| Subject Notes |
Queen Marie of Romania was related to both Queen Alexandra (aunt) and Grand Duchess Elizabeth (1st cousin and aunt by marriage). Most Victorians were somewhat snobby by nature, and Marie was no exception. The difference was that she had the intelligence to match it and knew when not to overstate her piousness. Her mother, Marie, was the only surviving daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and her father, Alfred, was the second son of Queen Vicoria. Needless to say Marie grew up in the thick of the european related royals.
She was born in Kent, England in 1875, the eldest daughter. Her father was a naval officer and he moved his family from location to location throughout their childhoods. One of Marie's favorite places was the island of Malta, where she lived for several years. Her parents had 5 children, 1 boy named Alfred and 4 girls, Marie, Victoria Melita, Alexandra and Beatrice. Marie and her next younger sister were particularly close, and in an age where parenting meant little or no affection, this kind of closeness would help mold Marie into a better mother than her own mother.
In her youth her first cousin George (later George V of England) fell in love with her but Marie and her immediate family did not believe in first cousins getting married. The two would remain lifelong friends, however. She did not have an easy childhood, her mother was very strict (like most royal mothers of the age) and her father had no clue about interracting with children. Marie showed from an early age that she could endure much and still come through shining, qualities that would serve her well later.
In 1893 she married the heir to the Romanian throne Ferdinand, a short, big eared man who was all but run over by his domineering uncle King Carol I. Marie brought a much needed breath of fresh air into Romania. Carol's wife, Elizabeth, was a strange character who wrote poetry under the name Carmen Sylva, and who Marie and an on again - off again relationship with. Marie and Ferdinand had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. Marie was not fully allowed to raise the heir to the throne and so he turned out to be rude and unyielding. Her youngest child, Mircea would die at the age of 4, but the rest of her children did live on, the youngest one dying in 1991! The younger children turned out very nice, and later in life they looked back on their mother and her life with pride and wonderment.
During WWI Marie did what most of her female relatives did: volunteer as a Red Cross nurse to help the sick and wounded. She poured her heart and soul into this work and did not take very good precautions to ensure her own life; she did not wear gloves when dealing with a diseased man and did not have any "bodyguards" when she went into the Romanian coountryside to see how all her people lived. She had a great respect for the Gypsies, and loved hearing them talk about Romanian folklore.
It wasn't until 1916 when King Carol died, but since it was also WWI Marie and Ferdinand could not be crowned yet (they would not be crowned until 1922) although they were King and Queen of Romania. Marie loved pomp and couldn't wait to be crowned in a HUGE ceremony with all her people there. She was beginning to become known as the "modern Queen". A Queen who was not stuck in the Victorian timewarp like Queen Mary of England, and a Queen who listened to her people and made herself available to her people.
When WWI was over and the Allies were trying to figure out how to partition Europe and scold Germany, Marie herself went to Versailles and represented Romania. She wooed the ministers so much that they gave back territory that Romania had lost and promised not to partition her.
It was at that time that Queen Marie started to make more of an international impression. Media was becoming a little more international and Marie was known throughout the first world as the "modern Queen". She even took a tour of the USA where she wooed everyone, but had to cut the trip short when Ferdinand died in 1927.
She was a great correspondent and wrote to a huge amount of people from all over the first world. Some of them she met, some of them not, but the ones who did meet her were greatly impressed by her political, economical and social common sense. They were also the first to admit that Marie was as every bit pompous as they had heard, but they would be suprised at the calming effect Marie had on people "below her rank". She was one of those royals that, if not for her clothes, jewelry and estates, would be just another strong willed woman in post WWI Europe.
One of the reasons why she is fascinating to me is that she had a rare combination of royal snobbery, common sense and kindness. She was not afraid to move into the 20th century and have a go at the latest technologies. After her husband's death she had a difficult time with her son, King Carol II. He was very jealous of the popularity of his mother all across Europe and the USA and decided to all but shut her out. He was not a good king either, he did not care for the country or its people, whereas hid mother did.
She spent her last years writing her autobiography, which was completed in 2 volumes in 1933 entitled "Story Of My Life". It's a good book, a little boring at times but otherwise informative. It is interesting to read directly from the source, one can really get a sense of what Marie was like. She died in 1938 after getting a sudden illness. Some say she was poisoned, having never been sick in her entire life before that time, but some say she was worn out by the constant battling between her and her son Carol. Whatever the case, it was her wish to have her heart taken out of her and buried in the capital of Romania, whilst the rest of her lay next to her husband (some of those royals sure were morbid). Now that Romania is free of communism they can once again explore their history and learn of their Queen who loved them just as much as she loved herself!