New Book: ‘Exilul Regelui’ – The King’s Exile

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Exilul Regelui de Diana Mandache, King Michael of Romania, Romanian Royal Family, The King's Exile by Diana Mandache

Exilul Regelui by DM, publisher: Curtea Veche Publishing, June 2016. Romanian language only. 386 pages (color photos – 16 pages).

My new book entitled ‘Exilul Regelui’ (The King’s Exile), was published a short while ago by Curtea Veche Publishing. It is presented as a softcover (with flaps) volume containing 386 pages, including 16 pages of photos. The book details King Michael’s exile period, together with that the Romanian political emigration connected with the monarch, permanently spied on by Romania’s communist regime’s secret services. It gathers in one place previously unpublished documents from the archives of the former communist secret services, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc.

Contents:

1.      Monarchy and exile (Sovereigns and rights; The fears instilled to the communists by the Juan Carlos model; Historical experiences: matrimonial alliances and dynasties, losing the throne; The Commencing of the exile, and the repudiation of abdication);

2.      The King and his family (Royal marriage; the New family; the King’s mother; Uncle Pavlos; aunt Irene; The King in England; Celebrations; The Princesses in exile; Imago mundi, etc);

3.     The Sovereign, the 10th May [former national day] and the government in exile (Rivalry; Radescu and the King; the new Romanian National Committee and Visoianu; Kersten Committee; The Exile between survival and surveillance; Crossroads)

4.      Files, agents and codes (The King’s File; Complementary files; Nicolette Franck)

5.      «Liberté pour la Roumanie!» (Switzerland, the heart of exile; Revolution and post-communism)

Documents (most from the communist secret services files and the diplomatic archives of Romania, USA; also extracts from the international press of the time relevant to the subject; transcripts from the Voice of America, Free Europe, BBC; transcriptions of King Michael’s interviews)

Bibliography; Index.

http://www.curteaveche.ro/exilul-regelui.html

„Oh, mein armes Herz!“

Text by Diana Mandache, Translation in German by Elisabeth Horn (Nürnberg)

Am 3. November 2015, 26 Jahre nach dem Fall des Kommunismus, wird das Herz von Königin Maria aus den Aufbewahrungsräumen des Bukarester Nationalmuseums für Landesgeschichte Rumäniens nach Sinaia, ins Schloss Peles, verlegt. Fest verschlossen in einer silbernen Schatulle wird das Herz auf einem Sockel hinter jenem Sofa, auf dem sie vor 77 Jahren, am 18. Juli 1938, verstarb,  nun seinen Platz finden.  Die Königin befand sich damals auf der Rückreise von Dresden, wo sie in ärztl. Behandlung gewesen war,  zum Schloss Cotroceni in Bukarest. Da sich ihr Gesundheitszustand verschlechterte, musste sie allerdings einen notfallbedingten Zwischenstopp in Sinaia einlegen, wo sie schließlich verstarb.

Der wohl angemessenste Raum, in dem Königin Marias Herz für  eine unbestimmte Zeit ruhen könne, sei nach Ansicht seiner Hoheit König Michael von Rumänien das Goldene Zimmer im Schloss Peles, wo sie verstarb. Die Kapelle „Stella Maris“ im Schloss Baltschik, der Ort, der von Maria ursprünglich als Ruhestätte gewählt worden war, befindet sich heute nicht mehr auf rumänischen Staatsgebiet, sondern gehört laut des Vertrages von Craiova, der  zwischen den beiden Staaten am 7. September 1940 unterzeichnet wurde, zu Bulgarien.

“Oh dear, my poor heart!”

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Queen Marie of Romania, Queen Marie's Heart, Romanian Royal Family

On 3rd November 2015, 26 years after the fall of communism, Queen Marie’s heart will be transferred from the storage rooms of Romania’s National History Museum in Bucharest, to Pelishor Castle in Sinaia. The heart enclosed into a silver casket will lie on a plinth placed behind the couch where she passed away 77 years ago on 18 July 1938. She was on her way back from treatment in Dresden to her official residence at Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, but had to make an emergency stop in Sinaia as her health became critical, and the death intervened. 

