Prince George Bagration of Mukhrani was a claimant to the royal throne of what is now the Republic of Georgia, the former Soviet satellite state, by dint of belonging to the family which ruled the kingdom for most of the second millennium AD until it was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1801.

There had been recent calls in Georgia for a restoration of the monarchy, from the Orthodox Church and opposition political parties, with George Bagration considered by most as first in line to the throne as King George XIV. His eldest son, Irakli, aged 35 and a resident of Marbella, is now the leading claimant. In reality, support for a monarchy is minimal among Georgians, who won their independence from the Soviet Union as a republic in 1991.

Having spent most of his life in exile in Spain, Prince George was better known as Jorge de Bagratión y de Mukrhani, a handsome motor racing and rally driver who raced at Le Mans and flirted with Formula One. He was also a second cousin of the Spanish King Juan Carlos de Borbón.

George Bagration, known in his homeland as Giorgi Bagrationi, was born in Rome in 1944, to Prince Irakli Bagration, who had gone into exile after the Bolshevik revolution but retained his claim to the throne. George's mother, the Italian Countess María Antonietta Pasquini, died giving birth to him.

After settling in Spain before the war, Prince Irakli founded what he called the Royal House of Georgia and sought support from European governments for a Georgian monarchy independent from Stalin's Soviet Union. When Prince Irakli died in Spain in 1977, George became first in line to the royal house of Georgia and was recognised as such, albeit as a formality, by the government and parliament of the new independent republic in 1991, despite rival claims from other families.

He returned to his fatherland for the first time in 1995 to scatter the ashes of his grandfather, who claimed the title George XIII. He finally moved to Tbilisi permanently from Spain two years ago.

George Bagration started racing motorcycles at 16, moving up to four wheels in the early 1960s to take part in local rallies, races and hill climbs, first in a Fiat 1600S, then a Fiat Abarth 850, and later a Mini Cooper and a Renault Alpine. He won a reputation as a fearless driver, competing in Formula 2 and F3 events against such greats as Jim Clark and Graham Hill.

In the 1968 F2 Grand Prix at Barcelona's Montjuïc Park, he finished ninth in a Lola behind the up-and-coming Jackie Stewart in his Matra. Unfortunately, ninth was also last of the finishers. Bagration entered his Lola in that year's F1 Spanish Grand Prix at the Jarama circuit, but he did not make it on to the grid as a result of too many would-be entrants. His next attempt to put himself on to the F1 map, in 1974, also flopped because of a bureaucratic mix-up. It was in sports and rally cars that Bagration found better vehicles for his skills. He took part in several Le Mans 24-hour races but never finished.

Concentrating on rallying, he took the Spanish Rally Championship title in 1979, in a Lancia Stratos co-piloted by his soon-to-be second wife, Barcelona-born Nuria Llopis, and again in 1981 in a similar car, this time with Víctor Sabater navigating. He retired from motor sports the following year.

He is survived by his wife and their son, and by two sons and a daughter from his first marriage to María de las Mercedes de Zornoza.

Prince George Bagration of Mukhrani was born on February 22, 1944. He died of complications from hepatitis on January 16, 2008, aged 63