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I had this all typed up and then the thread was closed before I could post (please forgive me if this is some breach of forum etiquette). So I'm turning it into a DBWI of my own.

In 1820, Grand Duke Konstantin (future Emperor Konstantin I) supposedly renounced his rights to the throne in order to marry his Catholic Polish mistress. However, when Emperor Alexander died in 1825, Konstantin became Russian emperor. Of course, Russia was a tinderbox when it got a tsarina who was both a Catholic and a Pole (for good reason, anyone remember the False Dmitri's wife?). There were a couple of rebellions that fizzled out when Konstantin got the army in, especially since Grand Duke Nikolai (the guy who many thought was going to be tsar) was the bloke leading them.

Until then, everyone expected Konstantin to sort of put the Princess Lowicz away and marry someone suitable (he did, but only after she died of cholera in 1831, did he marry Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b.1818)). But it didn't help that Konstantin had married Joanna, Princess of Lowicz, kept his three illegitimate children (Prince Paul (b.1808) - whom he later, in a weird twisted way, married to the bastard daughter of his first wife, Anna of Coburg, Louise von Löwenfels - Prince Konstantin (b.1818) - later a decorated scientist, metalurgist and who dabbled in munitions and agriculture and came up with what we now call dynamite) - and the Princess Konstantia (b.1815)) in public view (and elevated them to being right behind the imperial family) - which were considered rather scandalous at the time - Victorian moralism was just coming in. But he (read Princess Lowicz and Konstantia who served as hostess for her dad between wives) also managed to make the Russian court an extremely refined and cultured centre. But arguably the thing he is most remembered for is his "friendship" with France. Hell, he married his niece to King Henri V. If it hadn't been for the Russian backing, the Bourbon regime might've been overthrown. Not that Konstantin would've done anything had it been overthrown - most likely he'd have just shrugged his shoulders and gone back to drilling his soldiers. But it was the fact that everyone thought they knew that Russia and France were walking in lockstep that made them nervous. Prime Minister Wellington expressed concerns about this several times - which is why he pushed so hard for Luise of Mecklenburg (a cousin to Queen Victoria) to be chosen over another candidate.

So, what if the renunciation had been real/binding in 1820? Would Nikolai Pavlovich's reign have been much different? Would the Russian Emperor also attempt to claim to be overlord of Greece (which Konstantin did when he tried to get either he or his bastard son elected as king of Greece)?
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