Karelia

[John_d]

Calling all Finland grogs!

I've mentioned this before somewhere on here, but I used to be good friends with a guy who claimed that he was the rightful heir to the throne of the Karelia. At the time, I just wrote it off as an example of drug induced dillusion or merely a tall story intended to impress. His family was of Finnish extraction on his mother's side (I think, judging from his rather odd collection of middle names). His story went something along the lines of his grandmother being the princess of Karelia years ago (Karelia was apparently a principality) before the Second World War. He claimed that his family were forced to flee ahead of the Russian invasion, leaving behind the family wealth and property, which was later confiscated by the Soviets. The family were unable to return to Karelia, as they were regarded as class enemies by the Soviets and a potential rallying point for Karelian nationalism. Instead, they fled to England in poverty where they settled down and married into English families and became, to all extents and purposes, English. However, technically the bloodline still exists, leaving my friend as the heir to the throne (or at least very close to it)

I have since lost contact with my friend, but the story has always intrigued me. I have attempted my own research into the subject, but haven't got anywhere. Karelian history seems pretty hard to come by. Furthermore, I can't find any mention of a Karelian royal family, much less a family tree or anything. I was wondering if anyone here might know anything that would help verify or discredit the story

[Sergei]

Part of this is very much true; in fact, my own ancestry permits me to be called His Royal Holyness of the Grand Duke of Terijoki.

Your friend, however, was probably either pulling your leg, or then some member (the grandmother?) of his family had pulled his. Honestly.

[John_d]

So which bits are true and which bits aren't? To be honest, I had suspected that it may be untrue, given that my friend also claimed to be the re-incarnation of Jim Morrison

[Sergei]

Him being a re-incarnation of Jim Morrison is probably true. Finland having been republican in its form since her independence, his grandmother having been a Karelian princess is not true.

[John_d]

Haha, that would rule out him being a prince then!

[Philippe]

I have a hazy recollection that the english word prince actually does double duty for two different russian aristocratic titles. And I seem to recall that one of them was actually so low in rank that it was almost middle class. We'll need someone familiar with the nomenclature to confirm this, but if I'm right it wouldn't be at all surprising for someone to be what we would refer to in English as a Karelian prince. But there may have been a dozen of them, and it was probably the lowest rung on the aristocratic ladder.

Emigres told all kinds of stories, and half the fun was that everyone believed them.