According to HM King Michael of Romania, the most appropriate place for Queen Marie’s heart to rest for an undetermined period, is the Golden Room in Pelishor Castle, were she died. The chapel ‘Stella Maris’ of Balchik Palace, the initial place chosen by Marie, is not longer Romanian territory, being part of Bulgaria, in the aftermath of the Treaty of Craiova between the two countries, signed on 7 September 1940.

This year, on 29 October, we celebrate 140 years since Queen Marie was born at Eastwell Park, in Kent, and also 77 years since her heart left Cotroceni Palace church to  Stella Maris chapel in Balchik. 

Book Presentation “The Cotroceni Royal Palace”

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Cotroceni Palace, King Carol I of Romania, King Carol II of Romania, King Ferdinand of Romania, King Michael of Romania, Queen Elizabeth of Romania, Queen Marie of Romania, Romanian Royal Family

Diana Mandache, “The Cotroceni Royal Palace” (Cotroceniul regal), 216 pp, 213 ill. (Sepia & colour), Curtea Veche Publishing, 2015, hardback, dust jacket, 1st edition, Romanian language.

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The text is structured over five chapters:

• “Importance” – Cotroceni beyond history; the Cantacuzène legend told to the inter-war visitors
• “Carol and Elisabeta at the ancient princely residence” (Gatherings, The Royal Family. Princess Maria. The war for independence. Guests at the Coronation in 1881)
• “A New Palace for Ferdinand and Maria” – Buildings. An Imperial Visit. The first costume balls. Ferdinand’s illness. The Last visit in Romania of Alfred Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Marriage troubles. An artistic refuge. Solemnities at the palace. Wilhelm the Crown Prince of Germany at Cotroceni. King Ferdinand and the new pro-Entente policy. The Crown Council of August 1916. The death of Prince Mircea. The dynasty in danger (WWI). Treaty with the Central Powers. Coming back. A Royal Press Conference. Coronation ceremonies, guests at the palace. Changing interior designs during the interwar period. Cotroceni Palace in Ferdinand’s will.
• “Souvenirs of Cotroceni” – Alice Martineau, the Queen’s gardener. George Huntington. Philip de Laszlo. Hector Bolitho. Cotroceni notebooks: A Royal betrothal. Dinning at the Palace. Princess Ileana’s birthdays. Funerals of King Ferdinand. News from England: the death of King George V, King Edward VIII’s abdication. The Romanian Constitution of 1938
• “At the Crossroads” – King Carol II. The Last years of Queen Marie. The Crown Council of September 1939. The Palace during the reign of King Michael. Decisions of the communist regime. Postscriptum

       Sources of documents and photographs. Notes

The book is based on newly unearthed sources that bring to light the history of one of the most important royal palaces in Romania and eastern Europe. A modern palace was first built for the princely couple 120 years ago in Bucharest on the place of a medieval residence that belonged to the Princes of Walachia, later Romania. King Carol I lived initially in this princely residence of Bucharest just during the summers or temporarily. Between 1893-1895 a new palace was built by the French architect Paul Gottereau, and in 1913-1915 a new wing was built in the Neo-Romanian style by the architect Grigore Cherchez. The grand rooms of the palace were modified starting with 1900 and also during the 1920s. Cotroceni became famous once King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania made it their official residence. Two catastrophic earthquakes affected the palace, in 1940 and 1977. The palace was restored in the last decade of communism at the orders of dictator Ceausescu. The former royal palace was envisaged by him to becoming a place to host high level foreign guests. Today its royal quarters function as a museum. The text is accompanied by previously unpublished photographs from archives and private collections.

Alfred Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Ferdinand of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Emperor Franz Joseph, Princess Marie of Romania, Cotroceni, September 1896

Book review by Marlene Eilers Koenig

The official announcement from Kensington Palace!

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British Royal Family, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

“The baby will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.