Carol II of Romania

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Carol II
King of the Romanians
Reign	8 June 1930–6 September 1940
Born	15 October 1893(1893-10-15)
Birthplace	Sinaia, Romania
Died	4 April 1953 (aged 59)
Place of death	Estoril, Portugal
Buried	Estoril, Portugal (1953) Curtea de Argeş, Romania (2004)
Predecessor	Michael I
Successor	Michael I
Wives	Zizi Lambrino Helen of Greece and Denmark Magda Lupescu
Issue	Carol Michael I
Royal House	Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Father	Ferdinand
Mother	Marie of Edinburgh

Carol II of Romania (15 October 1893 – 4 April 1953) reigned as King of Romania from June 8, 1930 until September 6, 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand I, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria. He was the first of the Romanian royal family who was baptized in the Orthodox rite.^[1]

Contents 1 The "playboy king" 2 Rule 3 Exile 4 His remains returned to Romania 5 Ancestry 6 Foreign honors 7 References 8 See also

[edit] The "playboy king"

In November 1914, Carol joined the Romanian Senate, as the 1866 Constitution guaranteed him a seat there upon reaching majority.^[2] Known rather for his romantic misadventures than for any leadership skills, Carol (Romanian for "Charles") was first married in Odessa, Ukraine, 31 August 1918, in contravention of royal law, to Joanna Marie Valentina Lambrino, ("Zizi" Lambrino) (1898–1953), daughter of a Romanian general; they had one son, Mircea Gregor Carol Lambrino, and the marriage was annulled by decision of the Ilfov Tribunal in 1919. He next married, in Athens, Greece, (10 March 1921), Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark (who was known in Romania as Crown Princess Elena), but the marriage soon collapsed in the wake of the king's affair with Elena "Magda" Lupescu (1895?–1977), the Roman Catholic daughter of a Jewish pharmacist and his Roman Catholic wife. Magda Lupescu had formerly been the wife of Army officer Ion Tâmpenu. As a result of the scandal, he renounced his right to the throne in December 1925 in favour of his son by Crown Princess Helen, Michael (Mihai), who became King in July 1927. Helena divorced Carol in 1928. Carol also had a son and a daughter by his mistress Maria Martini, a high-school student.

Through all these adventures, he became known above all as a playboy king. Purported eyewitnesses even claim him to have gone with a famous prostitute, Foamea Neagră, from the Crucea de piatră district. A fictionalized version of the episode is narrated by Petru Dumitriu in his novel Cronică de familie (Family Chronicle).

[edit] Rule

Returning to the country unexpectedly on 7 June 1930, Carol was proclaimed King the following day. For the next decade he sought to influence the course of Romanian political life, first through manipulation of the rival Peasant and Liberal parties and anti-Semitic factions, and subsequently (January 1938) through a ministry of his own choosing (the National Renaissance Front), with a constitution (27 February) reserving ultimate power to the crown. In 1938, he banned the Iron Guard, which he had supported in the 1930s.

House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

Carol I Queen Consort:     Elisabeth Children:    Princess Maria Ferdinand I Queen Consort:     Marie Children:     Prince Carol     Elisabeth, Queen of Greece     Maria, Queen of Yugoslavia     Prince Nicholas     Ileana, Archduchess of Austria     Prince Mircea Carol II Children:     Prince Michael Michael I Queen Consort:     Anne Children     Princess Margarita     Princess Elena     Princess Irina     Princess Sophie     Princess Maria

Carol also sought to build up his own personality cult to counter the growing influence of the Iron Guard, for instance by setting up a paramilitary youth organization known as Straja Ţării in 1935.

An excellent fictionalized account of life in Bucharest in the final years of Carol's reign can be found in Olivia Manning's novels The Great Fortune and The Spoilt City.

[edit] Exile

Forced under first Soviet and subsequently Hungarian, Bulgarian, Italian and German pressure to surrender parts of his kingdom to foreign rule, he was outmaneuvered at last by the pro-German administration of Marshal Ion Antonescu, and abdicated in favour of Michael, settling ultimately in Portugal.

Some believe Carol left Romania in a train laden with royal treasure -- paintings by Old Masters such as Titian, Rubens, and Rembrandt, hundreds of canvasses, jewels, the armor that had decorated the walls of the royal palaces of Pelişor and Peleş^{[citation needed]} --, while others accuse his son, Michael, of the same things. A death squad of Iron Guard legionnaires fired on the royal train, but failed to stop it. The sale in Portugal of much of this treasure gave him enormous wealth, which he spent lavishly, living a life of wasteful luxury.

Carol and Magda Lupescu were married in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 3 June 1947, Magda taking the title of Princess Elena von Hohenzollern. Carol remained in exile for the rest of his life. He was never to see his son, King Michael, after his 1940 departure from Romania. Michael refused to meet his father ever again.^[3]

[edit] His remains returned to Romania

Carol died and was buried in Portugal in 1953; his remains were returned to Romania in 2003, at the Curtea de Argeş monastery. They lie outside the cathedral that is the burial place of most Romanian kings. Neither of his sons participated in either ceremony. His younger son and successor, [[]]King Michael, was represented by his daughter, Princess Margarita, and her husband, Radu Duda, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen. His eldest son, Carol Lambrino was forbidden (since 1940) to enter Romanian territory.

[edit] Ancestry

16. Karl Anton von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

8. Karl Anton von Hohenzollern

17. Marie Antoinette Murat

4. Leopold of Hohenzollern

18. Karl Ludwig Friedrich of Baden

9. Josephine of Baden

19. Stephanie de Beauharnais

2. Ferdinand of Romania

20. Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

10. Ferdinand II of Portugal

21. Princess Maria Antonia Koháry

5. Antonia of Portugal

22. Pedro IV of Portugal

11. Maria II of Portugal

23. Leopoldina of Austria

1. Carol II of Romania

24. Ernest I von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

12. Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

25. Louise of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg

6. Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh

26. Edward of Great Britain and Ireland

13. Victoria of England

27. Viktoria von Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

3. Marie of Romania

28. Nicholas I of Russia

14. Alexander II of Russia

29. Charlotte of Prussia

7. Marie Alexandrovna Romanov

30. Ludwig II von Hessen und bei Rhine

15. Marie von Hessen-Darmstadt

31. Wilhelmina of Baden

[edit] Foreign honors

Styles of King Carol II of Romania Reference style His Majesty Spoken style Your Majesty Alternative style Sir

The UK awarded Carol the Order of the Garter.

Carol II of Romania House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern Born: October 15 1893 Died: April 4 1953
Regnal titles
Preceded by Michael	King of Romania 1930-1940	Succeeded by Michael

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Kings of Romania

v • d • e Heads of State of Romania United Principalities of Romania Domnitor of Romania (1859-1881) Cuza • Carol I Kingdom of Romania King of the Romanians (1881-1947) Carol I • Ferdinand I • Michael I • Carol II • Michael I Romanian People's Republic Interim Presidential Committee (1947-1948) President of the State Council (1948-1965) Parhon • Groza • Maurer • Gheorghiu-Dej Socialist Republic of Romania President of the State Council (1965-1989) President of the S.R. Romania (1974-1989) Stoica • Ceauşescu Post-1989 Romania President of Romania (1989-present) Iliescu • Constantinescu • Iliescu • Băsescu • Văcăroiu • Băsescu italics denotes interim • Categories: Heads of state of Romania, Presidents of Romania, Romanian monarchs