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I know that while the Russian empire was still reigning, the sine qua non for a marriage to be dynastic was the consent of the sovereign. The Fundamental Laws, although requiring *equality*, did not specifically define this. Rather, it was up to the said sovereign to determine whether a prospective spouse was of *equal* birth. That being said, the Romanovs evidently applied a higher standard for dynastic marriages than I had thought (or perhaps I misunderstood the Fundamental Laws). Evidently, *equal* meant that a person was a dynastic member of either a royal or reigning house. So the deposed French dynasty qualified.

But things got extremely murky after the Romanovs got deposed and exiled -- whether the laws applied, who the head of the house even was. Evidently, the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna is not the first of her line whose claim to headship of the imperial house has been questioned or contested. Even the claims of her father (Vladimir) and grandfather (Kirill) before her were not necessarily accepted universally -- especially by fellow descendants of the Russian dynasty.

So my question is: did ANY of their cousins even bother seeking dynastic consent for their marriages, from Kirill and Vladimir? Or did the Romanovs largely marry without seeking the consent of the (admittedly disputed) head of the house, yet think somehow that their marriages were dynastic? That the Fundamental Laws did not apply to them in a state of exile and deposition?