The King of Romania at 95

Today is the 95th birthday of the King of Romania

I have adapted this post from one on Sunday on the Royal central website:

The future King with his grandmother Queen Marie - who not infrequenty donned Romanian peasant dress 

Image:tkinter.smig.net

King Michael will celebrate his 95^th birthday in Switzerland with his family.

Although the celebrations in Switzerland will be a small affair, for eight days, events will be taking place across Romania to mark the former monarch’s longevity and to celebrate his life.

The celebrations began last Thursday when a performance of a play written by King Michael and Queen Anne was aired on the radio.

 

The King of Romania soon after his second accession to the throne

Image: Pinterest

A few days later on Monday, a photo exhibition will take place at Pelişor Castle entitled ‘King Michael, a happy childhood’. This exhibition will include many previously unseen images from the King’s childhood coming from three different collections: the family of photographer Joseph Bermam, the archive of the Royal House and the Romanian Academy Library.

Following on from the photo exhibition, there will be an awards ceremony held at Peles Castle. Acting on behalf on the King, who is too ill to attend, Crown Princess Margareta will present awards and decoration including the Hall of Honour of Peles Castle. After the ceremony, a reception will be held in the Salon Maur.

 

 Peles Castle 

Image: Wikipedia

The next day, October 25, will mark King Michael’s 95^th birthday. He will celebrate the occasion privately in Switzerland with Princess Elena and Princess Sofia.

Meanwhile in Romania, a gala concert is scheduled at the Romanian Athenaeum. Princess Margareta and Prince Radu will be in attendance at the concert where all profits will go to charity.

At the beginning of the concert, Princess Margareta will make a speech on the occasion her father’s birthday.

There are many other smaller scale events happening across the country too showing that King Michael is still widely respected despite the fact he was forced to abdicate in 1947 by the government controlled by the Communist Party of Romania.

The King on his 90th birthday when he addressed the Romanian parliament 

Image Daily Mail

It has, however, been a difficult year for the King and may be seen as one not worth celebrating. Earlier this year he was diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing a complex and demanding treatment for chronic leukemia and epidermoid in Switzerland.

To add to his ill health, the King’s wife of 68 years, Queen Anne, died in August at the age of 92. King Michael was unable to travel back to Romania for The Queen’s funeral due to his fragility.

 

The Royal Standard of the King of Romania

 Image: Wikipedia

 

Death of H M The Queen of Romania

The death of the Queen of Romania has been announced. There is a biography of Her Majesty at Queen Anne of Romania and the Daily Telegraph obituary can be read at Queen Anne of Romania – obituary

The King and Queen on their wedding day in 1948

Image:dcnews.ro

The Standard of the Queen of Romania 1922-1947

Image: crwflags.com

 

The health of King Michael

The recent sombre news about the health of the King of Romania has occasioned a post from The Mad Monarchist which is perfectly fair in what it says, that is that words are cheap and actions speak louder. His post can be read at Hollow Words for the King of Romania

                                             

The Royal Arms of the King of Romania

Image: Wikipedia

The Romanian Monarchy - a short history

The Mad Monarchist has a history of the Romanian monarchy on his blog, which links in with his recent post about discussion as to apossible restoration there, which I linked to in Discussing a Restoration in Romania my other posts on the subject can be found by clicking on the links at the end of this post

His latest post can be seen at Story of Monarchy: Romanian Rise and Fall

Discussing a Restoration in Romania

The Mad Monarchist had an informative and reflective post recently about discussions of a possible restoration of King Michael and his family to their legitimate throne in Romania.

This arises from the topic, either in principle or as a matter to be put to a referendum, of restoring the Romanian monarchy having been taken up by quite a few politicians in the current electoral process to elect a President of the republic.

King Michael I of Romania and Crown Princess Margarita of Romania.

 Image: erhj.blogspot

The Mad Monarchist is, I think, wise to be cautious and to wonder as to the political integrity of some of those speaking up for the Royalist cause or at least for a referendum on the issue. Talk can be cheap, especially at election times,a nd actions speak louder than words. However, like him, I would naturally  hope and wish for such a restoration and recognition of King Michael's rights. Something to renew in one's prayers.

The post can be read at Royalist Restoration in Romania?

The arms of the Kingdom of Romania since 1922

Image: Wikipedia

Accession day of the King of Romania

Today is the seventy second anniversary of the accession and coronation on the same day September 6 1940 of the King of Romania following the enforced abdication of his father King Carol II. King Michael is thus within a ew months of equalling the length of reign of King Louis XIV, with, of course, the very regrettable caveat that unfortunately for both the King and for Romanian people, he has only been able to exercise his soverein powers for a few of those years. If his period as King in the years 1927-30, about which I posted in The first accession of King Michael in July is included he has been a monarch longer than the Sun King was.



H.M.The King of Romania in 2007

Image: Wikipedia

The circumstances of his accession meant that the King was that in name only, and forced to concede power to the dictator Antonescu, of whom the online biography here gives a good account of the background to these events and the King was not able to exercise his powers until August 1944 with King Michael's Coup.
There is an online life of the King here.

