Queen Marie of Romania. Queen Solder, Empress of Greater Romania and a truly feisty woman
in history.
Queen Marie is one of Romania's most popular and well-loved female figures in history.
Marie, always known as Missy, managed to make herself and her country famous around the
world thanks to her strong personality and genuine love for her people.
One of her favorite quotes was ‘Character is destiny’ which epitomized her own strong
and vivid character that shaped her destiny.
If you have not heard of Queen Marie of Romania and you are a fan of historical movies like
I am, then you might want to know that you can check out the movie available on HBO,
video on demand. The movie focuses on her successful efforts to lobby for the unification
of her adopted country over which she reigned as queen, at the Paris Peace conference following
world war two.
Princess Marie of Edinburgh or Missy was born on October 29, 1875 to Queen Victoria’s
second son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and his wife, Grand Duchess Marie of Russia.
Missy’s early years were spent in her parents’ estate in Kent, Eastwell Manor. Summers at
Osborne and frequent visits to Windsor ensured that Marie saw much of her grandmother, Queen
Victoria, who Missy referred to later as her “wonderful little old Grandmamma.
Marie was brought up under the close supervision of her stubborn, independent and somewhat
eccentric Russian mother, who was determined to make her a queen.
When she was a young girl, Missy adored her first cousin,the future King George V and
wanted to marry him.
Her mother had a different idea. She not only despised the British royal family but she
was also very opposed to the concept of a marriage between first cousins, which the
Russian Orthodox Church for bade.
In this light, it was her mother who married Marie off at the age of seventeen, to a man
ten years her senior, whom she barely met and did not love.
Crown Prince Ferdinand was the German-born nephew of Romanian King Carol I. They were
married on 10 January 1893, thus uniting of the Romanian throne with those of England
and Russia.
The marriage enhanced the prestige of the Romanian royal family and for better or for
worse, set the course of Marie’s future life, whose letters to a close friend show
her marriage was a disaster.
When she was married, she had little idea about Romania and did not even know where
the country was. However, gradually she developed a deep love for the country and its people
adopting their language and dressing in their native fashion.
Yet, at first, Marie found her new life quite challenging. Being very free-spirited, she
found the strict Romanian court to be stifling. Her husband’s uncle, King Carol I, controlled
every aspect of the couple’s lives but she often rebelled insisting on riding her horses
and breaking other norms.
And her husband was not much better, offering no support, companionship or social life.
Eventually, they learned to live together and Marie said that they were “the best
associates, the most loyal companions, but our lives intertwine only in certain matters.”
Marie gave deferential respect to her husband, and her husband respected her because she
was very knowledgeable, cultured and world.
With her artistic mind, she helped to popularize Romanian folk art, skillfully decorated the
interiors and gardens of several Romanian royal palaces, even designed her own clothes
and wrote more than fifteen books yet, the story of her involvement and influence in
world war one is just now coming to the forefront of history.
Queen Marie made her mark on the world as an intelligent, determined woman who could
do more than dazzle with her beauty and charm through the two biggest European wars of her
lifetime.
In 1913 when Romania entered the Balkan war, Marie became very much involved in the war
effort. Cholera was running rampant and in spite of her aversion to illness in general,
she used her rebellious nature to good advantage, earning her greatest praise for her tireless
and heroic efforts among Romania’s sick and wounded.
Heedless of discomfort, dirt and the danger of infection, Marie toured the hospitals,
brought in cigarettes, food and other comforts for the men and sat by cholera victims as
they fought the disease.
The experience was horrific, but enlightening. Marie emerged from it with a new resolve to
be of service to her country and with the courage to face any adversity that came her
way.
World War one came just 2 months before the crown princess became queen at the death of
King Carol in 1914. And even though Romania sought to be neutral, it didn't last long.
War hit Romania hard and the hospitals were once again her focus with Queen Marie setting
up her own hospital in the grounds of the Royal Palace, and tirelessly touring the other
Red Cross hospitals.
By 1917, she was touring more than hospitals and visited the war front where she sat with
the soldiers in foxholes filled with mud and water even as her her youngest son had just
died of typhoid at aged three.
It was from these efforts that the Queen of Romania was often called 'The mother of the
wounded' or 'the Queen Soldier'.
As Romania was overrun and her army unable to keep up the fight, there was talk of now
Queen Marie and King Ferdinand and the children fleeing for
safety to England, but Marie refused to leave.
Instead, as part of the resistance movement, she and a group of military advisers devised
the plan by which the Romanian Army would choose a triangle of the country in which
to stand and fight, instead of retreating into Russia.
But in spite of the resistance movements, Romania was force to surrendered on 6th December,
1917, and a pro-German government was installed which Marie stoutly refused to recognise.
According to a post in Tom's Place blog, which I encourage you to read (I left the link below
in the description) , and I quote, "her stand was reported, with much pride, in the British
press which called her "the living centre of Romania in exile under the shadow of defeat."
American papers put it more dramatically: "Romanian Queen defies Kaiser!" screamed their
headlines.
When the war ended, Romania was not ratified internationally and needed to claim major
territorial gains for their new country of Greater Romania. Queen Marie was extremely
popular in the press hence the Prime Minister of Romania called upon Marie to join him for
the pending showdown in Paris between the Great Four and numerous small nations with
their competing claims.
Romania's every hope lay with its queen on her mission to Paris to face the world's most
powerful leaders and lobby for international recognition of its great unification.
Her arrival in Paris causes a sensation; not only was she the only female delegate at the
conference, but as queen of an Eastern European nation, Queen Marie radiated an exotic aura.
Unlike most royal figures, even today’s, Marie understood the power of publicity and
her carefully crafted image of mother and savior of Romania was eagerly embraced by
the press.
At the conference, she proved a shrewd negotiator in encounters with Woodrow Wilson, Georges
Clemenceau, and Britain’s prime minister David Lloyd George.
By the time the conference was over, Marie had gained official recognition and aid for
her beleaguered Romania and she returned to Bucharest in triumph.
Marie did a lot of traveling after the war. She visited her birth country England, the
city of Paris, and even America.
King Ferdinand died in 1927, and in 1929, she was offered a vacant seat in the regency
by the Romanian prime minister, but Marie declined. She wanted to take it easy as much
she can and focus more on decorating, gardening, and her latest interest, writing. Around this
time she was writing her memoirs and children’s fiction and also became interested in the
Baha’i faith.
Marie was paid a visit by Bahá’í teacher Martha Root. Following this visit, and after
reading some Bahá’í literature, Marie accepted the Faith.
Following her son Carol reclaiming the throne in 1930, Queen Marie found herself more on
the fringes of the Romanian monarchy. She spent her remaining years enjoying the company
of her grandchildren
Queen Marie of Romania died on July 18, 1938 from pancreatic cancer. She has been called
"one of the greatest figures in Romanian history."