Queen Anne of Romania

Queen Anne of Romania (born Princess Anne Antoinette Françoise Charlotte Zita Marquerite of Bourbon-Parma, 18 September 1923 – 1 August 2016) was the wife of former King Michael I of Romania.

Early life

Anne was born in Paris, France, the only daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma andPrincess Margaret of Denmark. With her three brothers she spent her childhood in France. In 1939 her family fled from the Nazi Germans and escaped to Spain. From there they went on to Portugal and then to the United States.

She attended the Parsons School of Design in New York from 1940 to 1943. She also worked as a sales assistant at Macy's department store.

In 1943, she volunteered for military service in the French Army. She served in Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Luxembourg and in liberated Germany as an ambulance driver. Anne received the French Croix de guerre for her wartime service.

Marriage

Engagement

In November 1947, Anne met King Michael I of Romania who was visiting London for theWedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten. In fact, a year previously Queen Mother Elena had invited Anne, her mother, and brothers for a visit to Bucharest, but the plan did not come off. Meanwhile, Michael had glimpsed Anne in a newsreel and requested a photograph from the film footage.

She did not want to have to accompany her parents to London for the royal wedding so as to avoid meeting King Michael in official surroundings. Instead, she planned to stay behind, go alone to the Paris railway station and, pretending to be a passerby in the crowd, privately observe the king as his entourage escorted him to his London-bound train. However, at the last moment she was persuaded by her cousin, Prince Jean of Luxembourg, to come to London, where he planned to host a party. Upon arrival, she stopped by Claridge's to pay respects to her parents, and found herself being introduced unexpectedly to King Michael. Abashed to the point of confusion, she clicked her heels instead of curtseying, and fled in embarrassment. Charmed, the king saw her again the night of the wedding at the Luxembourg embassy soirée, confided in her some of his concerns about the Communist takeover of Romania and fears for his mother's safety, and nicknamed her Nan. They saw each other several times thereafter on outings in London, always chaperoned by her mother or brother.

A few days later, she accepted an invitation to accompany Michael and his mother when he piloted aBeechcraft aeroplane to take his aunt Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta, back home to Lausanne.[2]Sixteen days after meeting, Michael proposed to Anne while the couple were out on a drive in Lausanne. She accepted and although Michael gave her an engagement ring a few days later, he felt obliged to refrain from a public announcement until he informed his government, despite the fact that the press besieged them in anticipation.

Michael returned to Romania, where he was told by the prime minister that a wedding announcement was not "opportune". Yet within days it was used as the government's public explanation for Michael's sudden "abdication", when in fact the king was deposed by the Communists on 30 December. Anne was unable to get further news of Michael until he left the country. But they finally reunited in Davos on 23 January 1948.

Wedding Michael and Anne on a 2014 Romanian stamp

As a Bourbon, Anne was bound by the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, which required that she receive a dispensation to marry a non-Catholic Christian (Michael is Orthodox). At the time, such a dispensation was normally only given if the non-Roman Catholic partner promised to allow the children of the marriage to be raised as Roman Catholics. Michael refused to make this promise since it would have violated Romania's monarchical constitution, and would be likely to have a detrimental impact upon any possible restoration. The Holy See (which handled the matter directly since Michael was a member of a reigning dynasty) refused to grant the dispensation unless Michael made the required promise.

Helen, Queen Mother of Romania and her sister Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta (an Orthodox married to a Catholic Prince) met with the fiancée's parents in Paris, where the two families resolved to take their case to the Vatican in person. In early March, the couple's mothers met with Pope Pius XII who, despite the entreaties of the Queen Mother and the fact that Princess Margrethe pounded her fist on the table in anger, refused permission for Anne to marry Michael.

It has been surmised that the Pope's refusal was, in part, motivated by the fact that whenPrincess Giovanna of Italy married Anne's cousin, King Boris III of Bulgaria, in 1930, the couple had undertaken to raise their future children as Roman Catholics, but had baptizedthem in the Orthodox faith in deference to Bulgaria's state religion. However, Michael declined to make a promise he could not keep politically, while Anne's mother was herself the daughter of a mixed marriage between a Catholic Princess (Marie d'Orléans) and a Protestant(Prince Valdemar of Denmark), who had abided by their pre-ne temere compromise to raise their sons as Protestant and their daughter, Margrethe, as Catholic.