There is an online version of a series of photographs of the King and his mother, Queen Helen, taken in April 1946 for the magazine Life which show them at the palace at Sinaia when it might still be hoped that he would remain in his kingdom and which can be viewed here.

Image:Wikipedia

The first accession of King Michael

Today is the eighty-fifth anniversary of the death of King Ferdinand I of Romania at Peleş Castle near Sinaia and the first accession to the Romanian throne of his grandson, King Michael I.

There is a  biography of King Ferdinand I here.   There are some very interesting archive photographs of his life and reign here  and there are other portraits of the King from his first visit to the country as a Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and heir to his uncle King Carol I until the end of his life here.

There are also a fine series of photographs of the funeral of King Ferdinand and the accession of King Michael which can be viewed here.

King Michael in the years 1927-30

Image:Wikipedia

The accession of the child King Michael I (Mihai), was a consequence of his father's affair with Magda Lupescu. Crown Prince Carol  had 

renounced his right to the throne on 28 December 1925 in favour of his son by Crown Princess Helen,who thus now became King in July 1927. Princess Helen divorced the exiled Carol in 1928.

 A regency, composed of the new King's uncle, Prince Nicolae, Patriarch Miron Cristea, and the country's Chief Justice (Gheorghe Buzdugan, from October 1929 on Constantin Sărăţeanu) functioned on his behalf during the years 1927–1930.  However on 6 June 1930,his father returned to the country at the invitation of politicians dissatisfied with the Regency, and on 8 June was proclaimed King Carol II by the Parliament, and designated Michael as Crown Prince with the title "Grand Voievod of Alba-Iulia". In a somewhat curious inversion of King Henry VIII's proceedings King Carol then sought to have his divorce annulled, but refused to grant his (former) wife the title of Queen - she was to be addressed as Her Majesty Helen.

Image:Wikipedia

The Queen's Jubilee Lunch

Yesterday the Queen gave a luncheon party to celbrate her Diamond Jubilee for her fellow monarchs, their consorts or represntitives from around the world at Windsor Castle. Such a gathering is almost without precedent. In the evening the Prince of Wales was host for adinner for most of the guests at Buckingham Palace

The Sovereign Monarchs Jubilee lunch, in the Grand Reception Room at Windsor Castle.

Front row, from left The Emperor of Japan, the Queen of the Netherlands, the Queen of Denmark, the King of the Hellenes, the King of Romania, the Queen, the King of Bulgarians, the Sultan of Brunei, the King of Sweden, the King of Swaziland, and Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein. Middle row, from left The Prince of Monaco, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the King of Lesotho, the King of the Belgians, the King of Norway, the Emir of Qatar, the King of Jordan, the King of Bahrain, and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. Back row, from left Nasser Mohamed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, the King of Tonga, the Crown Prince of Thailand, Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco and Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia  

Image: PA/Daily Telegraph

What I was particularly impressed by was the presence of the Kings of Romania, of the Bulgarians and of the Hellenes, and of the Crown Prince of Yugoslavia. Although such unfortunately exiled or dethroned Monarchs have been invited to Royal weddings and to private occasions as relatives it is virtually unprecedented for them to be accorded their rightful dignity as Sovereigns, and indeed the public precedence they enjoy by reason of their length of reign. In this respect the British Establishment has been less generous than other European monarchies in the past, and really ever since 1918. This is a very welcome change.

There were various absentees amongst the non-regnant dynasties, but the pattern does appear to have been adjusted.

King Michael I - further reflections

This evening, after having drunk the health of King Michael I on his ninetieth birthday, it occurred to me that he is noteworthy for the his longevity as a monarch. King from 1927 until 1930 and since 1940, allbeit forced into exile in 1947 with an enforced abdication which he subsequently disclaimed and which was exacted under pressure, and not therefore voluntary, and only returning to the country in recent years in anambiguous position, he has been a monarch longer, at 74 years already, than those better known long-reigning rulers, Queen Victoria (63 and a half years), Emperor Francis Joseph (just short of 68 years) and King Louis XIV (72 years).

In fact the only person I can think to have potentially exceeded that is Otto of Austria, who as the de jure Emperor Otto I of Austria and King Otto II of Hungary may be assigned a reign from his father's death in 1922 until his death earlier this year of 89 years. His various renunciations of claim may be discounted as what he considered necessary at the time, and may be therefore discounted had been able to exercise his hereditary rights.

If however one looks at monarchs who did actually occupy their thrones, then King Michael is the longest reigning European monarch - the tragedy for him and his people is that he has not been enabled to exercise that role.

The Romanian Royal Standard,
as adopted in 1922

Image:Wikipedia

The King of Romania at 90

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:

King Michael I stands by a bust of King Carol I

The King awaits to give his address to Parliament

Image:sfgate.com

The King addressing Parliament

Image:Getty images

The King receiving a standing ovation

Image: sfgate.com

The Royal Arms of Romania

Image: Wikipedia