The work is devoted to the political and administrative elite of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, an integral part of which were the grand dukes. In the course of the work, the reasons and evolution of the political views of the great princes were studied, the result of which was their transition from the support of the monarchy to the opposition. The princely opposition is seen as an element of the political crisis in the Russian Empire in 1915-1917. For historians and a wide range of readers.