The engaged couple resolved to proceed. Anne's paternal uncle, Xavier, Duke of Parma, issued a statement objecting to any marriage conducted against the will of the Pope and the bride's family. It was he, not the Pontiff, who forbade Anne's parents to attend the wedding. Michael's spokesman declared on 9 June that the parents had been asked and had given their consent, and that the bride's family would be represented at the nuptials by her maternal uncle, Prince Eric of Denmark, who was to give the bride away.

The wedding ceremony was held on 10 June 1948 in Athens, Greece, in the throne room of the Royal Palace, where it was performed byArchbishop Damaskinos and King Paul of Greece served as koumbaros.[2] Guests at the wedding included: Helen, Queen Mother of Romania, Michael's aunts Queen Frederica, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta, Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark; his cousins Alexandra, Queen Consort of Yugoslavia, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark,Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, the three youngest ones serving as bridesmaids and pageboys; Anne's maternal uncle Prince Eric of Denmark; Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, Prince George William of Hanoverand many other dignitaries. Michael's father, Prince Carol, and his sisters, Maria, Queen Mother of Yugoslavia, Princess Elisabeth of Romania (ex-Queen Consort of Greece) and Princess Ileana of Romania were notified, but not invited.

As no papal dispensation was given for the marriage, when it was celebrated according to the rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church, it was deemed invalid by the Roman Catholic Church, but perfectly legal by every other authority. The couple would eventually take part in a religious ceremony again, on 9 November 1966, at the Roman Catholic Church of St Charles in Monaco, thus satisfying Roman Catholic canon law.

Diamond wedding anniversary

In June 2008, Anne and Michael celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary with 3 days of events in Romania which was the largest celebration the couple have had together since their wedding in June 1948.

• Events were:
  • On the 10th, a concert by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra was held in their honour at the Romanian Athenaeum.
  • On the 11th, there was a reception held at Athenee Palace in Bucharest where members of the Romanian Government andDiplomatic corps had the chance to congratulate the couple.
  • On the 12th, in the morning at the National Museum of Romanian History there was a book release about Anne and King Michael's 60 years together published by AGERPRES. In the evening there was a private formal dinner held at Peleș Castle in Sinaia.

Guests at the events included: their two eldest daughters Crown Princess Margareta and Princess Elena, their sons-in-law Prince Raduand Alexander Nixon and Princess Elena's two children: Prince Nicholas and Elisabeta-Karina; Michael's maternal cousins ex-King Constantine II of Greece, Queen Sofia of Spain, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark who were the original attendants at their wedding in 1948; Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, King Simeon II of Bulgaria and his wife Queen Margarita,Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and his wife Crown Princess Katherine, Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, Maximilian, Margrave of Baden and his wife Archduchess Valerie, Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, Princess Silvia, Duchess of Aosta,Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg, Prince Philip of Bourbon-Parma and his wife Princess Anette. Attendees also included Representatives of Romania and of the Romanian Government, such as: Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, Bogdan Olteanu, President of the Chamber of Deputies, Ionel Haiduc, President of the Romanian Academy, Patriarch Daniel and also Diplomatic corps.

In 1972, Queen Anne and King Michael attended the 25th anniversary celebration in London of the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

Death

Anne died on August 1, 2016 in a hospital in Morges, Switzerland at the age of 92.

Family

Romanian Royal Family

HM The King
HM The Queen

• HRH The Crown Princess*
  HRH Prince Radu*
• HRH Princess Elena
• HRH Princess Sophie
• HRH Princess Maria

* 

Main article: Royal Family tree

Anne and King Michael have five daughters, three sons-in law, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren:

