the one among all the grand dukes who was most deeply imbued with the sense of his duty as a Prince and a cousin of the Emperor”.

One day, the grand duke dispatched a hefty portion of his annual civil list income to support a struggling church. When Mossolov learnt of this he warned, " If you make gifts everywhere on this scale, your revenues will not last.” But Dimitri Konstantinovich replied that the stipend was “not intended to enable us to live as sybarites; this money is put into our hands in order that we may augment the prestige of the Imperial family.

The grand duke was a life-long bachelor never involved in scandals. His cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikailovich accused him of misogyny in his book of memoirs, but this was contradicted with the close affective relationships he had with female members of his family. He was adored by his family and especially by his young nieces and nephews, with whom he would happily play and ride for hours. He was particularly close to the children of his bother Konstantine. His nephew Prince Gabriel Constantinovich remembered him, as a "wonderful, kind person" who was almost a second father and wherever they saw him, they ran across the room, jumping up to hug him and wrap their arms around his neck. Dimitri Constantinovich also loved to tease the children and play practical jokes on them.

Under Nicholas II, the grand duke received further promotions. On 26 May 1896, he was raised to the rank of Major-General, and three months later, he was named General à la suite in the Imperial Entourage. On 19 December 1904, Dimitri Constantinovich was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed Adjutant General to Nicholas II. Nicholas II also appointed the grand duke general director of the Imperial Stud in 1896. Despite his love of the military, it was this later post that struck the deepest chord in Dimitri Constantinovich. On learning of his appointment, the grand duke — whom one courtier termed "timid beyond imagination" declared, " I should have eagerly accepted the appointment if it only meant looking after horses… I am afraid I shall never get on properly with officials."

Dimitri Constantinovich was entranced with his new position, one of which demanded that he traveled across Russia and Europe, selecting the finest horses. Acting on his advice, the Imperial Stud purchased Galtee More, who had won the Derby in Great Britain, for an astronomical 200,000 rubles; as soon as he arrived in Russia, the thoroughbred was put to stud at Tsarskoye Selo. Dimitri Constantinovich held the post until 1905, when he was replaced with major general, Alexei Zdnovich. On 10 January 1904, Dimitri Constantinovich relinquished command of the Horse Guard grenadiers Regiment. Although he would have been happy to remain in his post, his eyesight was failing rapidly, in detriment to his military career. Reluctantly he recognized that by remaining he was depriving another, more capable man of advancement. On leaving active service, the grand duke generously gave his dacha at Krasnoye Selo to the Horse Guards Regiment, to be used as an officer’s club.