King Michael 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.

More than 1,000 people took to the streets of Bucharest on Sunday (November 10), asking for the reinstatement of the monarchy in Romania.

People chanted asking for King Michael I of Romania to take his seat at the Cotroceni Palace – which is now the presidency headquarters. The groups also chanted slogans such as ‘Monarchy saves Romania’.

The organizers of the march, the National Alliance for Reinstating Monarchy, gathered young and old people from Bucharest as well as from Alba Iulia, Cluj, Constanta, Galati and Ploiesti, who all met in the Charles de Gaulle plaza in the Romanian capital.

The march continued on Kiselef boulevard to Victoriei Square, then to the King’s Square, where protesters brought flowers to the King Michael’s statue. They then continued on Calea Victoriei to the revolutiei Square, and stopped at the equestrian statue of King Carol I.

Romania is currently a parliamentary republic, with a two-Chamber Parliament. The president is elected by the people, who also vote on the members of the Parliament. The Prime Minister is then named by the President, and the PM chooses the Government ministers.

Romania was a monarchy until 1947, when king Michael I was forced to abdicate. From 1866 to 1947, Romania had had four foreign kings, Carol I, Ferdinand, Carol II and Michael I. A foreign king was brought in 1866 at the initiative of Romanian politicians, after Romanian Alexandru Ioan Cuza was forced to abdicate. Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was the politicians’ second choice, but he accepted, starting the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty in Romania.

King Michael I of Romania, currently 92, chose to break the bond with the House of Hohenzollern and give up on the title Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, which gives the Royal House of Romania a national and independent status.

This decision was made taking into account Kind Ferdinand I’s decision in 1921. King Ferdinand I was King Michael’s grandfather. Based on Ferdinand’s decision, all members of the Romanian royal family have the surname “Of Romania”.