• Crown Princess Margareta (b. 26 March 1949) she married Radu Duda on 21 September 1996.
• Princess Elena of Romania (b. 15 November 1950) she married Robin Medforth-Mills on 20 July 1983 and divorced on 28 November 1991. They have two children. She married secondly Alexander McAteer on 14 August 1998.
  • Nicholas de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (b. 1 April 1985)
  • Elisabeta-Karina de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (b. 4 January 1989)
• Irina Walker (b. 28 February 1953); born Princess Irina of Romania. She married John Kreuger on 4 October 1983 and divorced on 24 November 2003. They have two children and three grandchildren. She married secondly John Wesley Walker on 10 November 2007.
  • Michael Torsten Kreuger (b. 25 February 1984) married Tara Littlefield in February 2011.
    • Kohen Kreuger (b. March 2012)
  • Angelica-Margaretta Bianca (b. 29 December 1986) married Richard Robert Knight in 2009.
    • Courtney Bianca Knight (b. 2007)
    • Diana Knight (b. 2011)
• Princess Sophie of Romania (b. 29 October 1957) she married Alain Biarneix on 29 August 1998 and divorced in 2002.
  • Elisabeth-Maria de Roumanie Biarneix (b. 15 August 1998)
• Princess Maria of Romania (b. 13 July 1964) she married Casimir Mystkowski on 16 September 1995 and divorced in 2003.

Anne is the younger sister of Prince Jacques of Bourbon-Parma and elder sister to Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma who is married toPrincess Maria Pia of Italy (eldest child of King Umbero II of Italy and Queen Marie José) and Prince André of Bourbon-Parma.

As a granddaughter of Robert I, Duke of Parma she is first cousin to King Boris III of Bulgaria, Robert Hugo, Duke of Parma, Princess Alicia, Dowager Duchess of Calabria, Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, Crown Prince Otto of Austria and Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg.

In Romania

In 1992 Anne and Michael visited Romania for three days; it was Anne's first visit to the country. From 1993 to 1997, despite repeated attempts, Michael was refused entry to Romania by the hostile Romanian government. During these years Anne visited the country a number of times representing her husband. Since 1997, there have been no restrictions on Anne and Michael's entry into Romania.Elisabeta Palace was put at their disposal by the government, and they recovered from the state some properties, among which areSăvârşin Castle and Peleş Castle.

  Royal standard of the Queen of Romania

Honours

Dynastic honours

•  House of Romania: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Carol I
•  House of Romania: Royal Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown

Foreign honours

•  Austrian-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Family: Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross
• France
  •  Orléans-French Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Lazarus
  •  France: Recipient of the Croix de Guerre Medal 1939–1945
•  Greek Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia
•  Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1st Class

Bibliography

• Radu, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen, Anne of Romania: A War, an Exile, a Life, Bucharest: The Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House, Bucharest, 2002 ISBN 973-577-338-4. (A quasi-official biography by her son-in-law, originally published in Romanian as Un război, un exil, o viaţă, Bucharest, 2000).

 

***

Queen Anne of Romania (born Princess Anne Antoinette Françoise Charlotte Zita Marquerite of Bourbon-Parma, 18 September 1923 – 1 August 2016) was the wife of former King Michael I of Romania.

Early life

Anne was born in Paris, France, the only daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark. With her three brothers she spent her childhood in France. In 1939 her family fled from the Nazi Germans and escaped to Spain. From there they went on to Portugal and then to the United States.

She attended the Parsons School of Design in New York from 1940 to 1943. She also worked as a sales assistant at Macy's department store.

In 1943, she volunteered for military service in the French Army. She served in Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Luxembourg and in liberated Germany as an ambulance driver. Anne received the French Croix de guerre for her wartime service.

Marriage

Engagement

In November 1947, Anne met King Michael I of Romania who was visiting London for the Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten. In fact, a year previously Queen Mother Elena had invited Anne, her mother, and brothers for a visit to Bucharest, but the plan did not come off. Meanwhile, Michael had glimpsed Anne in a newsreel and requested a photograph from the film footage.

She did not want to have to accompany her parents to London for the royal wedding so as to avoid meeting King Michael in official surroundings. Instead, she planned to stay behind, go alone to the Paris railway station and, pretending to be a passerby in the crowd, privately observe the king as his entourage escorted him to his London-bound train. However, at the last moment she was persuaded by her cousin, Prince Jean of Luxembourg, to come to London, where he planned to host a party. Upon arrival, she stopped by Claridge's to pay respects to her parents, and found herself being introduced unexpectedly to King Michael. Abashed to the point of confusion, she clicked her heels instead of curtseying, and fled in embarrassment. Charmed, the king saw her again the night of the wedding at the Luxembourg embassy soirée, confided in her some of his concerns about the Communist takeover of Romania and fears for his mother's safety, and nicknamed her Nan. They saw each other several times thereafter on outings in London, always chaperoned by her mother or brother.

