Today is the ninetieth birthday of the King of Romania.
King Michael I, King of the Romanians to give him the proper translation of his title, is one of the great survivors of the last century - there are no other heads of state who were such in either the 1920s or again in the 1940s. There is an illustrated online biography of the King here, and there are many more pictures and other related material on Diana Mandache's Royal Romania blog. There is an illustrated site from 2001 here about the Romanian royal family.
There is an article with interviews with King Michael and Queen Anne by Peter Kurth from 1990 which can be read here.
There is a BBC World report about the birthday including an interview with the King which can be read here.
Today the King addressed the Romanian Parliament and other celebrations in Bucharest this week are described here, but it is, to my mind, disappointing that our own Royal family are not listed as attending, whereas others, both reigning and exiled will be present, including the King and Queen of Sweden and the Queen of Spain. Putting such a public distance between deposed or exiled monarchs and royal houses who are also relatives, which seems to go back to the reign of King George V and the post Great War situation, is not good for monarchical solidarity, even though they do attend our own royal occasions, such as the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The King in 1947, the year he was forced into exile.
Image: Wikipedia
The text of the King's speech to the Romanian Parliament today can be read here, and there is a report here about the occasion. Here are some pictures of this rather remarkable event:
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King Michael I stands by a bust of King Carol I
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The King awaits to give his address to Parliament
Image:sfgate.com
Image:sfgate.com
The King addressing Parliament
Image:Getty images
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The King receiving a standing ovation
Image: sfgate.com
The Royal Arms of Romania
Image: Wikipedia
I attended the royal reception held in Las Vegas honoring King Michael I and Queen Anne on March 26, 1993. I intended to make a sizable donation to the Princess of Margarita of Romania Foundation which was to help the tens of thousands of orphans in Romania. I had a check in my pocket made payable to the foundation to make a humble donation in the amount of $10,000. When I inquired to ask the King for his autograph on my invitation, he whispered to his body guard to advise me that the King does not give anyone an autograph. With that, I was not able to hand him the donation that was inside my invitation. Moral of the story is, don't underestimate those that you think have nothing to offer.
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