Olga's Husband: Tsar or Grand Duke?

[grandduchess_42]

i was wondering if Nicholas and Alexandra didn't have Alexei
that Olga was going to be Tsarina of all Russias

But if she got married... would her new husband become Tsar?
or like her great grandmother's husband... Grand Duke?

i asked this question on another thread... but i can't find it.
please post your opinions!

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

As Olga would be the hereditary ruler, she would have to take precedence, I would imagine.  Therefore, there would have to be a differentiation between her title and that of her husband.  I don't know what that title would be, though.  Perhaps a Grand Duke.

Or, perhaps a new title would have been created, in the same way the title of Prince Consort was created for Albert, and Duke of Edinburgh for Prince Philip.

Rachel
xx

[grandduchess_42]

Ah yes!

thanks for confirming!
are there other possiblities?

thats what i thought exactly!
thanks again!

[LisaDavidson]

Had Alexei (or any other sons for that matter) not been born, Olga would not have been the Heir. The Heir would have been her uncle, Grand Duke Michael.

Olga would have taken her rank when married from her husband as is customary in most of the Western world. Had she married a Grand Duke, her husband would have been a grand duke, and she would have been a grand duchess both by birth and by marriage. Olga's husband could not have been tsar.

[grandduchess_42]

aw yes!
i forgot about the law!

does anybody know the exact line of that law?

thank you for the information!

[LisaDavidson]

aw yes!
i forgot about the law!

does anybody know the exact line of that law?

thank you for the information!

If you do a Google search on "fundamental law of the Russian Empire" you can read the actual law on several different sites. Essentially, the law went like this:

1. Male succession by primogeniture until the extinction of male dynasts, then to female dynasts.
2. The purpose of the law was so there would be no doubt who the heir was.
3. Marriages had to be approved by the Emperor and be to someone of an equal rank. (later this was amended so that those who were not grand dukes/duchesses had to marry someone of good character, not always someone of equal rank).
4. The tsar had to be Orthodox and born of an Orthodox mother

Please consider this a very quick summary and not necessarily definitive or precise.

[grandduchess_42]

aw thank you lisadavidson!

that is a big help!
thanks again!