Monday, November 7, 2011

King of the Romanians

King Michael I, grandson of Queen Marie, is one of the oldest living monarchs, although he has been in exile for a long time.
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. (Read entire post.)
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