A few days later, she accepted an invitation to accompany Michael and his mother when he piloted a Beechcraft aeroplane to take his aunt Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta, back home to Lausanne. Sixteen days after meeting, Michael proposed to Anne while the couple were out on a drive in Lausanne. She accepted and although Michael gave her an engagement ring a few days later, he felt obliged to refrain from a public announcement until he informed his government, despite the fact that the press besieged them in anticipation.

Michael returned to Romania, where he was told by the prime minister that a wedding announcement was not "opportune". Yet within days it was used as the government's public explanation for Michael's sudden "abdication", when in fact the king was deposed by the Communists on 30 December. Anne was unable to get further news of Michael until he left the country. But they finally reunited in Davos on 23 January 1948.

Wedding

As a Bourbon, Anne was bound by the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, which required that she receive a dispensation to marry a non-Catholic Christian (Michael is Orthodox). At the time, such a dispensation was normally only given if the non-Roman Catholic partner promised to allow the children of the marriage to be raised as Roman Catholics. Michael refused to make this promise since it would have violated Romania's monarchical constitution, and would be likely to have a detrimental impact upon any possible restoration. The Holy See (which handled the matter directly since Michael was a member of a reigning dynasty) refused to grant the dispensation unless Michael made the required promise.

Helen, Queen Mother of Romania and her sister Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta (an Orthodox married to a Catholic Prince) met with the fiancée's parents in Paris, where the two families resolved to take their case to the Vatican in person. In early March, the couple's mothers met with Pope Pius XII who, despite the entreaties of the Queen Mother and the fact that Princess Margrethe pounded her fist on the table in anger, refused permission for Anne to marry Michael.

It has been surmised that the Pope's refusal was, in part, motivated by the fact that when Princess Giovanna of Italy married Anne's cousin, King Boris III of Bulgaria, in 1930, the couple had undertaken to raise their future children as Roman Catholics, but had baptized them in the Orthodox faith in deference to Bulgaria's state religion. However, Michael declined to make a promise he could not keep politically, while Anne's mother was herself the daughter of a mixed marriage between a Catholic Princess (Marie d'Orléans) and a Protestant (Prince Valdemar of Denmark), who had abided by their pre-ne temere compromise to raise their sons as Protestant and their daughter, Margrethe, as Catholic.

The engaged couple resolved to proceed. Anne's paternal uncle, Xavier, Duke of Parma, issued a statement objecting to any marriage conducted against the will of the Pope and the bride's family. It was he, not the Pontiff, who forbade Anne's parents to attend the wedding. Michael's spokesman declared on 9 June that the parents had been asked and had given their consent, and that the bride's family would be represented at the nuptials by her maternal uncle, Prince Eric of Denmark, who was to give the bride away.

The wedding ceremony was held on 10 June 1948 in Athens, Greece, in the throne room of the Royal Palace, where it was performed by Archbishop Damaskinos and King Paul of Greece served as koumbaros. Guests at the wedding included: Helen, Queen Mother of Romania, Michael's aunts Queen Frederica, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta, Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark; his cousins Alexandra, Queen Consort of Yugoslavia, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, the three youngest ones serving as bridesmaids and pageboys; Anne's maternal uncle Prince Eric of Denmark; Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, Prince George William of Hanover and many other dignitaries.[3] Michael's father, Prince Carol, and his sisters, Maria, Queen Mother of Yugoslavia, Princess Elisabeth of Romania (ex-Queen Consort of Greece) and Princess Ileana of Romania were notified, but not invited.[why?][2]

As no papal dispensation was given for the marriage, when it was celebrated according to the rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church, it was deemed invalid by the Roman Catholic Church, but perfectly legal by every other authority. The couple would eventually take part in a religious ceremony again, on 9 November 1966, at the Roman Catholic Church of St Charles in Monaco, thus satisfying Roman Catholic canon law.

Diamond wedding anniversary

In June 2008, Anne and Michael celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary with 3 days of events in Romania which was the largest celebration the couple have had together since their wedding in June 1948.

