PRINCE MICHAEL'S commitment to fostering cultural, commercial and educational initiatives between Britain and Russia has been further underlined by two high-profile visits to Russia within the space of just six weeks this summer.

August was spent preparing for September's Britain In Russia trade fair at Samara, to which the Prince will be going in his capacity as Patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce. At the same time, the Prince and Princess Michael were able to look back on a highly successful joint trip to Moscow at the end of July.

Related to Tsar Nicholas II through his grandmother, Prince Michael has always had a profound interest in Russian history and culture. He learned to speak Russian during his days in the army, qualifying as an interpreter. And since the collapse of Communism he has made regular trips to Russia, either in connection with the various Anglo-Russian charitable organisations with which he is associated or as Patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce.

Until the July visit, however, Princess Michael had never been to Moscow, although she had accompanied her husband to St Petersburg in 1994.

During the four-day visit, Princess Michael gave a lecture on Catherine the Great to a packed and appreciative audience of politicians, academics and businessmen at the National Pushkin Museum. The Princess has given similar talks on historical themes at various places around the world but mainly in America where, earlier this year, she undertook a lecture tour that included Naples and Palm Beach in Florida, Portland, Oregon and New York.

After giving her lecture at the National Pushkin Museum, the Princess was presented with souvenirs and books by the Director

Her Russian audience was clearly impressed by the Princess's performance. Yevgeny A. Bogatyriov, the Director of the Pushkin Museum, presented Her Royal Highness with souvenirs and books on Russian art in memory of the occasion and afterwards a reception was held in the Internal Court of the Museum.

A crowded schedule for the Prince and Princess during their visit had started with their attendance at a service in the chapel of the recently rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

Like so many other churches in Russia, the cathedral was demolished during the Stalinist regime, the site it occupied on the banks of the Moscow River eventually being used instead for an outdoor swimming pool. However, when Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov came to power in 1991 he promised to rebuild an exact copy of the original cathedral, complete with gilded domes. The original had taken 40 years to construct in the early 19th century. Its replacement, the same in every detail, went up in just three years.

Prince Michael said: "It opened on Millennium Eve as a symbol of the rekindling of faith in Russia after the collapse of Communism, and as a beacon of hope for the future it is truly remarkable."

Later during his visit, the Prince was received by Alexiy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All The Russias and the leading Churchman in the country, who confirmed that spiritual life in Russia was blossoming once again.

"He told me that whereas, at the time of the fall of Communism, there were only 40 churches in Moscow, there are now in excess of 200 that are in full use having been restored, renovated and refurbished," said Prince Michael. "He also told me that huge numbers of people are now coming into the Church, including a lot of young people."

Less encouraging was the situation at the historic Convent of Martha and Mary where Grand Duchess Elizabeth, the sister of the last Tsarina, lived as a nun in the years before the Revolution.

"I had known about this convent for many years and expressed a wish to go and see it, not realising how destitute both the building and the programme for its refurbishment actually are," explained Prince Michael, who went there accompanied by the Princess. "A huge amount of work needs to be done if the convent is to be preserved and I have been trying to think of ways in which to help them."

Earlier on the same day, the Prince and Princess had been to the Kremlin where they visited The Armoury, the museum in which, among other things, the Russian Crown jewels are on display.

Said the Prince: "We were also especially fascinated by the costume section of the Museum, which included items such as Peter the Great's boots. He was a huge man, over two metres tall, and these boots would come up to most people's waists.

"Also to be seen there are Catherine the Great's wedding dress and Coronation robes. Catherine must have been extraordinarily slim when she was young, with a tiny waist that you could almost enclose within your two hands."

The following day, the Royal couple visited Kuskovo, the 18th century former palace on the outskirts of Moscow that now houses, among other things, a unique collection porcelain and ceramics

This includes all the Imperial porcelain, with around fifteen complete dinner services for up to fifty settings. "It is extraordinary how these things survived the Revolution and the years of Communism," commented Prince Michael, adding that the Princess had been particularly impressed with Kuskovo.

It was here, almost exactly a year ago, that the Prince and his fellow drivers celebrated the end of the highly successful Bentley Rally from Brooklands to Moscow, a fund-raising project that His Royal Highness helped to organise in aid of the British-based charity Friends of Russian Children, of which he is Patron.

He said: "I am hoping that the Friends of Russian Children and some of the other charitable organisations in Russia with which I am involved may be able to use Kuskovo again in the future as the background for further fund-raising activities."

From Kuskovo the Prince went on to meet Archimandrite Pavel of the Ipatiev Monastery at Kostroma. This prompted His Royal Highness to recall a rather tragic historical irony. "Kostroma is a town to the north of Moscow where the Romanov dynasty was founded in 1613," he explained.

"The monastery there is called the Ipatiev Monastery; but Ipatiev was also the name of the merchant from whom the Bolsheviks requisitioned the house in Ekaterinberg in which the Tsar and his family were imprisoned and in the basement of which they were all eventually shot in 1918. It is strange how that name, Ipatiev, has come full circle."

At other times during his stay, Prince Michael visited Mr Yuri Fokine, the former Russian Ambassador to London who is now Rector of the Russian Dilpomatic Academy in Moscow, and Mr Nikita Mikhalkov, a major figure in the Russian film industry. The Prince also went to see the British Ambassador in the new embassy.

Finally, on the morning of the day that he left, His Royal Highness received an Honorary Doctorate from the Academy of Natural Sciences.