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The Grand Duke Michail was born on December 9, 1878 in St. Petersburg. He was the third son of the Emperor Alexander III and his wife Marie. At the time of his birth Michail was third in line for the throne behind his older brothers Nicholas and George. Without the burden of the throne facing him, Michail was able to develop as an intelligent and free spirit in his youth. This spirit was what perhaps made him the favourite child of the Emperor and Empress. History was Michail's favourite subject in school (it was a chronicle of his family as far as he was concerned). Michail gained some notoriety in his adult life by falling in love with the wife of a member of his imperial horse guard regiment. This relationship became serious and caused a scandal in the royal family as well as in the popular press. As long as they just lived together it was acceptable to the Czar Nicholas, but when she got pregnant and they got married in Austria, Nicholas banned them from Russia. Michail's relationship with Nathalia Cheremetevskaya would prove to be strong and lasting. In his banishment Michail took a grand tour of Europe. Instead of just scandalising Russia, he went off to scandalise all of Europe. They travelled in a grand style, visiting all the high society spots like Cannes, St. Moritz and London. Some of Michail's letters were written while he was on this tour in 1914. With the onset of World War I Michael was recalled to Russia by Nicholas to take his place in the Army. During the early part of World War I Michail was not in command of his Imperial Guard Regiment. Instead he was the commander of the famous Caucasian Division. This division was referred to as the Wild division because of its makeup of cavalry regiments from Muslim countries. They were famous for some of their early victories against the Austrians on the Galician Front. Michail's letters from this period speak of the battles and the casualties from these battles. Michail's fateful day would come in March of 1917. He would receive a letter from his brother addressing him as Your Majesty. This is how Michail found out that Nicholas had abdicated for himself and for his son. The next day Michail wrote a Manifesto to the Russian Parliament with the proposal that if there was to be an end to the Autocracy the Parliament would have to take the power and perhaps set up a Constitutional Monarchy. The Provisional Government did not follow through on this very democratic proposal. Michail spent the remainder of his life living freely at home and then, with increasing restrictions on his movement, he was placed under arrest in the city of Perm (Ural Region). Michail was murdered on the orders of the Lenin between June 12 and June 16, 1918. His wife would not learn the facts of his death until 1934.