 Furthermore, Cyril had married Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was a divorcée and his first cousin, without the Emperor's consent.The House law that determined the Russian line of succession excluded princes born to non-Orthodox mothers, and princes who married without the Tsar's consent.The Russian Orthodox Church did not recognise Victoria's divorce from her first husband as valid, and did not permit marriage between first cousins.