Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said another option would be to bring back the Romanov dynasty, which was overthrown exactly a century ago in 1917

Russia should reinstate the monarchy, and appoint Vladimir Putin as royal emperor, says an influential Moscow churchman.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said another option would be to bring back the Romanov dynasty, which was overthrown exactly a century ago in 1917.

'We are a country with monarchic mentality,' he said, at the launch of his new book.

'It doesn't matter that we don't now have formal monarchy, I think we can re-make it with Putin on top.

'Or else with somebody from the Romanov house, or with an elected person as head.'

He insisted: 'While we don't have formal monarchy, we have monarchic understanding that Russia cannot be without a tsar.

'But this tsar must take advice from people, which is why having a nation is so important.'

The archpriest called for 'constitutional reform' to allow the return of the monarchy as he launched his book 'Faith and Life - so there is no litter in your house'.

In the imperial era, the tsar or emperor was also head of the Orthodox church.

Chaplin did not recommend any rules of succession but Putin has two adult daughters, Maria, 31, and Katerina, 30, who in theory could become his heirs if he were to be made tsar under the churchman's scheme.

Katerinia - who uses the family name Tikhonova - is a champion acrobatic Rock'n'roll dancer married to Russia's youngest billionaire Kirill Shamalov, 34.

Her sister Maria is reportedly married to a Dutch businessman husband with whom she has a daughter, making Putin - who is intensely secret about his family life - a grandfather. She took a medical degree and was awarded a doctorate completing her post-graduate research into dwarfism.

The abdicated last tsar Nicholas II was shot by Bolshevik revolutionaries along with his immediate heirs the year after he lost his throne, ending more than 300 years of Romanov rule.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said another option would be to bring back the Romanov dynasty, which was overthrown exactly a century ago in 1917. Pictured is Great Count Georgy Romanov (first from the right) with his mother Maria (first from the left) in Monaco

Pictured is Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna (left) and Great Count Georgy Romanov (right)

Chaplin did not recommend any rules of succession but Putin has two adult daughters, Maria, 31, and Katerina (pictured), 30, who in theory could become his heirs if he were to be made tsar under the churchman's scheme

She took a medical degree and was awarded a doctorate completing her post-graduate research into dwarfism

Katerinia - who uses the family name Tikhonova - is a champion acrobatic Rock'n'roll dancer married to Russia's youngest billionaire Kirill Shamalov, 34

A leading pretender to the defunct crown is 63 year old Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, a divorcee who is great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II.

Her designated 'Tsesarevich' is her son, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, 35, who runs a lobbying company in Brussels.

He is on record as saying: 'The time to restore monarchy hasn't come yet.

'But the pre-requisites might appear in future.

'History develops in a spiral and it is possible that a legitimate hereditary monarchy will be in demand by the people of Russia and will serve it well.'

He also praised Putin saying he 'successfully protects the interests of his country'.

Chaplin, 48, was previously spokesman for the Orthodox church in Russia, which has seen a renaissance since the end of Communism a generation ago.

A celibate priest, he last year called for girls to be allowed to wed at 14 and boys at 16, without parental permission.

'It would be good if by the age of 20 our women had several children and made their careers only after 30 or 40 once their children have grown up,' he said.

Vladimir and ex-wife Lyudmila Putin with daughters Maria and Katerina

Tsar Nikolay II with his wife and children. Chaplin, 48, was previously spokesman for the Orthodox church in Russia, which has seen a renaissance since the end of Communism a generation ago

Women who had abortions, or husbands or wives committed adultery, or were convicted of corruption 'should be condemned by everyone and in some cases deprived of property rights', he argued.

He made the proposals to Russia's influential Civil Chamber, set up by Putin.

So-called 'good families with multiple children should leave big cities because such places are full of sin and relocate to agricultural settlements allocated to them by the government', he demanded.

Chaplin made the proposals to Russia's influential Civil Chamber, set up by Putin

He opposes teaching about contraception in sex education classes.

An ultra-conservative, who a survey found to be the second most recognisable churchman in Russia after the head of the Orthodox faith, Patriarch Kirill, he sprang to the defence of a Muslim cleric in southern Russia who called for 'all women' to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).

'Cutting all women probably isn't necessary. Orthodox women don't need it because they are not promiscuous. Of course God created women to bear and raise children,' said Chaplin.