• Events were:
  • On the 10th, a concert by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra was held in their honour at the Romanian Athenaeum.
  • On the 11th, there was a reception held at Athenee Palace in Bucharest where members of the Romanian Government and Diplomatic corps had the chance to congratulate the couple.
  • On the 12th, in the morning at the National Museum of Romanian History there was a book release about Anne and King Michael's 60 years together published by AGERPRES. In the evening there was a private formal dinner held at Peleș Castle in Sinaia.

Guests at the events included: their two eldest daughters Crown Princess Margareta and Princess Elena, their sons-in-law Prince Radu and Alexander Nixon and Princess Elena's two children: Prince Nicholas and Elisabeta-Karina; Michael's maternal cousins ex-King Constantine II of Greece, Queen Sofia of Spain, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark who were the original attendants at their wedding in 1948; Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, King Simeon II of Bulgaria and his wife Queen Margarita, Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and his wife Crown Princess Katherine, Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, Maximilian, Margrave of Baden and his wife Archduchess Valerie, Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, Princess Silvia, Duchess of Aosta, Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg, Prince Philip of Bourbon-Parma and his wife Princess Anette. Attendees also included Representatives of Romania and of the Romanian Government, such as: Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, Bogdan Olteanu, President of the Chamber of Deputies, Ionel Haiduc, President of the Romanian Academy, Patriarch Daniel and also Diplomatic corps.

In 1972, Queen Anne and King Michael attended the 25th anniversary celebration in London of the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

Death

Anne died on August 1, 2016 in a hospital in Morges, Switzerland at the age of 92.

Family

Anne and King Michael have five daughters, three sons-in law, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren:

• Crown Princess Margareta (b. 26 March 1949) she married Radu Duda on 21 September 1996.
• Princess Elena of Romania (b. 15 November 1950) she married Robin Medforth-Mills on 20 July 1983 and divorced on 28 November 1991. They have two children. She married secondly Alexander McAteer on 14 August 1998.
  • Nicholas de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (b. 1 April 1985)
  • Elisabeta-Karina de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (b. 4 January 1989)
• Irina Walker (b. 28 February 1953); born Princess Irina of Romania. She married John Kreuger on 4 October 1983 and divorced on 24 November 2003. They have two children and three grandchildren. She married secondly John Wesley Walker on 10 November 2007.
  • Michael Torsten Kreuger (b. 25 February 1984) married Tara Littlefield in February 2011.
    • Kohen Kreuger (b. March 2012)
  • Angelica-Margaretta Bianca (b. 29 December 1986) married Richard Robert Knight in 2009.
    • Courtney Bianca Knight (b. 2007)
    • Diana Knight (b. 2011)
• Princess Sophie of Romania (b. 29 October 1957) she married Alain Biarneix on 29 August 1998 and divorced in 2002.
  • Elisabeth-Maria de Roumanie Biarneix (b. 15 August 1998)
• Princess Maria of Romania (b. 13 July 1964) she married Casimir Mystkowski on 16 September 1995 and divorced in 2003.

Anne is the younger sister of Prince Jacques of Bourbon-Parma and elder sister to Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma who is married to Princess Maria Pia of Italy (eldest child of King Umbero II of Italy and Queen Marie José) and Prince André of Bourbon-Parma.

As a granddaughter of Robert I, Duke of Parma she is first cousin to King Boris III of Bulgaria, Robert Hugo, Duke of Parma, Princess Alicia, Dowager Duchess of Calabria, Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, Crown Prince Otto of Austria and Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg.

In Romania

In 1992 Anne and Michael visited Romania for three days; it was Anne's first visit to the country. From 1993 to 1997, despite repeated attempts, Michael was refused entry to Romania by the hostile Romanian government. During these years Anne visited the country a number of times representing her husband. Since 1997, there have been no restrictions on Anne and Michael's entry into Romania. Elisabeta Palace was put at their disposal by the government, and they recovered from the state some properties, among which are Săvârşin Castle and Peleş Castle.

Honours

Dynastic honours

• House of Romania: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Carol I
• House of Romania: Royal Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown

Foreign honours

• Austrian-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Family: Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross
• France
  • Orléans-French Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Lazarus
  •  France: Recipient of the Croix de Guerre Medal 1939–1945
• Greek Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia
• Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1st Class